 
The

Galway Train

Michael J Hurley

Published in association with Lackagh Museum & Community Development Association

Smashwords.com Edition, License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All photographs and illustrations are from author's collection except where otherwise credited.

Copyright © Michael J Hurley 2016

e-mail: **mjhurley48@eircom.net**

Abbreviations used throughout

A&EJR: Athenry & Ennis Junction Railway Company.

CIÉ: Coras Iompar Éireann.

CTC: Central Traffic Control.

GAA: Gaelic Athletic Association.

GNR(I): Great Northern Railways (Ireland).

GSR: Great Southern Railways.

GS&WR: Great Southern & Western Railway.

IÉ: Iarnród Éireann.

IREC: Irish Railways Executive Committee.

IRRS: Irish Railway Record Society.

MGWR: Midland Great Western Railway.

NIR: Northern Ireland Railways.

RPSI: Railway Preservation Society of Ireland.

WL&WR: Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway.

WC: Western Corridor.

UTA: Ulster Transport Authority

Note: In 1966 the main urban railway stations in Ireland were re-named to commemorate executed leaders of the 1916 Rebellion. Thus Kingsbridge became Dublin Heuston, Westland Row (Dublin Pearse), Amiens Street (Dublin Connolly), and Galway became Ceannt Station Galway. Broadstone had ceased to exist as a railway station since 1937. Early timetables used the a.m. and p.m. versions of times, but for the purpose of this publication the current practice of using the 24-hour clock has been adopted throughout except where quotes from other publications use the twelve hour clock. Amounts of money are expressed in the currency prevailing at the date in question. In some sources 'Connacht' is spelled 'Connaught', but for the sake of consistency the former 'Connacht' is used throughout. Train directions are described as 'Up', which means towards the capital, Dublin, or 'Down' which is away from Dublin. Thus the 'down night mail' is the night mail train from Dublin to Galway.

This e-book is the fourth in a series to record the story of public transport in and around Galway City. The other e-books deal with The Galway Bay Steamboat Company, The Galway and Salthill Tramway Company, and The Galway General Omnibus Company, the latter also having been published in a print edition in 2015. All are available from www.Smashwords.com

Broadstone in the very early years of railway. Note the canal barge pulled by a horse in foreground. In 1877 this portion of the Royal Canal was filled in (with special permission) by the MGWR, in a show of contempt for their own canal, in order to create a forecourt parking space for horse-coaches. This woodcut by James Mahon from Handbook to Galway, Connemara, and the Irish Highlands (1859).

Contents

Introduction.

Origins and developments.

The line of the track into Galway.

Ballinasloe Horse Fair.

Into Connemara.

Onwards towards Amalgamation.

The line that got away.

William Dargan's Saloon.

Services.

The Rolling Stock.

Travelling Post Office (TPO).

Accidents, Incidents, and Events.

Frank Bailey versus the Clifden Train.

Who was Éamonn Ceannt?

Railway Personnel.

Visit of Pope John Paul II in September 1979.

Recent Developments.

Catering.

Immigrating to Galway.

Railway Signage.

Tickets.

Uniforms.

Company Crests.

The Future?

An Accidental Nature Reserve.

A Miscellany of Photographs.

Bibliography.

References.
Introduction

This e-book sets out to record in an uncomplicated and simplified manner the story of the coming of the railway into Galway. I have tried to avoid describing the lengthy legal wrangles and failed attempts by long forgotten and little known companies, some of whom attempted to promote impractical lines. There are dozens of companies with confusing names that do not have any bearing on what eventually became the railway to Galway. Similarly I have avoided technical details of locomotives and rolling stock as I feel that these are specialised interests. If any reader wants a definitive and detailed history of the Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland I can do no more that recommend Ernie Shepherd's splendid book (of that name). It is a mine of information.

The purpose of this e-book is to give a flavour of railway life and travel in Galway since 1851. It is not a serious history of the line, rather an anecdotal account of the operations. I have avoided details of excursion trains run as these would run to many hundreds in connection with races, football and hurling matches, hunt meetings and many more, some just pleasure trips in summer months.

Where possible I have named the source of each illustration used, but this has not always been possible as in some cases I have not been able to identify the photographer, and in others the image is now 'in the public domain'. If any other photographers come to be identified to me I will update the book and republish it.

Michael J Hurley

Lackagh, Co. Galway, 2016

This woodcut from James Mahon shows the early Galway Station. Difficult to understand where the tracks on right are leading.

Ceannt Station Galway 29th January 2016. Note the bus bays with their illuminated destination information signs. The Meyrick Hotel at extreme right of picture was the original Railway Hotel of 1851.

More passengers come and go through Galway Station by Bus Éireann than by train. The bus network connects towns that have long lost their railway connection or never in fact had one. .

Origins and Developments

In those far off days of the early 1800s few people travelled any great distance as the only options available were coach or horseback travel, or canal from the midlands to Dublin. The canal, although capable of carrying heavy loads was a very slow method of passage for the traveller, taking literally days to reach the capital. Charles Bianconi, an Italian who had come to Ireland with the intention and ambition of selling religious pictures and prints, had developed an extensive network of coach routes across the country. In fact the last of Bianconi's routes to survive would be that replaced by the Galway to Clifden railway line.

The middle of the nineteenth century saw the widespread mania of railway building throughout the islands of Britain and Ireland. In Ireland we had already seen the opening of the line from Dublin to Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire) in 1834 and the Dublin to Drogheda line in 1844. The former was the first commuter line (although the term had not yet crossed the Atlantic) to be laid into a capital city in these islands. No great surprise then that speculators and investors would turn their attention to the south and west of Ireland as potential railway destinations.

The Midland Great Western Railway Company (MGWR) was destined to become the body to connect the western seaboard of Ireland with the capital city, which was also regarded as the second city of the British Empire. Connacht was the poorest part of the country, the majority of its residents being dependant on small rented farmsteads. The MGWR was not however, the first company to move for a western rail connection; as early as 1835 the Grand Atlantic Railway & Steam Packet Company published plans to connect Dublin with Blacksod Bay in County Mayo to serve a proposed trans-Atlantic steamer service to North America. The Great Central Irish Railway had similar aspirations which failed to come to fruition.

A Royal Commission issued a report in 1838 asserting that the Grand Canal and the Royal Canal were sufficient to provide a passenger and goods service into Connacht and that therefore a railway would be superfluous. This report and a subsequent one were condemned as being unfair to the people of the west of Ireland and in 1843 a Galway newspaper reported that serious consideration was being given to a rail link between Dublin and Ballinasloe. John McNeill who would be knighted in 1844 by Lord Lieutenant Earl de Grey for his services to Irish railways was the driving force behind the scheme.

They proposed a line to run via Edenderry to Mullingar from the GS&WR line at Sallins. A rival proposal was via Maynooth to Mullingar and John McNeill was appointed to examine and report on both options. His report deemed the Maynooth option to be the most beneficial and consideration was soon to be given to the purchase of the Royal Canal and utilising its bank as a cheap, level, and direct route for the line. Following protracted negotiations and several changes of stance by the directors of the canal company a price of £298,059 was agreed for the purchase of the entire canal. This sum represented 40% of the share capital value of the canal.

About this time a rival company headed by MGWR member Richard More O'Farrell proposed a line to follow the Sallins proposal, but omitting Mullingar to run to Athlone and thence to Galway. The junction location would be later altered to Portarlington as against Sallins. This heralded the start of acrimony and rivalry between the boards of MGWR and GS&WR. Meetings were convened between interested parties who were anxious to have the first rail link with the capital to speed delivery of dairy and farm produce from local producers in Connacht.

In the event The Midland Great Western Railway Company of Ireland Act of Incorporation was granted Royal Assent in July 1845 granting powers to construct a railway line from Dublin to Mullingar and thence to Longford. Permission was also granted for the purchase of the Royal Canal but with certain stipulations regarding the continuance of boat navigation and retention of passenger and vessel tolls and charges. The company was authorised to raise one million pounds in capital and Lord Dunsandle was appointed Chairman with John Ennis as his deputy.

The contract for the section of the line from Dublin to Enfield was awarded to Messrs. Jeffs who were Scottish-based contractors. The first sod was turned by the Lord Lieutenant on 12th January 1846, by which time the great catastrophe of the potato famine was taking firm hold of the country. The ceremony took place at Broadstone in Dublin which would become the eastern terminus of the railway and the hope was expressed that employment would become available for some of the thousands of men whose families were becoming destitute in the country.

Two further sections of the line, from Enfield to the Westmeath border, and thence to Belmont close to Mullingar were awarded respectively to Messrs. Champ & Malone and Mr Daniel Desmond. A man named Cockburn was contracted to build the stations from Broadstone as far as Enfield (or Innfield as it is named in some documentation).

In 1847 the GS&WR obtained an Act to construct the alternative line from Portarlington to Tullamore. Also in that year the MGWR received assent for the extending of their line to Galway.

Meanwhile work was progressing slowly on the construction of the line; strikes about rates of pay were frequent and not without violence. The contractor had reduced wage rates for the shorter days of winter and the effect of this cut-back was sadly evidenced in 1847 with the death of a labourer from malnutrition following a period of lay-off caused by inclement weather. However, the relatively flat countryside along the canal-side made construction work relatively easy without the need for major engineering works.

