County Donegal Railways Joint Committee

The County Donegal Railways Joint Committee operated an extensive 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railway system serving County Donegal, Ireland, from 1906 until 1960. The committee was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1906, which authorised the joint purchase of the then Donegal Railway Company by the Great Northern Railway of Ireland and the Midland Railway Northern Counties Committee.

County Donegal Railways Joint Committee

Crest of the County Donegal Railway Joint Committee
A map of the network of the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee.
Overview
Headquarters	Stranorlar
Key people	Henry Forbes, Bernard L. Curran
Dates of operation	1 May 1906–10 July 1971
Predecessor	Donegal Railway Company
Successor	CIÉ
Technical
Track gauge	3 ft (914 mm)
Length	124.5 miles (200.4 km)
Route map Legend L&BER to Burtonport Letterkenny (CDR) Letterkenny (LLSR) L&LSR to Londonderry Graving Dock Glenmaquin Londonderry Victoria Road Cornagillagh Halt New Buildings Convoy Desertone Halt Raphoe Cullion Coolaghy Halt Donemana Ballindrait Ballyheather Halt Lifford Halt Ballymagorry Porthall Strabane (CDR) Strabane (GNRI) Sion Mills County Londonderry County Donegal Clady Castlefinn Liscooly Killygordon Cavan Halt Town Bridge Halt Stranorlar Ballybofey Glenmore Cloghan Elaghtagh Halt Glassagh Halt Meenglas Halt Ballinamore Derg Bridge Halt Fintown Barnesmore Halt Lough Eske Shallogan's Halt Clarbridge Halt Glenties Donegal Killymard Halt Hospital Halt Mountcharles Drumbar Halt Doorin Road Laghey Mullanboy Halt Bridgetown Inver Ballintra Port Dromore Halt Dunkineely Dorrian's Bridge Halt Spamount Halt Rossnowlagh Bruckless Friary Halt Ardara Road Coolmore Halt Killybegs Creevy Halt Ballyshannon (CDR)

History of the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee

On 1 May 1906, the Joint Committee was set up. The lines inherited by the Joint Committee totalled 106 miles (171 km) and were:

• Finn Valley Railway (FVR) from Strabane to Stranorlar
• West Donegal Railway line from Stranorlar to Donegal
• The Donegal Railway Company lines between Stranorlar and Glenties, Donegal Town to Killybegs, Strabane to Derry, and Donegal Town to Ballyshannon

By 1912 the company owned the following assets:^[1]

• Locomotives and rolling stock: 21 locomotives; 56 passenger vehicles; 304 goods vehicles
• Head offices and locomotive works at Stranorlar

The Strabane to Derry line was completely owned by the Midland Railway Northern Counties Committee, although it was operated by the CDRJC.^[2]

At its greatest extent, the County Donegal Railways Committee operated the largest narrow gauge railway system in the British Isles. The railway was affectionately known as the "Wee Donegal".^[3]

The Joint Committee opened the Strabane and Letterkenny Railway on 1 January 1909, bringing the total mileage operated by the company to 124.5 miles (200.4 km). Only 91 miles (146 km) were directly owned by the Joint Committee, as the Strabane and Letterkenny Railway accounted for 19.25 miles (30.98 km), and 14.5 miles (23.3 km) were property of the Northern Counties Committee.^[4]

Dieselisation

Under the management of Henry Forbes, traffic superintendent from 1910 to 1943, the County Donegal Railways became pioneers in the use of diesel traction.^[5] The first diesel railcar was built in 1930 (the first diesel railcar anywhere in the British Isles), although a petrol-engined railcar had been built in 1926 before standardisation on diesel traction in 1934. Eight articulated diesel railcars were constructed by Walker Brothers of Wigan between 1934 and 1951, by which time virtually all passenger services were operated by diesel railcar, being much cheaper to operate than conventional steam trains.

