Abandoned railways of County Donegal

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• published: 22 Jul 2014
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Currently there are five counties in Ireland that have no revenue earning operational railways. These are Donegal, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Cavan and Monaghan. The Navan to Kingscourt branch just creeps into Cavan but unfortunately the last train to traverse this line, the weedsprayer, ran on the 7th of June 2002. Donegal was once served by 225 miles of narrow gauge 3' 0'' railways but of this nothing survives, apart from the three mile long Fintown Railway. In July 2014, while on holidays in Donegal, I visited many of the old railway sites hoping to capture some of these locations on camera, before they disappear forever. * (0:00) First of all, some footage of what is probably the most spectacular remnant of the railways of Donegal, the Owencarrow Viaduct. This viaduct is 380 yards long and crosses the Owencarrow River near the townland of Drumnacarry. Winds were so strong here (120mph) that on Friday the 30th of January 1925, a passenger train was blown off the viaduct, tragically leading to the deaths of four people: Philip Boyle and his wife Sarah from Arranmore Island, Una Mulligan from Falcarragh and Neil Duggan from Meenbunowen, Creeslough. After this disaster, an anemometer was installed at Dunfanaghy Road station and if winds were too strong, all trains were stopped. This illustrates the wild landscape that navvies had to build this line across and the huge challenges they faced. * (0:58)The next footage is from the former Creeslough Station. located east of the town. All that remains here is the station building, now a private house, a humpback bridge which once spanned the line and the now barely visible remains of the platform. The trackbed to the north of the station has been filled in and is now part of a field (the owner of which was very careless, leaving the gate open). * (1:32) Next, at Barnes Gap, the railway once ran on the high ground alongside the road. This required blasting through part of the hillside. I filmed the nearby Barnes Gap Viaduct from this high ground and then ventured into the cutting, which is now very boggy and soft! After extracting myself, we then drove past the remains of the Barnes Gap Viaduct which are very well preserved, although the span has been removed. On the approach to the viaduct, the trackbed can be seen to the right, above the boulders. * (2:47) At the townland of Cashelnagore, three miles south of Gort an Choirce (Gortahork) the trackbed is clearly visible from an overbridge. A few miles further down this road lies Cashelnagore Station, the best preserved on the line. This station is quite literally in the middle of nowhere, on a bog with no houses nearby whatsoever. This station was used for the filming of The Railway Station Man in the early 1990s ad was cosmetically restored for this purpose. However, within a few years it reverted to its ruinous state. It appears some renovation works were started on the building but were not completed; a burst of Celtic Tiger spending perhaps. The platform and station buildings remain in situ and the trackbed can clearly be seen, some of it being used as an access to a local forestry plantation. * (4:20) Further back the line, before the aforementioned overbridge, at Fawnaboy, a magnificent embankment can be seen. A superbly preserved underbridge also remains.This amazing site is testament to the workmanship of the navvies who built this line. It is hard to believe trains once ran here, in this place now home only to sheep. * (5:14) Finally at Clonbeg Glebe, just north of Creeslough and just south of the former Dunfanaghy Road station, the remains of the Faymore Viaduct are visible. The spans, and embankment have been removed here leaving the stone pillars isolated. Dunfanaghy Road Station, known locally as Cloone station due to the fact that it was absolutley nowhere near Dunfanaghy! Thanks very much for watching, I hope you enjoy this look at some of what remains of Donegal's railway system. Sun. 13/07/14 & Fri. 18/07/14.