In May 1847 a single line had been completed as far as Enfield. An experimental test journey was made behind a locomotive appropriately named Dunsandle (Lord Dunsandle had died from fever in 1847) from the elegant John Skipton Mulvany-designed Broadstone station, with a meal and reception held close to the lineside near Lucan. Following inspection by government Railway Inspector Captain Coddington the line was officially opened on 28th June 1847.

The next section of line to Hill-of-Down opened on the following 6th December and the section to Mullingar opened on 2nd October 1848 following severe difficulties experienced in laying sleepers and tracks over boggy ground.

In June 1849 the Chancellor of the Exchequer agreed to advance a loan of £500,000 towards the constructing of the line to Galway.

### The MGWR Board entered into contract with William Dargan, above ( _The father of Irish Railways_ ) to construct the entire length of line from Mullingar to Galway. William Dargan was the son of a tenant farmer from Co. Carlow. His first job following initial education in a hedge-school had been as timekeeper on the great London – Holyhead road under Thomas Telford. Telford recognised Dargan's industry and genius and gave him responsibility for the construction of the Howth to Dublin section of the great highway connecting the first and second cities in the Empire. His success on the Howth Road brought him a 'bonus' of £300 which he used to set himself up as a railway contractor. He built in excess of 1,000 miles of railway and had the unique honour of seeing a statue of himself unveiled in the grounds of the National Gallery on Leinster Lawn in Dublin while he was yet alive. He refused a knighthood from the Viceroy, and later in 1853, when she was in Dublin for the Great International Exhibition in Merrion Square, Queen Victoria called at his home in Mount Annville in Dublin to offer him the honour of a baronetcy. This he also declined because of a strong sense of patriotism to his native land. That exhibition is largely believed to have been the financial ruin of William Dargan: he had agreed to fund it but it cost him somewhere in the region of £200,000, four times what he had expected. Injured in a fall from a horse he died in much reduced circumstances as a result of his losses.

Dargan had as many as 900 men on his payroll despite early complaints that he had given preference to non-local men (who had previous experience) and some paupers taken from work-houses. The bridge over the Shannon at Athlone was well advanced under construction by Messrs Fox Henderson and Company and those at Ballinasloe over the River Suck and Lough Atalia were similarly progressing. The viaduct at Lough Atalia comprised five spans, two of sixty feet and three of twenty feet. Granite taken from Merlin Park Quarries was used in the construction. Following agitation from business and shipping interests in Galway it was agreed to include an opening span in the viaduct to facilitate the entry and exit of tall-masted vessels. However, Galway folklore maintains that as far as is known the bridge was only opened on one occasion and that was for the Inspector of Railways prior to the opening of the line, although some reports state that the opening mechanism had not been completed in time for the pre-opening inspection.

The Galway Vindicator reported on the progress of the line on 28th May 1851: Forthill has at last been cut through and wagons are running across Lough Atalia Bridge with filling stuff for the space beyond. The terminus will soon be ready to receive the iron roof, which is landed on our wharf, and every portion of the work is in such a state of forwardness that we may certainly calculate on the opening of the entire line on 1st August.

An early woodcut of Lough Atalia Bridge with St Augustine's Holy Well in the foreground. The only problem is that the artist put the well on the wrong side of the bridge. He has it portrayed as on the sea-ward side when in fact it is on the lough Atalia side. It is in fact a mirror image, but to correct it would make the IHS on the stone incorrect. Some people still make pilgrimage to this well off Lough Atalia Road which has a reputation for the curing of eye diseases.

A GAA special train leaving Galway over Lough Atalia Bridge on 5th August 1995 .

The line was finally completed on 20th July 1851, a week before the date speculated above by the Vindicator and was inspected by the railway inspectorate eight days later on a special train hauled by the locomotives Juno and Pelican. The redoubtable William Dargan had completed his task five months ahead of schedule. The Times of London reported the planned opening: It is announced that the arrangements are completed for opening the Midland Great Western Railway to Galway on 1st August. The Earl of Clarendon has expressed his readiness to attend the inaugural ceremony, and the directors, it is said, contemplate an invitation to Her Majesty to honour the day with the Royal presence. Several families of rank have already engaged the hotels and lodging-houses for their families in order that no inconvenience may be suffered from the influx of visitors to 'the city of the tribes' on the auspicious 1st of August. That was 10th June, but the reporter was either somewhat misinformed or optimistically speculative as the line in fact opened without any pomp or ceremony on 1st August. Here is how The Railway Record Volume 8 of 1851 described the opening: The first passenger train from Dublin for Galway started on Friday. It reached the capital of Connacht in five hours after leaving the metropolis. The directors having due regard to the funds of the company and the depressed state of trade in the country, did not celebrate the event by any pubic entertainment.....

Here the writer described the eastern section of the journey, then continued:

...At Athlone, the train which left Galway in the morning, at nine o'clock, was in waiting for us to pass, bringing up a crowd of passengers. A huge crowd of townspeople were assembled to witness the passage of the trains. From Athlone we went on to Ballinasloe, to Woodlawn, passed Athenry and its stately old ruins, Oranmore, and arrived in Galway to the very second of time announced in the bill, and this in spite of unavoidable delays at stations in consequence of the crowds. Galway looks busy and clean; the works on the Corrib river approach completion, the railway hotel is being built, and certainly a greater blessing than that hotel will be to strangers visiting the town, if we are to judge of the rest of the inns by the wretched entertainment we got in one of the Galway hotels today, we cannot imagine – the worst treatment that the lowest village ale-house could give, charged at the highest rate of the Clarendon Hotel in London. We left Galway at four o'clock, and arrived in Dublin punctually at half-past nine, having travelled by railway above 237 miles.

The last section of 76 miles from Mullingar to Galway was the longest length of railway to be opened in Ireland on any single day. Many sections had been over bogland with which the builders had had little experience therefore resulting in much difficulty. The line was double track from Broadstone to Ballinasloe, then single to Attymon, double to Athenry before singling again to Oranmore, and double thence to Galway.

Now, however, the trains were in full operation with down departures from Broadstone at 07.30, 10.30, and 19.15, the latter being the mail train. Return services from Galway (the station building was not yet completed) were the up mail at 00.30, and passenger services at 09.00 and 16.00.

Railway mania was now at its peak and on 17th October 1851 The Times printed that it appears that measures are about being taken to form a railway communication between Belfast and Galway, and for this purpose it is proposed to use the Ulster Railway from Belfast to Armagh, a distance of 86 miles. From the Ulster line at Armagh a new line of railway is to be constructed of about 80 miles in length, passing through Clones and Cavan to the Dublin and Galway Railway at Mullingar. This plan failed to materialise although by 1870 such a journey was possible if complicated.

Dublin now being a mere five hours travel time from Galway, the MGWR directors turned their attention to the establishment of Galway as a major trans-Atlantic port with onward conveyance by train towards London. As early as 1850 The Times of London remarked on 5th December: By taking the railway from New York to Halifax or Canso (in Nova Scotia), employing the swiftest steam packets thence to Galway, crossing the Great Midland railway from Galway to Dublin , a distance of about 120 miles, thence to Holyhead harbour, a distance of 63 miles and thence to London by The Chester and Holyhead and London and North-Western Railways , a distance of 263 miles – employing about 1,200 miles of railway, and 2,000 miles of steam navigation – the passage from New York to London may be reduced to seven days' time at all events, and possibly to six days, within a few years at farthest.

The board granted £400 towards the scheme and a paddle steamer Viceroy (above) was chartered to make an experimental voyage. A fare of £25 was charged and the vessel sailed under command of Commander Robert Ewing with only 33 passengers aboard. That the venture was a failure was fully exemplified by the fact that Viceroy was lost on her return voyage to Galway. The company's efforts to promote liner traffic received a major boost in March 1859 when the Atlantic Royal Steam Navigation Company (ARSNC) was established to provide a service linking Galway with North America. It was intended that this should be a mail and passenger service but it failed to materialise with the demise of the ARSNC within five years.

In 1859 a plan was mooted by the Galway Pier Junction Railway Company to run a train service from Lough Atalia Bridge, by the New Docks, through Claddagh to terminate at Fair Hill high water mark, a distance of just over seven furlongs. With the failure of the ARSNC this proposal was also dropped. Another plan that later failed to materialise was that to connect a spur from the Galway to Salthill Tramway with the MGWR station.

In 1858 the bill for a new line to connect Athenry with Tuam was lodged and received Royal Assent. This line was laid, again by the old reliable William Dargan and the 15-mile stretch opened on Thursday 27th September to be operated under lease by the MGWR at an annual rent of £4,000.

Soon afterwards Tuam would be linked with Claremorris, this stretch opening in April 1894.

The Athenry and Ennis Junction Railway (A&EJR) was formed to connect these two towns in 1859 following a preliminary meeting in Gort. The A&EJR would experience considerable problems which resulted in confiscation of locomotives and rolling stock in lieu of unpaid debts. Soon there would be a link in place connecting Sligo with Waterford via Claremorris, Tuam, Athenry, Ennis, and Limerick. This would make Athenry a very important station having four junctions issuing from it: Dublin, Galway, Sligo, and Limerick.