The railcars could only be driven from one end and had to be turned on a turntable to make a return journey. As well, they could not be worked in multiple, so if two railcars were working back to back, both required a driver. The railcars were incapable of hauling most freight wagons, so steam traction continued to be used on freight and excursion trains. The railcars could haul specially constructed trailers, and some lightweight freight wagons, which were painted red to distinguish them from the heavier wagons, which were grey. A diesel locomotive named Phoenix (converted from a steam locomotive) was also used, but due to its noisy operation and slow speed (top speed of 27 mph or 43 km/h), it spent most of its career shunting, travelling 204,577 miles (329,235 km) during its working life.^[6]

Closure

The Glenties branch closed in 1947, the Strabane-Derry line closed in 1954, and the remaining passenger services ended on 31 December 1959. Much of the railway was closed on that date. Goods trains ran between Strabane and Stranorlar until 6 February 1960.

During the 1930s the Joint Committee began operating a fleet of buses. After the closure of the railway, it continued to operate as a road freight and bus company until 10 July 1971 when it was taken over by CIÉ.^[7]

In 1961, the two most modern diesel railcars were sold to the Isle of Man Railway.

Tourist attraction

 

Donegal Railway Heritage Centre in the former station building

Part of the line, which runs alongside Lough Finn near Fintown, has been re-laid as a tourist railway.^[8]

The Donegal Railway Heritage Centre has been established and contains historic details and artefacts of the CDRJC.^[9]

St. Connell's Museum, in Glenties has an extensive display of items from the railway.^[10]

The Foyle Valley Railway in Derry houses numerous CDRJC artefacts. It used to operate a small heritage railway along the Foyle on the original route of the Derry-Portadown railway line, which has since fallen into disrepair during the museum's period of closure.

In preservation

• Carriages: 1 (UFTM), 3 (UFTM), 5 (DRC) 14 (FVR), 28 (DRC), 30 (FVR)
• Goods wagons: 12 (DRC), 19 (FVR), 136 (UFTM), Unidentified horsebox (BHR), Unidentified Van (DRC)

UFTM = Ulster Folk & Transport Museum; FVR = Foyle Valley Railway; BHR = Belturbet Heritage Railway; FTR = Fintown Railway; DRC = Donegal Railway Centre; IOMR = Isle of Man Railway; C&L = Cavan and Leitrim Railway

Rolling stock

Locomotives of the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee^[6][11]

