Discovering Old Irish Railways. Stranorlar to Glenties in Donegal (1895-1952) The final episode of the 5-part RTÉ series first broadcast in 1997. Presented by Oz Clarke.
Wish there were more people like those in the vid! Sadly the line is closed again now, it'll take a similar big effort to get it back up & running I'd say :(
My Mother was born in No 1 Finn View Terrace in 1922,now a chip shop. Herself and her brothers spent their childhood playing along that railway which ran along between the river Finn and the back of their garden, now a GAA pitch. Sadly along came Mr Henry Ford and the end of a way of life.Thanks footage hard to come by.
Fabulous part of the country and well worth a trip on this. My inlaws live in Ardara, not too far from Glenties and I found a brochure for this in The Highland Hotel in Glenties. That brochure is now on the wall in the mess room in Cahir! Thanks for sharing Danny.
I have a holiday home not far from the railway and I have been on it myself a few years ago. In fact, it gave me some inspiration for my model railway!
Not the JK of "Twice Around The Houses" fame, originally from Drogheda? Glenties Branch clased in 1952 and the whole of the County Donegal Railway by 31/12/59.
Donegal had over 200 miles of railway which became the largest narrow gage network in the British isles. You had two main companies DCR and LLRC, the DCR was mainly South Donegal and the LLRC from L Derry to Letterkenny, which also included Tooban junction to Buncrana and malin..Letterkenny to Burtonport Extension Railway. The DCR were the first in the world to use Desiel railcars. Now there is a joint cross-border commission set up to reestablish the railway here in Donegal and the wider north west.
Great stuff! At age 10 my family took the Railbus Derry to Killybegs and back, for the Glasgow ferry. I look forward to a few railway museum visits in the future.
Never had the grand experience of travelling on this railway. My late maternal grandparents were from near Cloghan. I've spent many happy summer days in the 60's and up to the late 70's in and around Glenfin, Brocagh, Cloghan Commeen etc. Many many happy memories of my relatives and the people there. They were great people that managed to survive on small holdings and bad land. May they all R.I.P
Its such a pity that the Foyle Valley Railway has been closed, I remember riding on the old CDR Railbus as a child, and would have loved to have volunteered as an adult. But I still visit the museum when its open. The cycle path killed that railway and the council knew it would, but didn't care, if it remained open the opportunity would have been brilliant, especially during this year as UK city of culture.
The Irish Mainline yeah everything is still there but its static museum that opens in the Summer, rather than a functioning railway. As far as I am aware its still in running order, although I wouldn't be too sure.
Totally agree. What a tourist attraction. The closure of the standard gauge line that the CDR railcar ran on was a huge mistake and to lose the narrow gauge facility was all the more culpable. Someone in Derry is needing a good 'staver' .
I live just across the road from the old railway station in Donegal Town. Our house was once a draper shop and next door was the barbers. Tirchonaill Street was once like the main street due to the business from people coming off the trains. It became residential after the station closed.
Whilst the Foyle Valley museum has been reopened Martin it's unlikely the line ever will. I've heard a greenway forms part of the route now which has brought up health and safety issues with the running of trains.
What a pity we Irish had a habit of demolishing so much. I suppose the country was impoverished. My mind wanders to the Galway to Clifden line. The line to Achill . View the viaduct and tunnel at Newport.. lots of railways ripped up, never to be replaced. Electrification would have saved some of those little lines like trains in the Isle of Man, I have travelled on a gorgeous elrectric train in Italy travelling on the Amalfi coast, stopping a all of the villages on the way. We have better way. Get rid of it. Pity