In 1859 the GS&WR line from Kingsbridge via Portarlington and Tullamore into Athlone was opened. The GS&WR were obliged to pay significant charges to MGWR for any of their trains or customers using the tracks from Athlone to Galway. This line since 1973 forms part of the main rail route linking the east and west of the country.

In 1877 the Board authorised the major expense of relaying the entire Dublin to Galway line with steel rails to replace the original cast-iron tracks which had proved to be unsatisfactory, being prone to breaking. Also that year the half-yearly report of the Directors of MGWR reported gross receipts of £217,023 less expenses, which included a loss on the Dublin – Galway line, of £150,312. The Board recommended payment of a dividend of 5% to shareholders.

Dunsandle Station with a train for Loughrea, a single carriage and a tiny 'G' class engine. (© Copyright The TurfBurner and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence.)

In 1885 the board of MGWR agreed to contribute a sum to be capped at £4,800 towards the construction of a branch line from Attymon to Loughrea. A contractor named Worthington started work in 1889 with the line opening on 1st December 1990. There was one intermediate station and that to be named Dunsandle. When this branch finally closed on 1st November 1975 it brought down the curtain on what had been traditional railway branch line mixed train (passenger and goods) operation in these islands, as seen and described in David St John Thomas' marvellous book The Country Railway.

A Loughrea-bound classic mixed train with passenger coach, open wagon, closed wagons and guard's van between Attymon and Loughrea. (© Copyright Albert Bridge and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence.)

The line of the Track into Galway

A preserved steam locomotive ex GNR(I) No. 171 Slieve Gullion passing through Athenry in May 2002. The green apparatus at right is a water crane for replenishing the tenders of steam engines. Note the nice traditional semaphore signals which have now disappeared.

Let us take a look at the lie of the land as the train comes towards Galway, starting at the busy junction (from 1860) that was Athenry. Athenry was at milepost 113½ from Broadstone. The MGWR line was crossed here by the line to Claremorris that was operated from April 1894 by the Waterford, Limerick, and Western Railway (WL&WR). This line was extended to Sligo in 1895 and the junction was an important location until the Sligo – Limerick line was closed to passenger traffic in 1963. A sign board on the down (towards Galway) platform bore the words Change here for Ennis Junction and Limerick, while the up platform was signed Change here for Tuam, Claremorris, and Sligo. The line from Tuam enters the station under Captain's Bridge east of the station while the Ennis line leaves the station on the Galway end of the platform.

A Dublin to Galway mail train leaving Athenry in 1953. Notice the railcar at the signal to the right of the steam train. (Unknown)

Cattle and beet were very important sources of traffic from Athenry Station to the eastern counties of Meath and Dublin, and beyond for export.

What is believed to be the longest train ever to pass through Athenry was a 22-coach special bringing passengers to the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 1932. The train was hauled by a single engine of the Woolwich class, built in Dublin with kit parts supplied after World War I by the former munitions factory at Woolwich (which was anxious to find work for its armaments workers following the Great War). Mind you the GSR did not receive good press in relation to the working. A correspondent to the editor of the 'Tribune who identified himself or herself as MGC wrote: Those who had (not the pleasure – but) the torture of travelling from Galway to Dublin for the Eucharistic Congress on Sunday learned a lesson in rail travel that they never will forget. Our train stopped at every station although it was not taking in passengers, the result being that by the time we reached Ashtown Gate the Mass was well under way, and we had no food for hours. Why did the train stop at every station if it was not taking in passengers? There can only be one reason. Because the line had been singled by the wooden-headed directors in the name of economy.......

.....The return journey was little better, and some of those who travelled from Galway actually returned in mail vans.

Athenry had a sixty-foot diameter turntable for turning the longest steam engines that called there and needed turning for the return journey. This turntable may be seen today bearing a superb locomotive in the main railway hall of Cultra Museum in Co. Down.

The train leaves Athenry by crossing Castle Lambert level crossing and past the Teagasc agricultural college which at one time had its own railway siding. There was an accommodation crossing here but following several fatal accidents it was replaced by an underpass in 2000. The train passes Derrydonnell Bridge and the ruins of the old Clanrickard-Burke Castle here before crossing Healy's and later Frenchfort crossings. These two crossings were replaced in 1977 with red lights and warning bell that started to operate when the train was 25 seconds from the crossing and only switched off when the train had completely passed.

Notice in Connacht Tribune 17th January 1959.

Mile post 121 brings us to Oranmore at Galway Metal Company's works where the unique GNR(I) diesel locomotive manufactured in Germany by Maschinenbau Kiel Gmbh. (MAK) spent its final days before being scrapped. It had been sold to the Galway Metal Co. for £4,500 in 1977 to serve as a stationery power plant to drive crushing machinery in the yard but lack of coolant caused the engine to seize up and the vehicle pre-maturely joined the legions of its previous victims for breaking up. It is believed that the engine was cut up in 1999, but one bulls-eye red lamp lens adorns my writing desk as a paperweight. There was formerly a siding at Oranmore for oil tanks to be unloaded and they were shunted by a road lorry converted for rail use.

The MAK locomotive being lifted from the tracks for the last time, in Galway, probably 1977. Below the engine en-route to Galway Metal Works in Oranmore via Eyre Square. (Both courtesy Peter Bohan formerly CIÉ)

The former Oranmore Station above was really the only commuter station in Galway being served by trains from the main line and those from Galway-Limerick and Tuam – Galway lines. However, the station boasted two platforms with a signal cabin on the Oranmore side close to the road crossing. This station closed in June 1963 and the building is now a private residence.

An attractive vintage lamp standard which still stands by the side of the old Oranmore Station. If the background seems a little strange it is because the photograph has been altered to remove distracting lines in the background.

Soon we pass under the M6 motorway at Cartron Bridge and on the short distance (¼ mile) to Garraun level crossing at MP 122¼. The people of Oranmore complained to CIÉ in January 1963 on the decision to terminate the employment of the crossing keeper here as an economy measure and described the action as a callous act. CIÉ stated that it was the duty of the person using the crossing to close and open the gates. CIÉ told representatives that they never had had any legal obligation to 'man' the crossing. However, following years of agitation and at least five deaths at the crossing Galway County Council declared the roadway around the crossing to be a 'public roadway' rather than the farm access road it had been.

Immediately after this crossing we come to the newly opened Oranmore Railway Station with a single platform 174 metres in length and parking for 150 cars. This station was opened as part of the renewed Athenry – Limerick local service which had its ceremonial train trip on 29th March 2010.

A Limerick-bound railcar at Oranmore on a dark 29th January 2016 at 13.58.

Next we approach the most recent crossing to be automated on this stretch of line, Ned Reilly's crossing at Rosshill (Doughiska). Ned , or Eddie and his wife Jennie (née O'Connor) manned these gates for many years, and Jennie continued even when her husband was working as signal man in Galway Signal Box. They both died in 2013. I was always amused at Eddie's clothes line in his lineside garden: it was supported by two iron prickers or pokers from the footplates of long-gone steam engines. I asked him about it one day and he asked me did I know what was holding up his other clothes line beside the house. I looked and saw it was supported by two lengths of point-rodding from the signals department. A railway man through and true! This crossing was automated in 2014.

29th May 2009 at 11.48 and a Dublin to Galway train passes Eddie Reilly's Crossing at Doughiska Road. The manual gates were still in service at this date.

The train travels beneath the Coast Road Bridge and passes Rosshill Lodge farm accommodation crossing. This was the house where my mother-in-law, Evelyn Duggan (née Leech) was reared. Her father was John Leech who was secretary of the Galway General Omnibus Company and The Galway Bay Steamboat Company. A family named King now own the house, and their dairy cows crossing the line here are a daily sight.

On a frosty morning my wife Phil poses at Rosshill Lodge farm crossing showing that there is no dearth of signage here to warn people of the dangers.

Now we come to the over-road bridge beside the duelling field close to Uncleen's Wood. My wife and her siblings still refer to this as The Red Bridge although it has been painted an attractive jade green for many years now. This bridge was the scene of many motor accidents. On Easter Monday 1948 two men were injured when their car struck the side of the bridge as they drove from Oranmore to Galway. The newspapers reported that this was the eighteenth accident at the Red Bridge in the previous eighteen months.

The Red Bridge (!) at Ross Hill, scene of many road traffic accidents prior to the re-alignment of the main road.

In 1965 plans were progressing with a view to eliminating the Red Bridge from the main road into Galway with the construction of a new bridge to cross the tracks. There was considerable disagreement between the County Council and CIÉ mainly in relation to the question of liability in the event of accidents. There was also some discontent with four farmers whose lands would be compulsorily acquired for the diverted roadway.

The un-manned level crossing at Murrough with its attractive iron gates and stone pillars

With the line on a down gradient now we come to the convenience crossing at Murrough House (pronounced locally as Murr-ook). Originally built by a man named Ryan, this was one of the properties belonging to the Blake family and later (1945) to Captain Wyndham Waithman who also owned Merlin Park House. If the Blakes wanted a train to stop to pick up a member of the household they tied a red flag to the gate and the train took this as an indication to stop. The house and surrounding lands were sold to the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology around 2007.

