Tag Archives: Leitrim

The Cavan and Leitrim Railway at Dromod again. …

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It has taken me a while to get round to completing this article! ….

Saturday 6th May 2023 was the first time that I had been able to visit the Cavan & Leitrim at Dromod. A planned visit in 2020 was prevented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown which was enforced for our safety.

We were en-route, on 6th May, from Co. Donegal to Dublin after two great weeks following the route of the Burtonport Extension Railway between Burtonport and Letterkenny.

I had been intending to drop in to see the preservation society at Dromod either on the way to Co. Donegal or on the return journey. The second option worked in best with our travel arrangements.

My wife granted me an hour or so of freedom to explore the site at Dromod. Jo decided that she’d enjoy reading her novel more than traipsing around another railway related site. She had, after all, spent a good bit of her holiday walking along the track bed of abandoned railways.

My previous articles about Dromod and the first length of the Cavan & Leitrim Railway from Dromod to …. can be found on these links:

https://wordpress.com/post/rogerfarnworth.com/18449, and

https://wordpress.com/post/rogerfarnworth.com/19957.

The first image below shows the site of the two stations at Dromod as they appear on Google Earth’s satellite imagery.

Dromod’s railway stations as they appear on Google Earth. [Google Earth, 18th July 2023]

Drumod/Dromod on the 1″ OSi mapping of the mid-20th century. The Iarnrod Eireann Line runs from the centre-bottom of the image in a Northwest direction. The Cavan & Leitrim Railway curved away to the East from its terminus close to the mainline station.

Dromod Iarnrod Eireann Railway Station seen from the road-bridge over the approach to the station from the South. The Cavan & Leitrim Station building is hidden behind the mainline building. The Goods Shed associated with the mainline station can be seen beyond the footbridge sitting at the end of the platform. [Google Streetview, September 2019]
A platform level view of the Iarnrod Eireann Station looking North. The Cavan & Leitrim Railway Station sits behind the Station buildings in this view. Just visible above the train is the roofline of the mainline Goods Shed. [1]
The Station Approach seen from the East. The Cavan & Leitrim Railway terminus can be seen on the right of the picture, the Iarnrod Eireann Station building is on the left. [Google Streetview, May 2009]
The Cavan & Leitrim Railway terminus buildings at Dromod as seen from the Station Approach to the mainline station. The platform face was approximately on the line of the picket fence.[Goggle Streetview, May 2009]
The street side approach to the station building. The photograph is taken looking North. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]
The two stations as they appear on the 25″ OSi survey of the early 20th century. The northern approach to each station seems to have been guarded by an abattoir! [2]
Three enlarged extracts from the same mapping make it easier to pick out details at the two station sites. North of the mainline Goods Shed, there appears to have been a goods transfer platform with the 3ft gauge siding on its East side and an Irish standard-gauge line on its West side. These three map extract do not properly show the Cavan & Leitrim Railway carriage and engine shed. The next map extract shows both these buildings which were to the North of the passenger facilities. [2]
This map extract from the 25″ OSi survey shows the Cavan & Leitrim carriage shed, engine shed and turntable close to the centre of the image, the standard-gauge Goods Shed and the transfer platform are to the left of the image. [2]

The preservation line is only short in length and extends as far as the limits of the site permits towards Mohill. However, it is rightly proud of its work and continues to achieve much more than might be expected given the relatively small number of volunteers. You can visit its website by clicking here. [3]

Trains run on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. The group also has a transport museum, with narrow-gauge trains of every gauge, buses, planes, fire engines and artillery guns from WW1 and WW2.