Number	Name	Built	Manufacturer	Configuration	Notes	Image
Class 1
No. 1	Alice	1881	Sharp, Stewart and Company	2-4-0	Loaned to Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway from 1918-1921. Scrapped 1926.
No. 2	Blanche	1881	Sharp, Stewart and Company	2-4-0	Withdrawn in 1905. Scrapped in 1909.	Builder's photo of No. 2 Blanche.
No. 3	Lydia	1881	Sharp, Stewart and Company	2-4-0	Withdrawn in 1905. Scrapped in 1910.
Class 2
No. 4	Meenglas	1893	Neilson and Company	4-6-0	Scrapped in 1935.	Builder's photo of No. 4 Meenglas.
No. 5	Drumboe	1893	Neilson and Company	4-6-0	Withdrawn in 1927. Scrapped in 1931.
No. 6	Inver	1893	Neilson and Company	4-6-0	Withdrawn in 1927. Scrapped in 1931.
No. 7	Finn	1893	Neilson and Company	4-6-0	Withdrawn in 1927. Scrapped in 1931.
No. 8	Foyle	1893	Neilson and Company	4-6-0	Scrapped in 1937.	No. 8 Foyle between Fintown and Glenties in July 1924.
No. 9	Columbkille	1893	Neilson and Company	4-6-0	Scrapped in 1937.
Class 3
No. 10	Sir James	1902	Neilson and Company	4-4-4	Scrapped in 1935.	Builder's photo of No. 10 Sir James.
No. 11	Hercules	1902	Neilson and Company	4-4-4	Scrapped in 1935.
Class 4
No. 12 No. 9	Eske	1904	Nasmyth, Wilson and Company	4-6-4	Renumbered No. 9 in 1937. Scrapped in 1954.
No. 13 No. 10	Owenea	1904	Nasmyth, Wilson and Company	4-6-4	Renumbered No. 10 in 1937. Scrapped in 1952 after a collision with railcar No. 17 in 1949.	No. 10 Owenea at Strabane on 14 May 1937.
No. 14 No. 11	Erne	1904	Nasmyth, Wilson and Company	4-6-4	Renumbered No. 11 in 1937. Scrapped in 1967.	No. 14 Erne.
No. 15 No. 12	Mourne	1904	Nasmyth, Wilson and Company	4-6-4	Renumbered No. 12 in 1937. Withdrawn in 1940, dismantled for spare parts.
Class 5
No. 16 No. 4	Donegal Meenglas	1907	Nasmyth, Wilson and Company	4-6-2	Renumbered No. 4 and renamed Meenglas in 1937. Preserved at the Foyle Valley Railway Museum.	No. 4 Meenglas in preservation.
No. 17 No. 5	Glenties Drumboe	1907	Nasmyth, Wilson and Company	4-6-2	Renumbered No. 5 and renamed Drumboe in 1937. Ran the last scheduled train of the CDRJC on 31 December 1959. Preserved at the Donegal Railway Heritage Centre.	No. 17 Glenties before renumbering and renaming at Stranorlar on 14 May 1937.
No. 18 No. 6	Killybegs Columbkille	1907	Nasmyth, Wilson and Company	4-6-2	Renumbered No. 6 and renamed Columbkille in 1937. Preserved at the Foyle Valley Railway Museum.	No. 6 Columbkille in preservation.
No. 19	Letterkenny	1908	Nasmyth, Wilson and Company	4-6-2	Dismantled in 1940 for spare parts.
No. 20 No. 8	Raphoe Foyle	1908	Nasmyth, Wilson and Company	4-6-2	Renumbered No. 8 and renamed Foyle in 1937. Scrapped in 1955.
Class 5A
No. 1	Alice	1912	Nasmyth, Wilson and Company	4-6-2	Sold at a scrap auction in 1960.	No. 1 Alice at Londonderry Victoria Road on 20 August 1950.
No. 2A No. 2	Blanche	1912	Nasmyth, Wilson and Company	4-6-2	Renumbered No. 2 shortly after arrival. Preserved in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museums in Cultra.	No. 2 Blanche in preservation.
No. 3A No. 3	Lydia	1912	Nasmyth, Wilson and Company	4-6-2	Renumbered No. 3 shortly after arrival. Sold at a scrap auction in 1960.	No. 3 Lydia at Stranorlar on 14 May 1937.
Atkinson-Walker rail tractor
No. 11	Phœnix	1928	Atkinson-Walker	0-4-0	Sold by the Clogher Valley Railway to the CDRJC in December 1931. No. 11 Phœnix was converted from steam power to diesel power and operated as a shunter. Preserved at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museums.	No. 11 Phœnix in preservation.

Railcars of the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee^[12]