On then we come to Ballyloughane, a popular bathing strand beside the suburban development of Renmore. There was a highly dangerous but nonetheless much used unofficial pedestrian crossing here linking Renmore with the strand area. Following the death of a three-year old child the access was finally fenced off and the crossing eliminated in the eighties. During the building of the line large quantities of earth and filling material had to be manually shovelled up to create the high embankment to carry the trains along here.

Renmore Military Barracks with the railway just visible at extreme left. Renmore Railway Bridge may be seen at the end of the line of the wall followed from foreground. Note the lines of tents erected to right. (Lawrence postcard)

Then the train enters a shallow cutting as the line curves around to Renmore Military Barracks. In the 1780s, there were two military buildings in the town of Galway, the Shambles Barracks and the Castle Barracks. As these buildings aged, the War Department decided to expand, and it bought strategically important lands at Renmore, where in 1880 it built a new barracks which would become the main depot for the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Later, the Connaught Rangers took over and were very much associated with the complex. In February 1922, after the truce, the British moved out and the barracks were taken over by Republicans. During the Civil War a dispute occurred between the two factions, and the Anti Treaty side evacuated and left the buildings in smouldering ruins.

In 1936 the national army took possession after the barracks had been fully rebuilt by a contractor named McNally of Market Street.

Kevin Brophy in his autobiographical book Walking the Line* gives us a description of the railway and its accompanying footpath from the Military Church at the Barracks to Galway town: The Line was separated from the railway by four strands of smooth wire linking a string of wooden posts. Both Line and railway ran along the top of a high causeway that began at the Barracks and ended at the railway station. When you were used to walking the Line you marked it off in your mind in sections. The first piece was all downhill, the small chapel on your right, then the stretch of plots where some of the soldiers grew potatoes and onions and cabbages. Sometimes, if you were hungry, and the place was deserted, you'd climb through the wires into the plots and pick a handful of fresh young scallions that grew in the summertime.

*'The Line' is the name in common usage by Galway people for this path. It is not implied that the people actually walk on the railway line itself.

It was close to the end of this section of the man-made embankment that the body of young Swiss student Manuela Riedo was found murdered in October 2007. This horrific event reinforced the danger of unaccompanied people using the then unlit and remote path after dark. Manuela was not the first lady to be attacked along The Line.

After the downward hill there was a straight stretch until you reached the first bridge on the Line. We called it Paddy Walsh's bridge.......I looked down as I always did, at the rough cross of stones laid out on the grass below the bridge which spanned a wide gap in the causeway, causing a link between the land on either side of the railway. The stone cross was a memorial to the soldier who had given his name to the bridge when he fell to his death on the grass below. Legend had it that Paddy Walsh, hearing a train approaching in the darkness, and mistakenly thinking he was walking on the sleepers, had clambered, as he thought, through the wires to the safety of the Line, but instead had plunged to his death....

Patrick Walsh was a native Irish speaker from Dungarvan in Co. Waterford, and was stationed in the Irish speaking regiment at Renmore in 1932. After the mortally injured Paddy was found and subsequently died, suspicions arose about the actual cause of his death and his body was exhumed in Ardmore Co. Waterford for a further post-mortem examination. His brother, William who was also stationed in Renmore, was arrested and charged with his murder, but the jury at his trial failed to find any conclusive evidence of his guilt.

Kevin Brophy continues: The longest section of the Line ran from Paddy Walsh's bridge to the middle bridge. On either side lay the wet, marshy ground which stretched on one side to the salt water lake (Lough Atalia, or the lake of salt), and on the other to the bay.

Lough Atalia Bridge was by far the biggest bridge on the Line, spanning the wide neck of water that passed between lake and bay. If you were crossing this bridge at the same time as a train was pulling in or out, you could feel the bridge tremble and groan under the clanking mass of iron, and sometimes the engine would hiss violently and clouds of smokes steam would billow around you.

Mind you we are not yet finished with engineering works on the line; just yards to go but still there was space for a fine cast iron bridge to span Lough Atalia Road. It was cast in a Stephens' foundry in Merchant's Road and stands to this day. In 2015 the road beneath the bridge was lowered in order to afford greater head-room to buses and trucks using Lough Atalia Road. Because of the curved-arch nature of the bridge, high vehicles could only pass beneath it in the centre of the road often to the frustration of drivers of vehicles coming from the opposite direction.

Now we are at the station but long gone are the old semaphore signals (above in November 1999) that clattered and squeaked in their wire pulleys in anticipation of a train movement. Nearly opposite the now defunct signal cabin was a little cottage which had been the home of a man named Ollie McCormack, and CIÉ built a dormitory for visiting train crews here on the site of three older cottages close to the extant water tower that held 11,950 gallons for the ever-thirsty steam engines. The dormitory was demolished in 2000. The signal cabin had 42-levers to control the signals and points of the busy station, and was situated on the eastern end of the station.

A '201' class locomotive hauls a football special train out of Galway's storage siding in order to propel it back into the platform for passengers. The signal cabin was still operational as were the romantically styled semaphore signals.

Eddie, or Ned O'Reilly (above by J P O'Dea) of whom we have written at Rosshill or Doughiska crossing once told me a strange story of an incident one day in this signal box. It was a quiet calm day and Eddie was resting between trains in the old armchair at the rear of the box. The fire burned brightly in the pot-bellied stove. Suddenly the air was rent with loud screeching which Eddie recognised to be coming from the stove. Puzzled, he opened the flap of the stove to see a rat being burned alive on the roaring coals. Eddie surmised that the creature must have been caught by a gull or hawk and managed to struggle free as he was carried over the signal box. Luck certainly ran out for Ratus ratus that day as he apparently dropped straight down the cabin chimney into the bosom of Hades.

The forty-two lever frame of Galway Signal Box. The levers controlled the signals and points for the station area; the signals and points being inter-locked so that the signalman could not put a signal to 'all clear' if the tracks were not set correctly for that manoeuver. The signalman also controlled the electric staff or token system without which no driver could take a train into a section of track. The system required that only one token could be out of the safety machine to prevent collisions on the section of line.

Compare the two maps above to see how the station has shrunk in a hundred years. The lower map is a rough approximation of current layout.

In February 1961 Mayor Fintan Coogan TD officially opened a new set of sidings at Galway Station. The sidings which cost £21,000 were designed to cater for goods in wagon loads, especially fertilisers, cement, sugar, and grain and to facilitate rapid exchange with road vehicles for onward transport. However, the sidings would have an unhappy accident the following March (1962) when 51-year-old Joseph Williams of Shantalla was killed by a wagon as he unloaded cement for his employers Galway Tile Company of Long Walk. A high wind was said to have been a contributing factor in propelling the wagons that struck the deceased.

Here is how the Industrial Heritage Ireland web site describes Galway Station: There is a long siding leading into a loop on the Down side, before crossing Lough Atalia on a bridge which previously had an opening span. Legend has it that this had the distinction of having been opened once during its lifetime, for the pre-opening Board of Trade inspection and never again! The disused signal cabin is on the Down side immediately after this. The freight area is on the same side and contains a goods store, a number of sidings and a loading bank. There is a level crossing across two of the sidings. There is just one platform with two faces here, on the up side, the second face being added by CIÉ. It and the adjacent carriage siding are covered by an overall roof. The wall of the station beside the carriage siding is adorned with pieces of art. There is a facing siding off the carriage siding which serves the other face of the triangular loading bank in the goods area. There was originally a second platform, but this was walled off by the GSR and used as a road freight depot.

The loco area is behind the platform on the Up side and contains a loco shed, fuel point, turntable and water tower. This siding ends under a road overbridge beyond these and is all that remains of the former branch to Clifden, closed in 1935. The station building is on the Up platform and contains the ticket office, waiting room, regional offices for both Irish Rail and Bus Éireann and the bus ticket office. Behind the buffer stops is the Great Southern Hotel, railway owned until 1984, when mounting losses forced the Government to bail out their railway company and take over this chain of hotels. In the passage way beside this, there is a door, above which, a notice states "JAMES FEENEY, licensed to sell beers, wines and spirits for consumption on the premises". The station and hotel front onto Eyre Square, an attractive plaza in the centre of Galway.

A departing train (tell-tale rear lights) passing the defunct signal box on Friday 29th January 2016 at 13.00. Notice the modern electric light signalling with LEDs.

Since 2004 the station movements are now controlled by a central electronic system which has eliminated the need for many signalmen and cabins along the rails of Ireland. Gone are these places of comfort, companionship, and security, as vigilant signalmen watched the safety of every train that passed his box.

Originally the station had two platforms in the main building with two spare lines for the storage of carriages between the two. The GSR closed the down platform and its nearest siding and built a wall in order to make a road / rail freight transfer yard which is behind the blue gable of the following picture.

The original down-side platform is still visible in 2016 some eighty years after its redundancy with the removal of two lines of track into the station.

A line ran out to the right under a bridge towards where the band hall now is and this was the beginning of the Clifden Branch. A pedestrian on the Line path walks on a footbridge over this line today. The Clifden line branched from the mainline opposite the signal box, and this means that every train between Clifden and Galway had to reverse to either leave or enter Galway station.