‘Nancy’ sits alongside the Water Tower, outside the Engine Shed, at Dromod. She was not in steam on 6th May 2023. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]

‘Nancy’ was refurbished in the years prior to the pandemic. Work was finally completed in 2019. ‘The Railway Hub‘ reported the completion of the work on 22nd September 2019: “The restoration of the Cavan & Leitrim Railway’s Avonside 0-6-0T Nancy is officially complete after 22 years’ work and £160,000 investment. The former ironstone loco returned to steam at Alan Keef’s Ross-on-Wye workshops in March, but was delivered to Dromod without its brass dome cover as this was still being manufactured by ‘The Dorset Copperfish’. The new dome was finally delivered by Alan Keef on 27th July, and C&L volunteers wasted no time fitting it to Nancy as a final finishing touch.” [4]

The pictures taken at the preservation/museum site below are predominantly my own and were taken on 6th May 2023. By no means are these an exhaustive survey of the exhibits at Dromod.

We start with Michael Kennedy showing me Tralee and Dingle Railway Carriage No.10 (1891) which is stored in the carriage shed at Dromod awaiting restoration.

Tralee and Dingle Railway Carriage No.10T (1891) which is stored in the carriage shed at Dromod awaiting restoration. Michael is pointing to the faded CIE logo on the carriage side. It was in 1945 that Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) was founded, uniting the Great Southern Railways with the Dublin United Tramway Company. The name means “Irish Transport Service” in the Irish language. CIÉ began its operations on 1st January 1945 as a private company with shares traded on the Dublin stock exchange. The Tralee & Dingle Railway became part of its empire! [My photograph, 6th May 2023]
An internal view of Tralee & Dingle Carriage No. 10T which sits under cover awaiting restoration. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]

Tralee & Dingle Railway Carriage No. 10T sits in the Carriage Shed at Dromod awaiting restoration. It is one of a pair of Tralee &Dingle carriages (7T and 10T). Its sister (7T) is currently in Cumbria. Both carriages were built by the Bristol Wagon and Carriage Works, 7T in 1890 and 10T in 1891. They served on the Tralee & Dingle until it closed to passenger traffic in 1939 and we’re then moved to the West Clare Railway.

They served on the West Clare until the West Clare section was dieselised in the 1950’s and the carriages became redundant, they were then sold off as bodies and used as holiday homes and huts. Number 7T and 10T became huts for drainage contractor Gerry Walsh. Micheal Kennedy recovered the carriages a number of years back. 7T is being restored in Cumbria, as of 2023, work is ongoing on the bogies and chassis.

To find out more about these carriages and about donations to the work being undertaken please follow this link. [5]

Also at Dromod is railcar trailer No. 47C of the CIE West Clare Section. Originally built in 1890 by the Bristol Carriage and Wagon Company for the Tralee & Dingle Railway as a wooden bodied 3rd Class 34 seat carriage, it carried the number 6 on the Tralee & Dingle. On one of its windows is a short history of carriage conversions undertaken to make railcar trailer No. 47C.

The information sheet on the side of Carriage No. 47c. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]
Carriage No. 47c alongside the platform at Dromod. This photograph was shared on The 3ft Gauge Enthusiasts Facebook Group by Philip Bedford on 2nd October 2021. [6]
The Cavan & Leitrim Railway logo on the side of Carriage No. 47c. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]
Ex-Bord Na Mona locos at Dromod on Saturday 22nd April 2023, © Gareth James and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [7]
More ex-Bord Na Mona at Dromod on 6th May 2023. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]
A Wickham Trolley in the shed at Dromod. This is number W6/11-4 (Works No. 9673). It was once based at Lochaber and was used for inspection duties on the 3ft gauge Lochaber system which included a section of railway going up Ben Nevis! It arrived at Dromod in the winter of 1996. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]
Affixed to the front window of the Wickham Trolley is a picture of it in use on Ben Nevis. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]

Wikipedia informs us that “the Lochaber Narrow Gauge Railway was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge industrial railway. It was a relatively long line, built for the construction and subsequent maintenance of a 15-mile-long (24-kilometre) tunnel from Loch Treig to a factory near Fort William in Scotland.[1] The tunnel was excavated to carry water for the Lochaber hydroelectric scheme in connection with aluminium production by British Aluminium. The railway came to be known colloquially as the ‘Old Puggy Line’.” [7]

A proper look at the Lochaber Narrow Gauge Railway is for another time but it ran from Fort William to Loch Treig and on to the Laggan Dam on Loch Spean, as shown below.

