Fintown Railway, Co Donegal

I rather did wonder if Fintown was opreated by employees. It's how Kerry CC tried to run the T&B and failed and how they intend at some stage to run it again.

It can't work really, wage costs will eat away any hope of progression. at Tralee Aquadome they had to pay a guy to open and shut the level crossing gates and I fear that what they will do eventually is cut the line back to eliminate the crossing whereas the Society had tentative plans to extend the line along to the Rose Hotel with the support and encouragment of that Hotel.

 

If only there was a system to operate level crossing gates safely on heritage lines.....

 

Foyle Valley Railway Museum - an update.

I spoke to Derry Tourist Services this morning (Monday 14th August). Regrettably, I have to confirm that the museum has now permanently closed. A portion of the site is now occupied by a Taxi firm.

There are exhibits remaining on site, but whether these are all inside the building, which is under lock and key, I've not established. The premises was, and remains, the property of Derry City Council.

I have not yet managed to contact the key holder, which, I was relieved to learn, is another local museum. I'll drop them an email and post an update on this thread when I get a reply.

 

Many years ago there used to be a group under the name of the North West Irish Railway Society, their origins are a bit hazy to say the least. But I was told they where a mixture of ex GNR(I) employees and a few local railway enthusiasts.

They had something to do with trying to protect the Dr Cox collection of locos and rolling stock he brought from the CDR.

But this was all before the troubles took hold in Northern Ireland. A lot of them then went on to join the IRPS at a later date and the NWIRS I think folded up in the 1980/90’s as I have not been able to find anyone to contact since around 2000.

My point is I think that the golden age of Irish Railway preservation has been and gone and I can't see many new project taking off unless the irish Government support its. I hope that I am wrong, but a Donegal Project would need a lot of fresh money.

The most commerically viable section I think would be a Strabane to Letterkenny line, with BREXIT coming up it would be in a very unique position and just under 20 miles would make for an excellent base for a 3ft gauge steam centre where both Donegal and Swilly stock could be run with out to much hassle

 

Sorry but your suggestion is ridiculous. Who is going to maintain 20 miles of line in a sparsely populated area of Ireland? Where's the money coming from to buy the land / lay the track / restore the locos and stock? Surviving Swilly stock comprises of 1 carriage which if memory serves sits on a CDR underframe underneath its own (bogieless) underframe.

Never ever going to happen

Keith

 

20 miles is far too ambitious but this area is far more populous than many . Letterkenny and Derry are both major places. It is , like most Irish schemes, probably a pipe-dream but there is funding available for cross border schemes (see the Erne waterway for instance) what's lacking is the people and the English volunteering tradition.

As I understand it , a significant part of the collection at Derry belongs to NWIRPS but they do indeed seem to have evaporated leaving two locos, at least one railcar and a nice selection of stock in limbo. One of the 2-6-4T s was derelict outside the building and the other is restored (or may even ex service condition) inside unless there has been a change since closure. Some remaining Donegal items were locked up in a goods shed on closure in 1960 ensuring their survival.

@lynbarn you mean NI govt of course, Derry is in the North.

 

see pictures here, a crying shame

http://www.virtualvisittours.com/foyle-valley-railway-museum/

2016 press report, it's not clear if they intend to devlop the museum as a Railway Museum or aas something else

http://www.derryjournal.com/news/destined-secure-50-year-lease-on-railway-museum-1-7430015

 

due toi re-open to the punblic on 25th July apparently!

https://www.derrynow.com/news/desti...y-reopened-foyle-valley-railway-museum/168589

 

face book page

https://www.facebook.com/FoyleValleyRailway/

profile pic, note the condition of the loco is not as shown on the panoramic publicity pictures and a garden fance and LT notices have been added. Doesn't bode well

 

Keith my point was that this would be the best of the worst case scenario at each end you do at least have somewhere to go to.


I didn't say anything about the use of volunteers, simply because I don't think such an operation in Northern Ireland could be sustainable in the same way that happens in the rest of the UK, it would need to be sustainable in other ways, just what they would be I don't know at the moment.


Sure wages are one of the biggest outlays for any Heritage based railway, but if a new 3ft gauge line was built in Ireland it would not only have to have a harder commercial edge to it but it would also need to attract the sort of grants that happen with mainline operators in the UK

 

Sorry, but point of order.....the north of Ireland.... the Fintown Rly is in the Republic, on the old Glenties branch of the CDR, once the Finn Valley Railway. The border on the old CDR line is between Lifford (Co.Donegal RoI) and Strabane (Co.Tyrone NI). Brexit may yet result in that border vanishing.

Report dated 2016 I fear. See my post #23 above.

