COUNTY DONEGAL RAILWAY JOINT COMMITTEE
Rob Langham travels across the Emerald Isle to explore what survives of the remarkable County Donegal Railway Joint Committee – one of Ireland’s greatest narrow gauge railways
Having discovered in late 2022 just how much survived of the County Donegal Railway Joint Committee (CDRJC) – including, tantalisingly, the chance to ride in a Donegal Railcar at the Fintown Railway – a trip across the Irish Sea was planned. Among the inspirations for visiting were the writings of eminent railway author and preservation pioneer, L.T.C. Rolt. Rolt visited the CDRJC in 1952, together with other Irish railways, covering his experiences in Lines of Character: A Steam Age Evocation, with photographs taken by Patrick Whitehouse. Rolt’s enigmatic writing in both Lines of Character and Landscape with Figures – his third and final autobiographical work, which covers the 1952 trip and a post-closure visit to the area – are such wonderful descriptions of the area it was impossible to resist further research, plus a trip to see what remains of the railway and take in some of the atmosphere of the area described so well.
Ulster Transport Museum
I started with a visit to the Ulster Transport Museum. The first impression of the museum is surely one of the most dramatic anywhere – after the reception desk you cross a covered bridge and emerge into the railway hall on an elevated circular walkway, with a dazzling variety of railway exhibits below. They range from narrow gauge industrial engines such as the Guinness Brewery system’s distinctive overtype steam locomotives, to the 5ft 3in gauge class ‘800’ 4 ‐ 6‐0 Maebh, built at Inchichore Works, Dublin, in 1939 for the Great Southern Railway and similar to the LMS ‘Royal Scot’ class.
The list of impressive exhibits goes on, but of relevance was the selection of CDRJC stock. One of four remaining Donegal steam locomotives (and the sole ‘5A’ class), 2 ‐ 6‐4T No. 2 Blanche heads a static train of First Class Saloon carriage No. 1, originally a tri-composite of 1882, and Railcar Trailer No. 3 – which was originally a 5ft 3in petrol engine railcar on the Dublin & Blessington Tramway and, re ‐gauged, ran as a railcar on the CDRJC from 1934 to 1944 until converted to a trailer – with open wagon 136 also displayed at this end of the hall. On the other side of the hall is a trio of internal combustion engine Donegal stock: the 1932 Walker Railcar No. 10 of the Clogher Valley Railway, which was purchased by the Donegal when that line closed in 1941, Gardner diesel-powered No. 11 Phoenix (formerly steam ‐powered), and the diminutive Railcar No. 1 of 1906.