A Sunday of football specials in July 1995 clearly shows the extensive sidings curving away towards the goods shed and Fairhill Cemetery. .

The New Docks in Galway with railway wagons for loading and unloading at left. Picture from a woodcut by James Mahon from Handbook to Galway, Connemara, and the Irish Highlands.

Another line ran left towards the sidings in a curving siding towards the docks beside Fairhill burial ground, but originally as far as the New Docks for freight trans-shipment. In 1963 when the steam locomotive depot in Galway closed following the elimination of steam engines the extant bay platform was formed, and this is today used by the Galway to Limerick trains. The stub of the Clifden line has recently been disconnected thus isolating the turntable. This must put a question mark on future steam hauled excursions to Galway as the locomotive will have to either leave or enter Galway tender-first.

One of my favourite photos is this view from 6th June 1964 of J15 class GS&WR locomotive No. 183 with a rail tour at Galway. Note the lines of goods wagons and petrol tanks; a forgotten age in the sidings curving away towards the docks. (©mjh)

Former GNR(I) locomotive 171, Slieve Gullion entering the turntable for turning during the RPSI Corrib Rail Tour of May 2002. This was approximately the location of a windmill which dated from 1573.

Ex GS&WR class J15 locomotive No. 184 on an RPSI Galway rail tour. Note the large 'Flying Snail' emblem on the tender. Preserved RPSI coaches in bay platform. (© Barry Pickup)

A view of Galway yard in 2009. Since this view was taken, all of the foreground tracks are now disconnected leaving only the track on which the train is standing on this side of the station. This platform is used by the Limerick service trains now. The track at left is the stub of the Clifden line.

Two contrasting views of the station interior at Galway. In the above picture by Lawrence Postcards the four lines are still in situ. Notice the pots for holding oil lamps on the roof of the carriages. The ladder against the right hand coach was for the porter to climb to insert the lamp into the pot. The lower photo was 29th January 2016. Note the change of roof shape from curved to apex.

The former steam-engine shed at Galway in January 2016.

An interesting piece of the station architecture is this original entrance pillar which remains today on the Galway platform.

The 11,950 gallon water tank with its cut-stone base seen from Lough Atalia Bridge is still in place.

Joseph Tatlow (above), erstwhile General Manager of MGWR in his autobiography Fifty Years of Railway Life (1920) observed: Galway is the principal western terminus of the Midland railway. It was once a famous city, but its glory has gone....

......Someday great harbour works will adorn the bay of Galway, from which fine steamers, forming part of an imperial route to our dominions and beyond, shall sail, and shorten the Atlantic voyage. A tunnel, too, uniting Great Britain and Ireland may be made, which all will agree, is a consummation devoutly to be wished. 96 years on and we are still waiting!

Ballinasloe Horse Fair

Joseph Tatlow was born in Sheffield in 1851 and had a long and successful career in railway life in Ireland, England, and Scotland before his death in 1929. He spent a time as General Manager of the MGWR in Ireland from 1890, having been brought here to try and rescue an ailing and run-down organisation. He had deep and fond memories of the works associated with the annual fair at Ballinasloe: Ballinasloe fair in the west of Ireland was the great event of the year, not only for the sale of flocks and herds, but also for social gatherings, fun and frolic.......

......Arrived at Ballinasloe we established ourselves in quarters that were part of the original station premises. These consisted of a good sized dining room, six bedrooms, and an office for the manager and his clerk. The walls and ceilings of the rooms were sheeted with pitch pine and varnished. They were very plainly furnished, the only thing in the way of decoration being a production in watercolour representing a fair green crowded with herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, and adorned with sundry pastoral and agricultural emblems from the brush of my friend 'Cyricus'. The upper rooms (three bedrooms) were reached by an almost perpendicular staircase surmounted by a trap door.

The station at Ballinasloe (above) was designed by G W Hemans who was engineer with MGWR. He was the one to ceremoniously lay the final rail in the Mullingar to Galway section on the bridge at Athlone. The building is very attractive and is said to be ecclesiastical in appearance.

Two long sleeping carriages as well as a dormitory were provided for train crews. So busy was the fair that rolling stock was totally insufficient with trains having to return to Ballinasloe immediately after taking a full load to Meath or Dublin. The volumes of animals handled were enormous with 1891 seeing 25,000 sheep, 10,000 cattle, and 1,500 horses in the fair, many of which were transported in 43 special trains. This was in stark contrast to the fair of 1876 which had seen a severe fall off in the numbers of animals present due to the prevalence of the dreaded Foot and Mouth Disease. However, passenger and non-livestock goods traffic was reported to be buoyant.

The directors used the fair as an opportunity to entertain customers and dignitaries. While this wining and dining was in progress, Tatlow used the time to examine procedures and the following year he confidently placed the entire operation under the control of his principal outside men, with excellent results.

Important fairs were also held at such towns as Galway, Loughrea, Athenry, and Tuam and these required special livestock trains to be in attendance. A special sleeping car was brought to the town's station where the train crews would rest overnight before working the trains east. The sleeper had 24 bunk beds along with a separate compartment containing two bunks for travelling inspectors. The advent of livestock marts and the direct sale of animals to meat factories and abattoirs brought about the end of the old traditional street fair in Ireland by the 1960s.

Tatlow had a very great interest in the welfare of the staff on the railway. In Scotland he had been instrumental in starting a benevolent society for the benefit of the non-salaried grades and in 1891 he proposed the establishment of the Railway Benevolent Institute in Ireland. He was Chairman of the Society for the duration of his twenty-one years with MGWR and was meticulous in his dealings with the organisation. He strove never to miss a board meeting which he considered most important as the board comprised both company and staff representatives. The Society provided a sick-pay fund, pension facilities, and widows' and orphans' benefits.

A long cattle train heading for a fair in a provincial town, probably in the 1950s. Behind the engine is a guard's van followed by the sleeping coach for train crews at the town of the fair. Next comes the long line of cattle wagons which would have to be hosed clean after every use. Note the telegraph pole by the lineside. These poles were a feature of all railways until the sixties when cables were routed underground. The wires carried telecommunications as well as electric train control systems. (Photo the late David Murray IRRS).

Into Connemara

Between the 1830s and 1860s a car operated by the Bianconi company left Clifden at 09.00 for Galway while a service in the opposite direction left thirty minutes later. The cars reached their destinations in mid-afternoon having travelled via Oughterard.

The Galway Vindicator reported in December 1860 on a meeting that had been held in Clifden to consider the possibility of a tramway to connect that far outreach of Connemara with Galway City. This was to be the first of many attempts to establish a rail link but all foundered due to lack of funds and concern over the sparsity of population.

In 1880 it was proposed that a steam tramway be laid between Galway and Clifden via Oughterard. The plan was for the tramway to connect with the Galway & Salthill Tramway at Henry Street in the city, thence along the roadside via Moycullen to Oughterard and Clifden. This line was known as 'The Menlo Line', and after alterations to its proposed path in 1884 and a change in planned traction to be a steam railway the plan eventually folded, once again due to a lack of available funding.

Funds were eventually provided under The Light Railway Act of 1889 following the concerned and persistent efforts of Arthur Balfour who was Chief Secretary of Ireland from 1887 to 1891. It was envisaged that a railway would provide much needed local employment as well as an outlet for local farm and sea produce. Balfour, one of the few British officials to have a genuine concern for the people of Ireland, visited the area for some days in 1890 and endeared himself to the local population and national press after he declined a police escort and travelled in the company of just his sister and the elected representative for each district.

Five separate proposals were made for the Connemara link; two by direct inland routes and two by costal routes with the fifth originating in Claremorris. Edward Townsend, who would become the longest serving Professor of Engineering at University College Galway surveyed the various routes and after deliberations the Board of Public Works announced its decision in favour of an inland route from Galway in March 1890. Because of the need to urgently provide employment for distressed families the government entered into talks with the MGWR Board for this company to immediately undertake and complete these works. Two years were granted for the provision of the line, infrastructure, and stations at Moycullen (7¾ miles, two platforms, goods and livestock facilities), Ross (12 miles, with single platform), Oughterard (16½ miles, two platforms, turntable, goods and livestock bank), Maam Cross (26½ miles, two platforms, goods and livestock facilities), Recess (35½ miles with two platforms), Ballynahinch (40¾ miles, single platform and goods siding), and a terminus at Clifden at 48 miles from Galway. Clifden station boasted a Station Master's residence, goods siding and shed, engine shed and turntable, coaling station, and one terminal platform. Ballynahinch (or Ballinahinch) later had a second platform added. The government grant of £294,000 was augmented by a further £186,000 from the MGWR.

Three contractors undertook the project; Robert Worthington, Travers Falkiner, and Charles Braddock. As we have seen Worthington was already engaged in the construction of the Attymon to Loughrea branch but he soon commenced work on the latest contract with 500 men employed at an average wage rate of 12s. (twelve shillings) per week. Boys were paid 10s., and gangers up to one pound. Primitive living huts with accommodation for ten men to each hut were erected along the path of the line to facilitate labourers who lived a long distance from the works site. Sharing of bed-space was not uncommon.

Worthington's work soon came in for criticism and his contract and that of Braddock were eventually transferred to Falkiner, a Tipperary-born engineer.

