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My wife and I were due to spend a couple of weeks walking in Co. Donegal in April and May 2020. Instead, we remained at home in Ashton-under-Lyne, continuing to do the jobs we love! I would have been writing a blog about our journeys and walks but instead I have started a series about the 3ft-gauge Co. Donegal railways. .....
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In my spare time I am working on the next length of the Glenties Branch of the Co. Donegal Railways, making up in some way for not being able to walk the route in the early summer this year. I wanted to have a look, as well, at some of the railmotors/railcars on the Co. Donegal Railways. This post covers the petrol-powered railmotors which were used on the network in the early part of the 20th century. ....
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After completing the first two articles in the series, covering the Glenties Branch, I was put in touch with Kerry Doherty who lives in Co. Donegal and he provided a few images of the branch. I have updated the two linked articles with a total of four photographs, three of which come from Kerry Doherty and the fourth from the Co. Donegal Railway Heritage Centre. ....
For ease of access I have repeated the two links here. ....
quote: The Glenties Branch ran through a very rural part of Co. Donegal and seemingly stopped short of what could be considered a 'sensible' destination - the Atlantic Coast. Indeed it seems as though there were quite a few people in Ardara on the coast who thought that way. There was a concerted campaign over many years to get a short extension built between Glenties and Ardara.
Roger Farnworth Member # 197595
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This next post about the Co. Donegal Railways is the first looking at the Strabane to Letterkenny Railway. It begins at Strabane and runs as far as the town of Raphoe which was an ancient seat of temporal and spiritual power. ....
quote:The first railway station in Letterkenny opened on 30th June 1883. The line out of Londonderry started out as the Londonderry and Buncrana Railway and was absorbed into the L&LSR in 1887. [9] That line is not the subject of this article but it is important to note that Letterkenny had been rail-served for many years before the branch from Strabane arrived in the town.
Roger Farnworth Member # 197595
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This next post is the second in a series about the Strabane and Letterkenny Railway Line. There will be a further post in due course.
A Journey Along the Line - Strabane to Letterkenny - Part C - Convoy to Letterkenny
We return to Convoy Railway Station which sits to the East of the Village. While we are waiting for our train, a railcar from Letterkenny stops at the station.
Roger Farnworth Member # 197595
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This next post about the railways of Co. Donegal. It focusses on one viaduct on the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway (L&LSR) - the Owencarrow Viaduct - and specifically on an accident which occurred there in 1925
In the February 1963 edition of The Railway Magazine there was a letter from L. Hudlass which said: "The accident on the Owencarrow Viaduct, on the Letterkenny & Burtonport line, Ireland, of January 30, 1925, involved a westbound train running from Londonderry to Burtonport, on the Burtonport extension of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway. The 380 yd.-long viaduct, sited between Kilmacrenan and Creeslough in County Tirconaill is in wild and open country and, on the day in question, a gale of 100mph caught the train broadside on and one carriage plunged through the parapet, pulling another with it. The couplings held and neither of the vehicles fell into the valley, but roof destruction caused several passengers to be thrown out, three people being killed outright.
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