Thes five extract from RailMapOnline taken together show the full length of the Lochaber Narrow Gauge Railway. Opened in 1925, the Lochaber Narrow Gauge Railway finally closed in 1977. [8]

Back to the Cavan and Leitrim at Dromod. The museum includes a series of different means of transportation. Just a few photos from my visit in 2023.

A Great Northern Railway Gardner bus sits in front of carriage 10T in the carriage shed. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]
One of the Bergbolagen Rail Tricycles restored by volunteers at the Cavan and Leitrim Railway. This tricycle was last in use by Bord na Mona on Clonsast Bog in County Kildare. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]

https://youtu.be/oxa_s5WfWn8 [11]

The Cavan and Leitrim Railway has restored two 3 foot gauge Bergbolagen Rail Tricycles, part of a batch purchased by Bord na Mona (The Irish Turf Board) in 1957 from the Bergbolagen Company in Stockholm, Sweden, the yellow one was used on Clonsast Bog in County Kildare, the green one (running second on the video) was used on Boora Bog in County Offaly. Andrew Wilson kindly donated the parts (rescued in the 1970s) from which both of these machines were restored. [9]

A replica 3 ft gauge rail inspection bicycle built by Cavan and Leitrim volunteers using the frames of 2 1920s “High Nelly’s” and original early 1900s american Teetor & Hartley wheels. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]
The Guinness Steam Loco (No. 22) at the Cavan & Leitrim at Dromod was 100 years old in 2012 which made it 111 years old in 2023. This is it, in storage at Dromod on 6th May 2023. Loco No. 22 was built in Spense’s foundry, Cork Street, Dublin in 1912.
It was part of an extensive network of locos in the Guinness brewery at St. James’s Gate in Dublin and continued in operations until 1957. In August 2003, No. 22 arrived in Dromod and since then, hard work began to restore it back to its former glory. So far the bodywork has been restored. No. 22 isn’t fully restored. Its Boiler is missing. The task of replacing it has proven challenging as it is designed to run on a 1ft 10in track, slightly narrower than the standard of 2ft. However that doesn’t mean it will never be restored. The Cavan & Leitrim continue in their search for the best replacement boiler and hope some day soon No. 22 will return to steam. [10]

Hidden amongst series of different important relics are two wagons. The first shown below comes from the West Clare Railway, the second

A chassis and frame from a 5 ton covered wagon from the West Clare Railway in storage at Dromod. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]
A 2-plank China Clay wagon from North Devon built by Marshalls in 1880 in store at the Cavan & Leitrim Railway at Dromod. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]
A restored two-plank wagon No.4318. [My photograph, 6th May 2023]

References

  1. https://www.irishrail.ie/Admin/IrishRail/media/Stations/dromod_pic.jpg, accessed on 18th July 2023.
  2. https://osi.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=bc56a1cf08844a2aa2609aa92e89497e&extent=608964.6235%2C603547.0536%2C610175.0947%2C604299.7947%2C2157, accessed on 18th July 2023.
  3. https://www.cavanandleitrimrailway.com, accessed on 18th July 2023.
  4. https://www.therailwayhub.co.uk/7671/new-dome-completes-22-year-restoration-of-nancy-at-dromod, accessed on 18th July 2019.
  5. https://www.cavanandleitrimrailway.com/post/railbike, accessed on 19th July 2023.
  6. https://m.facebook.com/groups/1529628147328240/permalink/2815090888781953, accessed on 23rd July 2023.
  7. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lochaber_Narrow_Gauge_Railway, accessed on 3rd August 2023.
  8. https://www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php, accessed on 5th August 2023.
  9. https://www.cavanandleitrimrailway.com/post/other-bike, accessed on 5th August 2023.
  10. http://thecavanandleitrimrailway.blogspot.com/2012/06/guinness-brewery-steam-loco-celebrates.html?m=1, accessed on 6th August 2023.
  11. https://youtu.be/oxa_s5WfWn8, accessed on 6th August 2023.