While over 1,000 men were employed there was disquiet among the contractors and local clergy about the unfettered availability of poitín (illegally distilled spirits, or moonshine) in the many sheebeens that opened along the route. They had no success in closing these illicit drinking dens while the healthy railway wage packets were flowing.

By 1891, 1,160 men were employed and Dublin Castle authorities asked the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) to submit a weekly report confirming the numbers at work and at what location, whether they were in need of relief, and if shelter was provided for the workforce. The Castle authorities wanted to ensure that those employed were those in genuine need of relief works. The figure employed rose as high as 1,368 men of whom at least two labourers, one as young as 11, were killed in work accidents.

General Manager of MGWR, Joseph Tatlow in his autobiography wrote about his business on the construction of the Clifden which he said: often called me on visits to the wilds it (the line) penetrated, and gladly I always answered the call. Sometimes on these excursions one had to rough it a little, for hotel accommodation was scarce and scanty in some of the districts, but in one's early forties, such trifles scarcely count!

This bridge was the very first over the Clifden line and still stands beside the band hall and the line path by the back of Ceannt Station.

There were a number of impressive bridges constructed for the line. The first of these was at Forester Street in the city and had four spans. Next the line passed under Prospect Hill (under Shannon Cleaners) in a 240 foot-long tunnel, the only tunnel on the line, before reaching a single-span bridge over Headford Road. Now came the main viaduct, which was built over the River Corrib, a major waterway in County Galway that drains vast amounts of rain water from the wet lands of Galway.

The structure was on three spans of 150 feet each in length, and a lifting span of 21 feet to facilitate navigation of the river.

The Corrib Bridge while being scrapped (unknown).

Following the closure of the branch in 1935 this handsome structure was sold (with difficulty) for £10 as scrap metal while local people campaigned for its retention as a public walkway, a concept decades before its time. In order to build the viaduct, the MGWR needed to obtain permission from The Lough Corrib Navigation Trustees who were agreeable on condition that an opening span be provided, and that the railway company would agree to construct what is known today as 'Steamer's Quay'. Twenty-four additional bridges, numerous culverts, and farm convenience crossings carried the line to Clifden.

The section of line from Galway to Oughterard was opened on 1st January 1895 with the remainder into Clifden (next photograph from Lawrence Collection) following six months later.

In 1911 a train departed Galway at 16.25 to arrive in Clifden at 20.10 – a total time of 3¾ hours, or just under 13 mph. No wonder Frank Bailey on his bicycle challenged the train to a race in his famous exploit of August 1906! (See Section 'Frank Bailey versus Clifden Railway'). Special return fares were offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays at rates like 2s.8d. first class and 1s.5d. third class from Ross, or 1s. 8d. and 10d. from Moycullen.

The line did meet one of its expectations with a dramatic increase in the volume of sea-food and fresh water fish exported from the area. Large tonnages of fish were despatched to Dublin via Galway and forward to the major cities of London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham. However passenger numbers would remain small and the MGWR published guide books in an attempt to promote tourism in the area. They offered 'all-in' packages and purchased a hotel in Recess in 1898 which they operated as The Railway Hotel. Special tourist trains ran daily during the summer months from Broadstone to Clifden, many tourists breaking their journey with a stay in the company's Railway Hotel in Galway. The hotel in Galway was, as was the station, designed by J S Mulvany and has often been described as an austere building. It was built by William Dargan at a cost of £30,000 adjacent to the end of the terminus platform with pedestrian connection to it. It had 44 bedrooms, 8 sitting rooms, and 3 coffee rooms. It was built on the site that had originally had a Knights Templars convent, then the house of Robert Martin Fitz-Jasper, before Cromwellian Officer Edward Eyre in 1670. This was followed by a line of squalid tenement houses owned by Fr Peter Daly. The MGWR Guide to Galway, Achill, and Connemara of 1896 described it as the palatial Railway Hotel.

Horse-drawn cars operated by a man named R H McKeown who was proprietor of The Leenane Hotel connected Clifden, through the beautiful countryside, with Westport, with an overnight stop at McKeown's own Hotel. In 1911 the MGWR took over this aspect of the work themselves replacing McKeown's horse carts with three motor char-a-bancs. The vehicles were supplied by Archers of Dublin and bore the registration numbers IM 179 / 180 / 181, one of which was photographed below while in Connemara. They were replaced in 1924 by three Karrier vehicles equipped with the much more comfortable pneumatic tyres.

Some writings exist about the days of travel on the Clifden line. One such writer was an Englishman named Perkins who visited here in 1932:

For the first few miles, the scenery, though rather good, was not particularly striking; soon, however, as we touched Lough Corrib and other smaller lakes, it steadily increased in beauty. A feature of the district one could not fail to notice was the number of large mushroom-shaped stones scattered about - a geological curiosity peculiar to that locality, I believe. Passing Moycullen the hills began to close in, and Ross station was beautifully situated in a pine-clothed gorge. After Oughterard the railway leaves Lough Corrib and plunges into the heart of the mountains, each mile being grander than the last and reminding one of parts of the West Highland line in Scotland. On every hand rose the giant peaks of Connemara, seeming in places to present a solid wall along the horizon, while our course wound along the shores of beautiful little lakes or tumbling mountain streams.

Our train was 'mixed' (passenger and goods) and at several of the stations considerable shunting took place so that I was able to get out and admire the scenery. At Maam Cross several small pigs were put out onto the platform, tied up in a sack, and it was amusing to watch the sack moving about the platform as its occupants wriggled about inside.....

... we soon descended into another lovely wooded valley, noticing on our right the pathetic ruins of the railway company's fine hotel burnt out for pure 'cussedness' during the Civil War*. At Recess station the engine went off for the usual shunting' –I snapped it while so engaged and I also secured pictures of the quaint old saloon that headed our train; this was still in MGWR livery and bore the crest and initials of the old company. Although now fitted with electric light, the old 'saucepans' which covered the former oil-lamps can still be noted on the roof.

*The old hotel station halt at Recess was demolished in July 2006.

A Clifden-bound train with one of the famous 'fly away cab' locomotives at Recess Station sometime around 1910. (Unknown).

Meanwhile the MGWR still had ambitions to secure the potential traffic generated from a trans-Atlantic service. It was therefore not too surprising when in 1912 the MGWR published details of a branch line from the Galway to Clifden Extension to a planned deep-sea port to be constructed at Barna, some three to four miles west of Galway. In 1911 a short (1½ miles) branch off the Clifden line had been laid from a point west of the Corrib Viaduct at Newcastle to the marble and granite quarry at Shantalla. The stone was taken in wagons hauled by steam locomotives to Galway Railway Station and thence, either to the Galway Granite and Marble Works (close to where Galway Cathedral now stands), or onto the MGWR railway system for use as track ballast. The MGWR had placed a contract for over half-a-million tons of granite track ballast. The line of this track is now the route of Seamus Quirke Road.

The 1912 plan was that the Shantalla branch be extended westwards to Barna. The plan was proposed by the directors of MGWR and the Galway Harbour Commissioners. Part one was to go from close to Newcastle House to the townland of Knocknacarra at Barna, a distance of about two miles. Part two would proceed from the termination point of part one to the pier in the townland of Lenarevagh. The potential shareholders in the new company would include the County Councils of Westmeath, Meath, Kildare, Roscommon, and of course Galway.

A writer to the editor of The Times on 2nd September 1911 commented: The present scheme places the harbour three miles from Galway City, in a position where a depth of 45 feet of water is obtained alongside the pier, with the additional advantage of being at a point (Barna) clear of all rocks or shoals that were difficulties in the scheme of 1858. From Barna there is a clear run to the Atlantic without obstruction of any kind. There is a first-class double-line railway line from Galway to Dublin. On the 19th November 1913 an extraordinary meeting of the MGWR authorised the company to spend £3,000 in promoting a bill in Parliament to make Galway a Trans-Atlantic port. Three months later the bill which was promoted by Mr Robert Worthing was lodged. The principal works proposed to be constructed by the company comprise two piers, which taken together will form a harbour in Galway Bay. The cost of constructing the piers is estimated at £1,415,560 and, in addition, it is proposed to construct about 4½ miles of railways to connect these harbour works with the Galway and Clifden branch of the MGWR.

The plan never proceeded beyond the parliamentary bill stage as the costs of the huge harbour with a western pier of almost seven furlongs, and an eastern pier of one mile, two furlongs, proved to be totally prohibitive.

So it was that the only prospect for a rail line to South Connemara was abandoned and our legacy is an unspoilt and intact Silver Strand that still glitters in the western sunshine.

Onwards towards Amalgamation.