 

we were discusssing the museum in Derry which is in the North.
Just to clarify, Derry to Letterkenny was one branch of the CDR, the Finn Valley Rly was the original stretch of line from Strabane to Stranolar, subsequently part of the CDR and the Glenties line was another CDR branch from Stranolar/Ballybofey and Fintown is on that line. The Foyle Valley Railway was a tourist line operating from the museum in Derry on the old GNR broad gauge trackbed to Letterkenny also

 

report is clearly dated June 2017

 

Sorry... whatever I saw last night clearly wasn't that one! I stand by my earlier post though, as I spoken on the phone within the last week, to someone on the ground. I'm still awaiting replies to clarify the full situation. The idea of a project for those with learning difficulties surfaced last year and does seem to have been overtaken by events.

Indeed the Foyle Valley Museum is/was in the North. My comments were intended to refer to posts concerning exending the Fintown line, which is very much open and is the line in the thread header. Apologies if I've got my wires crossed.

 

I don't know where you get the overtaken by events bit. My reading of it is that this group has a 50 year lease on the museum "as is" and are training their guys to be guides and other staff to run the museum. That would be a very interesting way to do it. The only thing to my mind seems to be the opening date. July didn't seem to happen as the paper stated, but maybe it will be soon. They were on line on fb the other day and I opened a conversation and they promptly went off line.

 

The best bet all round appears for us both to keep plugging away at our respective sources and post whatever results we find. My immediate concern is that "Columbkille' doesn't fall between the cracks and follow 'Erne' into oblivion. Ditto any other railway relics on-site.

From everything I've seen, I get the impression I get is that there's still a rearguard action to reverse the closure, which has happened and given there's another business now working from the site, I'm 90%+ certain it's final. I wouldn't be surprised if this is all tied up with wider project funding issues around Derry. Bob knows, there's enough of that going on everywhere else. For all I know, local press could be including the museum project in the wider debate over public funding.

If you'd prefer, we could follow this saga up by PM until we're both happy what we find doen't muddy the waters further.

 

not to mention Meenglas, last reported derelict outside the Derry Museum and Drumboe , in limbo having been part restored at the RPSI but I understand money ran out and it may have left, I don't know if it made it back to Donegal Town, I was there a fortnight ago, I should have looked in.

I have no sources, only what I can find on the net.

I fear the NWIRPS is long extinct and the locos and rolling stock in Derry have fallen into the Councils hands by default (much like 5T in Tralee has).

It does seem that we are a long way off from having an authentically preserved Irish ng railway, althought the basics are all there

quick summary

Fintown: genuine trackbed and railcar, commercial operation
West Clare : Genuine trackbed and loco,
Tralee: Genuine trackbed and loco, in limbo
Derry: Ample original ng stock ,Broad gauge trackbed with ng running line : in limbo
Giants Causeway: Genuine trackbed with replica tramcars, steam out of use.Commercial operation.
Dromod: Genuine trackbed with non original, but highly attractive stock .
Stradbally: highly attractive non original woodland setting with original industrial locos in use.
Suir Valley: Broad gauge trackbed with ng industrial locos ,diesel only.

 

A very good summary of the current situation.

Should it ever come to be that a new 3ft gauge line from Derry to Strabane gets built, it will be the start of something which could be a good thing.

Hopefully all the legal pitfalls can be sorted out, I notice in issue No 470 of Stem Railway page 34 that there are now plans for a new Derry Steam line, the guy in charge is a Mr Dermot O'Hara of the charity Destined he said they hope to have the museum back up and running by next April or May 2018.

Mr O'Hara also is hoping to reopen the railway as well in the long term, but first he wants to issue an invitation to anyone who is interested in assisting to set up a new preservation society next May or June in 2018.

Mr O'Hara went on to say that he understood that there has been some friction between the North West of Ireland Railway Society and Derry City Council, but he wanted to make a fresh start.

The article did not give any contact details but I gues it can't be that hard to find something on the web.

Derry to Strabane is about 14 1/2 miles

 

One point to note is that the Derry-Strabane proposal would utilise the former GNRI route, which meanders over the border. There is also a long term aspiration for a direct 5ft 3in gauge line running from the former MGWR Dublin-Sligo line to Strabane and Derry.

In view of a current political climate, most diplomatically described as 'fluid', now may not be the optimum juncture to be speculating on such a scheme. The old CDRJC line between Derry and Strabane was a slower line (40-70 mins against 35-40 on the GN route), but entirely on the Northern Irish side of the border. What condition the former NG right of way is in after six decades is anybody's guess.

 

very interesting news. He seems to think NWIRPS still exists. Which makes his tenure of the rolling stock at Derry a little questionable as it mostly belongs to them.

Cross border institutions can benefit from special funding as I said earlier and it was intended originally for the Derry line to cross the border with this in mind I think. I sderiously doubt anything more than a mile or two would be viable anyway