The Co. Donegal Railways again. ...

The Donegal Railway Heritage Centre.

This post follows on from earlier threads about the Railways of County Donegal and parallels the new thread about the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Burtonport Extension.

The linked article hopefully gives a flavour of the Heritage Centre which is based in the old railway station in Donegal Town. It is worth a visit if you are in County Donegal. .....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/04/30/the-donegal-railway-heritage-centre/

The earlier and parallel threads on this forum can be found by following these links:

https://www.national-preservation.c...londonderry-and-lough-swilly-railway.1422324/

https://www.national-preservation.com/threads/the-co-donegal-railways.1418129/

 

While my father was away in Korea my mother and I lived in Port-na-Blagh. Due to the disapproval of my mother by my Granny and Great-granny we didn't live in the house they owned, but on the beach in the 'Coastguard's Hut'. When we spent Christmas in Belfast with a cousin we bypassed Derry (where G-g was) and went the Derry Road and then Strabane & Letterkenny (or so my mother told me). I must have been 3 or 4 so don't remember. Curses!
Pat

 

I would love to see a section of the Old Donegal railway reopened, but I guess there are not the volunteers and the money available to do that.

 

Correct.
The Donegal Railway Heritage Centre, the Fintown railway and the exhibits in Derry and Cultra are about the best you're going to get.

The Fintown railway seems to only operate sporadically and certainly wouldn't be able to sustain a steam operation, and I can't see the Derry operation ever restarting.
I know the DRHC have ambitions to reopen part of the line around the Barnesmore gap and use Drumboe on it, but again I can't see it ever happening due to the high costs and lack of volunteers.

 

I see then have been on going plans to rebuild a railway in North West Ireland for some time all to Irish standard gauge, but I am not sure how that is going to be paid for.

If only part of the Donegal could be rebuilt. I would think it would need to be on a full commercial basis and with Governmental funding. But being mainly in Republic it could be subject to a euro grant or two.

A caveat to this is I am not sure how buying the trackbed in the Republic is anything like that in the UK.

 

A recent visit to Ludlow for the Craven Arms Model Railway Show included chance to view a OOn3 model of the Co. Donegal Railways terminus at Glenties. ....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/06/09/glenties-in-oon3/

 

The Donegal Railway Heritage Trail.

On 28th February 2022 the Donegal Railway Heritage Centre announced that, with funding provided through the “Creative Ireland” programme administered by Donegal County Council, they completed the production of a map of County Donegal showing some of the main Donegal railway heritage still to be seen across the County and into Northern Ireland.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/06/26/the-donegal-railway-heritage-trail/

 

Teelin Bay, Teelin Pier and Co. Donegal Railways

What happened to the proposed extension to the Killybegs branch of the Co. Donegal Railways to Teelin Pier?

The short answer is that it did not really get beyond the imaginations of a few folk in the Glean Cholm Cille (Glencolumbkille) and Carrick area of Co. Donegal.

The linked post is a 'flight of fancy'. ....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/04/26/teelin-bay-teelin-pier-and-co-donegal-railways/