Number	Start of Operation	Source or Manufacturer	Power	Notes	Image
No. 1	1906	Allday & Onions	Petrol	Preserved in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museums in Cultra.	Railcar No. 1 in preservation.
No. 2	1926	ex-Derwent Valley Light Railway	Petrol	Scrapped in 1934.	Railcar No. 2 at Stranorlar with Henry Forbes (left) and Ross Parks (right).
No. 2	1934	ex-Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway	Petrol	Rebuilt as a trailer in 1944. Sold in 1961 and removed to Mountcharles.
No. 3	1926	ex-Derwent Valley Light Railway	Petrol	Scrapped in 1934.
No. 3	1934	ex-Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway	Petrol	Rebuilt as a trailer in 1944. Preserved at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museums in Cultra.	ex-D&BST railcar-turned trailer in preservation.
No. 4	1928	O'Doherty	Petrol	Lent to the Clogher Valley Railway in 1932. Scrapped in 1947.
No. 5	1929	O'Doherty/Knutsford	Petrol	Built as a trailer. Sold in 1960.
No. 6	1930	Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and O'Doherty	Petrol	Rebuilt as a trailer in 1945. Sold in 1958 and removed to Inver.	Railcar No. 6 and Railcar No. 7 at Ballintra.
No. 7	1930	Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and O'Doherty	Diesel	First diesel railcar in the British Isles. Scrapped in 1949.	Railcar No. 7 at Stranorlar.
No. 8	1931	Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and O'Doherty	Diesel	Scrapped in 1949.
No. 9	1933	County Donegal Railways Joint Committee ex-Great Northern Railway (Ireland) bus	Petrol	Scrapped in 1949.
No. 10	1933	County Donegal Railways Joint Committee	Petrol	Destroyed by a fire in Ballyshannon in 1939.
No. 11 Phœnix	1933	ex-Clogher Valley Railway and Atkinson-Walker	Diesel	Preserved.	No. 11 Phœnix in preservation.
No. 12	1934	Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and Walker Brothers	Diesel	Preserved at the Foyle Valley Railway.	Railcar No. 12 & No. 18 at the Shane's Castle railway in Antrim.
No. 13	1934	ex-Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway	Diesel	Rebuilt as a trailer in 1934. Scrapped in 1944.
No. 14	1935	Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and Walker Brothers	Diesel	Scrapped in 1961.
No. 15	1936	Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and Walker Brothers	Diesel	Scrapped in 1961.
No. 16	1936	Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and Walker Brothers	Diesel	Preserved at the Donegal Railway Heritage Centre.
No. 17	1938	Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and Walker Brothers	Diesel	Destroyed in collision with No. 10 Owenea in 1949.
No. 18	1940	Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and Walker Brothers	Diesel	Damaged by fire in 1949. Preserved on the Fintown Railway.	Railcar No. 18 in preservation.
No. 10	1942	ex-Clogher Valley Railway and Walker Brothers	Diesel	Preserved at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museums in Cultra.	Railcar No. 10 in preservation.
No. 19	1950	Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and Walker Brothers	Diesel	Sold to and preserved on the Isle Of Man Railway in 1961.	Railcar No. 19 & 20 in preservation on the IOMR.
No. 20	1951	Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and Walker Brothers	Diesel	Sold to and preserved on the Isle Of Man Railway in 1961.

See also

• List of narrow-gauge railways in Ireland
• County Donegal Railway locomotives

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to County Donegal Railways Joint Committee.

References

1. Railway Year Book 1912 Railway Publishing Company
2. The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland. William Alan McCutcheon, Northern Ireland. Dept. of the Environment, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984
3. Robert Robotham; et al. (1999). The Last Years of 'The Wee Donegal': The County Donegal Railways in Colour 1950–59. Colourpoint Books. ISBN 978-1898392422.
4. Patterson, Edward M. (1962). The County Donegal Railways (1972 ed.). Pan Books. p. 58. ISBN 0-7153-4376-9.
5. Britain Between the Wars: 1918–1940. Charles Loch Mowat, Taylor & Francis, 1968
6. Patterson, Edward M. (1962). The County Donegal Railways (1972 ed.). Great Britain: Pan Books. pp. 143–154, 206–209.
7. https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1971/act/14/enacted/en/html Transport (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1971
8. "Fintown Railway – An Mhuc Dhubh". from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
9. "Donegal Railway Heritage Centre". from the original on 21 March 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
10. [1] 19 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
11. Crombleholme, Roger (2005). The County Donegal Railways Companion. England: Midland. pp. 15–26. ISBN 1-85780-205-5.
12. Patterson, Edward M. (1962). The County Donegal Railways (1972 ed.). Pan Books. pp. 155–177, 210–211. ISBN 0-7153-4376-9.

Further reading

• Architectural Heritage of the Narrow Gauge Railways of County Donegal. County Donegal Railway Restoration Ltd. 2003.
• "North West of Ireland Railway Preservation Society". The Phoenix. 1–23. County Donegal Railway Restoration Ltd. 1992–2005.
• Begley, Joe (1995). The County Donegal Railway A Visitors Guide. ISBN 1-874518-04-1.
• Bell, Dave (2001). County Donegal Railway Restoration Society 10 years.
• Flanders, Steve (1996). The County Donegal Railway An Irish Railway Pictorial. ISBN 1-85780-054-0.
• Crombleholme, Roger (2005). The County Donegal Railways Companion. ISBN 1-85780-205-5.
• Patterson, Edward M. (1969). The County Donegal Railways. ISBN 0-7153-4376-9.
• Donegal's Railway Heritage. Vol. 1 (South Donegal). South Donegal Railway Restoration Society. 1994. ISBN 1-874518-01-7.