On New Year's Day 1917 the (British) Government took control of all railways within the Irish network by its appointing the Irish Railways Executive Committee (IREC). The object was to optimise the benefit from the diminishing resources available due to World War I. There was a complete embargo on the operation of special trains for sports events with the exception of horse racing which could not survive without trains but from that date all horses and grooms would be required to have full fare paid without subsidy as heretofore. All sponsorship of racing by railway companies was to be discontinued. The carriage of personal motor cars and horse-carriages on passenger trains, a practice which seems quaint today was banned as and from June, on the same day that all rail fares were increased by 50%. Military personnel and supplies for military use were to be carried free of charge, but at the expense of the Government. The MGWR expressed concern at the delay of settling such charges by the War Office. Coal, rails, sleepers, and oil supplies now became very scarce and difficult to source. The MGWR announced that due to theft, carriage window straps, soap, towels, and even wash basin stoppers would not in future be replaced because of cost measures. These shortages and subsequent delays caused difficulty with the maintaining of services and as an example of this, the MGWR were prosecuted in a Manchester court for the fact that a consignment of eggs from a Galway merchant took eleven days to reach its English destination and were on arrival declared unfit for human consumption. The court imposed a substantial (in those days) fine of £174.

In 1915 a report stated that on a Friday night 56 men had left Connemara and on the Saturday about 60 left Galway for Liverpool en route to America, supposedly to avoid the threatened conscription to the British forces. However, later a special train brought back some 30 men who had got a most hostile reception in Liverpool and abandoned the American leg of the journey.

The War ended in 1918 and on 31st December 1919 the IREC held its last meeting, and control of the railways was restored to their proprietors.

As early as 1923 there were rumours and counter rumours in relation to the amalgamation of railways within the new Free State. The Provisional Government was aware that there were 45 separate railway companies operating with the Free State, and that the only way the railways could continue to survive was through amalgamations. On 12th November 1924 MGWR, GS&WR, and the Cork, Bandon, and South Coast Railway amalgamated to form the Great Southern Railway, becoming Great Southern Railways (GSR) in January 1925. This company would have a profound effect on both public rail and road transport in the area of Galway. (See The Story of The Galway General Omnibus Company by this author, available on Smashwords.com.)

One of the first decisions taken at the new headquarters in Kingsbridge (later Heuston) to affect Galway was the singling of the line between the city and Oranmore. Broadstone ceased to be the train maintenance depot with that function passing to the larger works at Inchicore.

Prosperity was obviously being felt by the Irish people at last when the Connacht Tribune noted on 14th August 1926 that: the excursion habit is becoming popular. This is largely due to the cheap travelling facilities provided by the GSR. Incidentally Galway is benefitting considerably by the invasion of visitors. On Sunday 1st August, the excursion train from Broadstone carried 671 passengers to Galway, whilst two specials from Limerick on the same day took 939 visitors to the Citie of the Tribes. On Sunday last 582 persons travelled from Dalkey to Galway, and the two trains from Athlone brought 837 passengers. On next Sunday there will be excursion trains from Killala, Westport, with connections from Ballinrobe, Athlone, and intermediate stations, also excursions from Limerick, Newcastle West, Foynes, Multyfarnham (Third Order Confraternity), Athlone, Loughrea, and Ennis.

On Sunday 12th June 1927 four thousand passengers arrived here in six special trains; three from Dublin, two from Westport, and one from Ennis. This was a record number of arrivals at Galway up to that time and the visitors were here as part of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association. Let us avoid the hackneyed and laboured witticisms about the sales from the dining cars that day

By 1928 GSR has singled the entire line from Galway to Clonsilla. Galway County Council appealed the decision by the Saorstát Railway Tribunal on the basis that the action would have serious effects on the livestock trade in the west, and that any possibility of trans-Atlantic liners making Galway their eastern terminal port would surely now be ruined. The GSR action caused dispute in Seanad Éireann and the Minister said that two lines were simply too expensive to retain, the only alternative being a significant rise in fares. Passing places were provided to avoid delays but fears were expressed about breakdowns in long sections where assistance and rescue could be slow and difficult. The Minister Mr Gilligan assured protesters that a considerably greater volume of traffic can be handled over a single track than is now passing over the double line. The Connacht Tribune replied: was ever such nonsense talked by sane business men. Goods and livestock trains must inevitably suffer delay for they must be shunted into the loops to permit a clear road for the fast trains.

In September Galway County Council Finance Committee decide to pay the sum of £76.10s. awarded against them at the appeal. Chairman Éamonn Corbett said it was money well spent, although the county lost the appeal.

But there were still worries in Galway about the future of the main line of railway. On 5th October 1935 the 'Tribune reported that workmen were engaged in tearing up two of the lines in the station building preparatory to the building of a huge shed to accommodate buses and lorries. The paper concluded that with only a single platform Galway would become no more than an unimportant local station. The writer wondered how the station could cope with the heavy excursion traffic into and out of Galway during the summer months.

In 1950 the Government asked CIÉ to prepare costings for the re-instatement of the double line. The estimate was for £958,900 and the company said that the benefits would be an increase in the number of trains and quicker turn-around of engines and carriages. The company explained the difficulty in running specials or excursions because of the need to hold trains in passing loops, especially in the section between Mullingar and Dublin. (Significantly different posturing than that of Minister Gilligan in 1928!) The relaying works would take five years to complete with an annual running cost of £193,000. In the event nothing would happen in this regard until the doubling of the Dublin to Maynooth commuter section in late 2000.

It was decided that Galway to Dublin services would no longer terminate at Broadstone which had always been considered to be too distant from Dublin City centre. Instead the trains' eastern terminus would be Westland Row (later Pearse) via Amiens Street (later Connolly) from 18th January 1937.

In 1931 the Connacht Tribune reported rumours of the closing by GSR of the Galway – Clifden line and the Attymon – Loughrea line. The reason given was continuing losses especially due to the loss of the goods traffic which had been largely taken over by road lorries. The GSR came up with a simple solution: get the Government to enact a bill to enable them to compulsorily take over all the competition so as to consolidate their monopoly situation!

Still struggling financially, consideration had once again to be given to independent passenger operations so the Transport Bill of 1944 saw the amalgamation of GSR with Dublin United Transport Company into Coras Iompar Éireann on 1st January 1945.

The war years of 1939 / 1945 saw severe restrictions in services due to the lack of good quality coal to fire the locomotives. Trials were made with turf but as a fuel it was of low calorific value and burned more quickly than it could be stoked, as well as the fact that it required a huge tender and additional staff to handle a sufficient quantity. Some engines were converted to burn oil and these had a large white circle emblazoned on the front of their smokebox and on the tender sides. This emblem was to be seen by signalmen and was an instruction to them to give preference to these oil-fired engines in the knowledge that they would not run out of steam and block the lines.

The Connacht Tribune of 27th September 1941 gave a flavour of these difficulties: People who went to Galway Station on Tuesday evening to board the 18.45 train for Dublin found that there was no train to board. While they waited and wondered they saw at about 18.50, a train slowly approaching the station from the Oranmore direction. As it came nearer it was seen that it was drawn by two engines which seemed to be encountering very heavy weather..... This slow-motion spectacle was the morning train from Dublin - the train that had left Westland Row full of hope at 08.00 that morning! It was due here at noon. After stalling at Liffey Junction a second engine had been coupled on and the train struggled on to Enfield where they waited for two hours. Another locomotive arrived and brought the train into Mullingar at 13.25. Yet another engine was tried which brought them to Athlone at 15.00. By now the restaurant car was without cooking facilities as they had run out of gas for the cookers. Another engine was procured and they went on to Woodlawn where yet another machine, this time from the Loughrea branch was commandeered to assist. For this journey the train had been hauled by no less than six locomotives. However if that was bad, the following night mail from Dublin utilised a total of nine engines before it arrived in Galway at 05.00, a mere six hours late.

Woodlawn Station. (© Copyright TurfBurner and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence.)

In August of the following year the paper described amazing scenes at (Galway) station; milling crowds locked in and out. People arrived for the train at 09.00 and soon every seat was taken. Quickly the guard's van, the restaurant car, and all corridors were blocked with tightly packed passengers. Soon the platform was a mass of people and the staff had to lock the gates to prevent even more milling onto the platform and possibly causing a crush that might force people off the platform onto the tracks beneath the train. Eventually the train started at 11.30 – only five minutes late, but it left in its wake hundreds of disappointed passengers who had to await the next day's train.

The above situation was the direct result of the curtailing of a train service between Dublin and Galway to one service in each direction on only Mondays and Thursdays. Passenger numbers were strictly limited and only single way tickets were available. Seats could be booked up to a week in advance.

By the summer of 1946 the supply of coal was restored and all services were again operating normally and punctually. But the improvement was to be short lived as by the January of 1947 the worst winter in living memory had brought the British coal mines to a standstill and the UK Government had banned the export of coal. During February train services had dropped to three per week and by March 1st even these had stopped as the only trains still running were four mail trains of a single carriage per day. The situation eased on 12th March when coal arrived from America. By the end of April services were all back to normal with 11,000 tons of coal per week arriving from Britain.

The 'Tribune told its readers on 29th March 1947 that with coal still in very short supply: an outsize* cylinder engine converted to use diesel oil made a trial run from Dublin to Galway on Tuesday with a goods train attached. The Stationmaster Mr V Waterson told our representative that officials were very pleased with the results of the trial and that the engine driver, Mr John Dunning had told him that everything had run very smoothly.

*This word should in all probability be 'outside' rather than 'outsize'.

Five years later would see an interesting development in the Galway service with the running of the first scheduled train using the Portarlington – Athlone line from Kingsbridge.

