The Lightmoor Press has developed a reputation for producing a substantial number of high quality railway-interest books. One of their latest has been produced about the Tralee and Dingle Railway in Co. Kerry, Ireland. The author is Michael Whitehouse. [1] It is another excellent publication.
The book is an enlarged and extended version of that written by Michael’s father, Patrick Whitehouse (PWB) in collaboration with John Powell in the mid-1950s.
The Lightmoor Press edition is given the status of a second edition with PWB’s 1954 book called the first edition. [2]
Wikipedia tells us the Tralee and Dingle Light Railway and Tramway was a 32 mile (51 km), 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railway running between Tralee and Dingle, with a 6.2 mile (10 km) branch from Castlegregory Junction to Castlegregory, in County Kerry on the west coast of Ireland. It operated between 1891 and 1953; the Castlegregory branch closed shortly prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. [3]
It was one of the most westerly railway lines in Europe, but the terminus of the Valentia Harbour branch to the South was further west.
As the Lightmoor Press says, “The Tralee & Dingle Railway still stirs the hearts and imagination. Many ferro-equinologists, including the author’s father, flocked to the railway, but most only just in time. They saw the last rites of the monthly cattle train serving the Dingle fair in the early 1950s and experienced the thrill of a lifetime riding the narrow gauge train and even the footplates of the steam locomotives as they rushed the steep gradients and flew down the other side, brushing red fuchsias into disarray. All spiced by the general hazards of near-derelict rolling stock running over grass-covered and barely maintained track, often wet from Irish rain and mountain mists and over some of the most frightful curves and gradients ever engineered on a narrow gauge railway.” [4]
“The Dingle peninsula has some of the best scenery in Ireland to travel through which is a draw all of its own. Fact and folklore generated by this three-foot narrow gauge railway was all quite remarkable, as was its involvement in the developing Irish political environment.” [4]
In this book, “Michael Whitehouse revisits the story of this remarkable railway using his father’s photographs and research notes, together with considerably expanded text to place the railway in its political, economic and social context.” [4]
The book begins with a series of different prefaces before chapters 1 to 4 cover a history of the line. Chapter 5 relates the story of the short-lived preservation line, the Tralee & Blennerville Railway and the surviving stock from the old railway which found its way to other locations.
Whitehouse then takes readers on a journey on the line (in Chapter 6), the political and economic environment in which it operated (in Chapter 7), the work of the running department: the men and the locomotives (in Chapter 8). He devotes a chapter to the carriages and wagons used on the line (Chapter 9). Two chapters cover the development of operations and signalling on the line and significant accidents (Chapters 10 & 11). A series of appendices including, among other things, facsimile copies of: the full text of The Tralee & Dingle Light Railway Order, 1888; the Bye-laws & Regulations; and the Working Timetables & Rules which detailed what were the Company’s expectations of its staff.
The book is published on high quality glossy paper held between strong board covers. It is a detailed, well-illustrated and comprehensive account which qualifies admirably as a final word on the Tralee & Dingle Railway.
The costs of publication of specialist, high quality books is high and is rising. The recommended retail price is £60.00. The Lightmoor Press will supply it direct and it can be bought from other outlets as well.
Highly recommended!
References
- Michael Whitehouse; The Tralee & Dingle Railway: 2nd Edition; Lightmoor Press, Lydney, Gloucestershire, 2023.
- Patrick B. Whitehouse; The Tralee & Dingle Railway; Locomotive Publishing Co Ltd., 1954.
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tralee_and_Dingle_Light_Railway, accessed on 9th July 2023.
- https://lightmoor.co.uk/books/the-tralee-dingle-railway/L9214, accessed on 9th July 2023.
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/TDLR_5, accessed on 9th July 2023.
Roger Farnworth 