Y'know they say they want steam but there is a lack of locos they could lay their hands on. Well over here in the state of Victoria there are several D class 4-6-0s and other classes essentially with zero hope of ever being restored here due to limitations on where to run them and limitations of funds. But this railway, this railway could quite probably find a use and the funds for one if the regulatory hurdles could be overcome. It would certainly be interesting to see if there was any receptiveness from the authorities over here that still own these things via victrack(wholly owned state rail infrastructure company). Its the right gauge... loading gauge is another question but you never know what you could work out. Exciting stuff though thanks for keeping us updated and look forward to seeing it all progress hopefully at pace.
Thanks for your comments. They'll definitely want steam at some point for authenticity. I need to find out from Jim Deegan what they're doing on the loco side.
@@EuviRail ...from a distance I've read they plan on an eventual new build which is fairly exciting given the small array of preserved Irish broad gauge steam out of the multitude of small classes that existed. If you speak to the fella at the top of it all yourself certainly air my idea to him and see what he has to say, it wouldn't be without precedent after all given the south African garratts running around in Wales and the Scandinavian locomotives that found a home on various preserved railways in the UK.
Reopening of the railway line would cut down on Traffic Jams, Road Deaths, Car Accidents & Pollution 24 hour trains in summertime & St Stephen's Day limited services are needed.
Don't get me started Martin. If the line existed today, the ability to traverse the city by rail to places like Moycullen and Oughterard would be immense. It could even have serviced students going between the main NUIGalway campus and the accommodation areas. I can accept that a full service to Clifden may be more limited off season for example but what a benefit it would be during the tourist season. Alas, the permanent way has been lost and elements of the line can never be recovered, or not at least without paying significant compensation. I'll cover a walk through the line end to end towards the summer.
Great to see the progress. I passed by the site earlier this year (but didn't enter) as part of my project to record every station ever to have existed on the island of Ireland.
@@EuviRail I replied with a link but YT appears to have deleted it :( I have a website where I have a map of railways in Ireland, with links from each station to a page for that station.
Thanks Terry. Would love the same but I know there are plenty of challenges to get there, The ball is rolling now at least after so many dormant years.
We all would dream of that. But dreams are dreams. The permanent way was sold off to land owners. Most of the metal bridges were sold for scrap. The iconic bridge over the Corrib was practically given away for shillings. The vandal Irish Governments were busy demolishing the legacy of the past. Cycle ways and Greenways are now the buzz No... Clifden to Galway will not happen by rail. Further up the road the Quiet Man, cottage, White O Morn is in ruins and allowed to stay so. Ochon Ochon. It has been given protected status... Meaning... It cannot be touched at all, at all even to restore it unless designation is lifted
Only with Billionaire intervention I'm afraid. I do believe that 6-8 miles of full gauge line centered around Maam Cross is highly likely. Extending this all the way to Oughterard might be a realisable stretch. Extending to Ballynahinch in the other direction would require a lot of investment but would pull in some of the most spectacular scenery of the entire route. We live in hope.🙏
Great video, I hope they can keep going, it's a wonderful project and deserves all the publicity it can get, fair dues to all involved.
Thanks. I'm hoping to do an update in a few weeks as they've very busy.
Y'know they say they want steam but there is a lack of locos they could lay their hands on. Well over here in the state of Victoria there are several D class 4-6-0s and other classes essentially with zero hope of ever being restored here due to limitations on where to run them and limitations of funds.
But this railway, this railway could quite probably find a use and the funds for one if the regulatory hurdles could be overcome.
It would certainly be interesting to see if there was any receptiveness from the authorities over here that still own these things via victrack(wholly owned state rail infrastructure company).
Its the right gauge... loading gauge is another question but you never know what you could work out.
Exciting stuff though thanks for keeping us updated and look forward to seeing it all progress hopefully at pace.
Thanks for your comments. They'll definitely want steam at some point for authenticity. I need to find out from Jim Deegan what they're doing on the loco side.
@@EuviRail ...from a distance I've read they plan on an eventual new build which is fairly exciting given the small array of preserved Irish broad gauge steam out of the multitude of small classes that existed. If you speak to the fella at the top of it all yourself certainly air my idea to him and see what he has to say, it wouldn't be without precedent after all given the south African garratts running around in Wales and the Scandinavian locomotives that found a home on various preserved railways in the UK.
Reopening of the railway line would cut down on Traffic Jams, Road Deaths, Car Accidents & Pollution 24 hour trains in summertime & St Stephen's Day limited services are needed.
Don't get me started Martin. If the line existed today, the ability to traverse the city by rail to places like Moycullen and Oughterard would be immense. It could even have serviced students going between the main NUIGalway campus and the accommodation areas. I can accept that a full service to Clifden may be more limited off season for example but what a benefit it would be during the tourist season. Alas, the permanent way has been lost and elements of the line can never be recovered, or not at least without paying significant compensation. I'll cover a walk through the line end to end towards the summer.
Great update on the progress haven't been able to get down for a while to see all the work going on.
The team are doing great work there for sure.
Brilliant, well done, wish you well in completing the project
Thanks Bryan. All the credit goes to the team onsite who are doing great work.
Great to see the progress. I passed by the site earlier this year (but didn't enter) as part of my project to record every station ever to have existed on the island of Ireland.
Hi Ewan, are you capturing your work on a website, UA-cam or a book perhaps?
@@EuviRail I replied with a link but YT appears to have deleted it :( I have a website where I have a map of railways in Ireland, with links from each station to a page for that station.
I would like to see their 5 mile track, eventually connect to the main line. Great update. 👍
Thanks Terry. Would love the same but I know there are plenty of challenges to get there, The ball is rolling now at least after so many dormant years.
We all would dream of that.
But dreams are dreams. The permanent way was sold off to land owners. Most of the metal bridges were sold for scrap. The iconic bridge over the Corrib was practically given away for shillings. The vandal Irish Governments were busy demolishing the legacy of the past.
Cycle ways and Greenways are now the buzz
No... Clifden to Galway will not happen by rail.
Further up the road the Quiet Man, cottage, White O Morn is in ruins and allowed to stay so. Ochon Ochon.
It has been given protected status... Meaning... It cannot be touched at all, at all even to restore it unless designation is lifted
Do you think the Galway-Cliften line will ever be fully restored?
Only with Billionaire intervention I'm afraid. I do believe that 6-8 miles of full gauge line centered around Maam Cross is highly likely. Extending this all the way to Oughterard might be a realisable stretch. Extending to Ballynahinch in the other direction would require a lot of investment but would pull in some of the most spectacular scenery of the entire route. We live in hope.🙏