From 1955 steam services were starting to be replaced with diesel railcars or the new Metropolitan Vickers diesel locomotives. Significant time savings were reported (18%) and the lesser staffing and preparation costs of the diesels heralded the demise of the ubiquitous steam locos which had served for over a century. The mid 1970s saw the transfer of all (except mail and goods) trains from a terminus at Westland Row to Kingsbridge.

The Attymon to Loughrea branch was closed in 1975 and was lifted in 1988 having outlived the Clifden line by some forty years.

In 1985 the old Athlone Midland Station was closed and a new modern station was opened on the site of the old GS&WR station. The old MGWR Mullingar to Athlone line was closed down to all but some works trains but remains in place as a possible alternative or addition at some future date.

In 1987 Coras Iompar Éireann was re-structured into a holding company (CIÉ) with three subsidiaries, Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, and the one that concerns this work, Iarnród Éireann (IÉ). On 14th March 2013 IÉ was split into 2 sections: Railway Undertaking and Infrastructure Manager.

By 2002 the line from Athenry to Ennis had no regular or scheduled traffic, being reduced to occasional works trains. This year also saw the severing of the connecting points with the Tuam line at Athenry. In reply to criticism and objections IÉ stated that it would be a relatively cheap and easy matter to re-establish the connection if the line was to be re-opened at a later date. This line was now only connected with the national network at Claremorris.

Freight had been a dwindling traffic into Galway in the eighties and nineties. Guinness was the mainstay of the traffic but by 2000 there was some traffic out of Galway carrying timber logs to Waterford's Bell Ferry port. Some days this train comprised as many as twenty-five wagons. This service later transferred to Athenry, probably because of the difficulty of bringing the long timber road trucks into Eyre Square to the station yard. The service from Galway ended in 2001 which time coincided with the abandonment of all uneconomic freight here.

The beginning of 2003 brought the end of containerised freight to and from Galway. Developments included this year were the installation of continuous welded rail (the end of the clackety-clack), and colour light signals to replace the traditional semaphore mechanical signals. This system known as Central Traffic Control (CTC) was originally controlled from Athlone but was integrated into the national grid from 30th November 2003, with control passing to Connolly Station in Dublin. The improved rail and signalling allowed for faster speeds resulting in shorter journey times.

The Line That Got Away

While reams have been written in books and newspapers about various proposed and aborted railway schemes in the Galway area there is one scheme which died when the Chief Secretary of Ireland said that he could not refer it to the Lord Lieutenant for consideration. This was in 1896 and the proposed line was to run from Oranmore to Kilcolgan, Kinvara, and on to Ballyvaughan. Professor Townsend of UCG was again involved in surveying and planning the route with support from such distinguished men as Lord Morris, Lord Walscourt (of Ardfry House), Mr Reddington (of Kilcornan) and Henry Persse. The latter had a personal interest in the possibility of cheap transport from the barley growing area around Kinvara to transport the grain to his distillery in the city. Thus another line of communication was put to rest before it was even spawned.

William Dargan's Saloon

The first State Coach to be owned by MGWR was a six-wheeled saloon built by John Dawson of Dublin for the Dublin & Drogheda Railway. The coach had been built from top quality materials in 1841 and had panels that were modelled on old stage coach designs. The D&DR refused to take delivery of the coach and it was purchased by William Dargan. It was 31 feet three inches long, had a domed roof, and rounded ends with curved glass windows.

Upon completion of his contracts with MGWR William Dargan presented his magnificent personal saloon or carriage to the MGWR who made it their State Coach. Edward VII and George V both used the Dargan coach when they visited Ireland in 1868 and 1897 respectively. Neither Edward nor George were King at the time of those visits as Victoria was still the Monarch. In 1903 Edward as King travelled from Recess to Galway where he was accorded a civic reception. The following day he went by train to Kenmare as the weather proved too inclement for the King's yacht to sail from Galway. The coach was the favourite saloon of the Empress of Austria who was afforded its use on her frequent hunting trips to County Meath in the 1870s. When MGWR introduced a new State Coach in 1903, Dargan's saloon was relegated and was taken out of service in the 1920s. The coach now forms part of the Irish Railway Collection in the Railway Museum in Cultra Co. Down.

Services

From the outset, four trains per day carried passengers between Galway and Broadstone. The time taken was as much as 5¾ hours. There was one goods train in each direction with passenger accommodation in fourth class on a journey that took 8½ hours.

A special excursion to Dublin in 1857 saw 1,500 passengers carried in 50 carriages. Difficult to see how such an enormous train could have been handled so it would seem probable that it was split into two or more sections. Two years later a similar trip saw 900 passengers carried in 25 carriages. This was augmented at Mullingar by the addition of extra coaches from Longford and Cavan. The fare from Galway was 7s.6d. but by 1861 the rate had increased to 12s.6d, probably in a bid to restrict numbers.

In 1865 2,000 people travelled (presumably not all in one train) to the Great Exhibition in Dublin at a special return fare of five shillings.

Great difficulties were experienced during wartime austerity as seen in the earlier details of the 1917 -1919 emergency management. The 'Emergency' as the 1939 -1945 period of World War II was called in Ireland also saw severe fuel shortage and cancellations as well as delays to services. At a meeting of the Livestock Traders Association in 1939 a man named Ferris suggested that if he walked cattle from Galway to Dublin they would get there before the train. The GSR representative apologised but put the blame on the poor quality of coal currently available.

The Claddagh Express was inaugurated in 1953 and was to become one of the steam-hauled 'named trains'. Seven years later another named train Cú na Mara, comprising two-railcars with one carriage and a buffet car left Galway at 09.20 destined for Westland Row, and returning at 18.50. At this time trials were being made on the feasibility of running trains via Tullamore to Galway. The following year saw the re-introduction of the regular all-year-around Sunday service which had only operated during summer months.

In 1976 there was daily goods train to Athenry at 16.25 serving Oranmore Station in each direction.

In order to improve running times and passenger comfort CIÉ turned serious consideration to routing all trains to Galway and Mayo through the Tullamore line from Portarlington. Trials were made and some services did use this route while most still used the Mullingar line to Dublin. By 1982 the decision had been made and work was progressing on the building of a new modern station on the site of the old MGWR station at Athlone which had been closed down following the amalgamation to GSR in 1925.

A Radio Train awaiting departure from Galway on unknown date by unknown photographer. Note goods wagons at left.

Summer 1993 saw the return of the once popular Radio Train excursion to Galway to coincide with Race Week in the city. The Radio Train had been inaugurated in 1949. The train was not in fact a radio train at all; it was a train with a public address system aboard and a studio-carriage for its operation. The outward journey featured commentary on the lineside views and a smattering of music. The return journey during which the passengers were served dinner at their seat featured interviews with 'interesting' passengers. The Radio Trains operated to Killarney as well as Galway and later a Sunday service to Claremorris for pilgrims to Knock Shrine. The commentary and music was very different on the latter train! The radio train was discontinued in 1979. The nineties' revival had a fare of £29 per adult and £15 per child. The first train carried 120 passengers in the Executive Train.

The Rolling Stock

A wonderful artist's view by Norman Whitla of MGWR No. 2 locomotive at Broadstone Station in 1865. Note the exposed position of the crew with no cover save a windscreen. Healthy if travelling tender-first on a cold day! The brass fittings had to be polished daily by the young cleaners. The usual polish was powdered brick dust and copious amounts of 'elbow grease'.

MGWR Dunsandle was built in 1872 by Neilson & Company of Glasgow. It looks a little bit stunted due to the absence of a tender. (IRRS collection).

This makers photograph of the 1876-built Badger No. 95 clearly shows the artistic 'fly-away' cab design of Martin Atock at Broadstone. Aestetically pleasing to the eye, but not particularly comfortable for the footplate crew. This 0-6-0 engine worked until 1923.

MGWR 4-4-0 locomotive Celtic of 1902 in Royal blue livery designed by E Cusack and weighing 87 tons. This engine was built for the Galway express service but could not be used until some re-strengthening work was completed on the Shannon Bridge at Athlone.

By the end of the nineteenth century almost every locomotive of the MGWR had been of the design of Martin Atock who was Locomotive Superintendent from 1872 to 1902. The passenger engines were of the 2-4-0 classification with 0-6-0 machines for goods traffic. These early locos had the distinctive 'fly-away' cabs for which Atock was noted, but which did not afford too much shelter to footplate crews. They were painted emerald green while the coaches were brown, or a stained-teak finish.

Bogie second class coach, built 1902 and lasted in service for 54 years. Bogie means four (or rarely six) wheels on each of two bogies which are fitted beneath the body of the coach for a more comfortable journey. The swivelling bogies permit longer carriages to get around tighter curves. (IRRS collection).

MGWR horse box with place for groom at left, and dog box at right. The groom's side was very spartan with wooden bench and no heat or lighting. (IRRS collection)

Although not of Galway railway origin, this coach from about 1890 is typical of six-wheeled stock in use at that time. It is a relic of the Dundalk, Newry & Greenore Railway. Photographed at Cultra Museum in June 2010.

Another coach from Cultra Museum, this one, a Dublin Wicklow & Wexford Railway four-wheeler but in fact it is older being a Dublin & Kingstown Railway coach of 1834. A third class carriage, it is basic in the extreme. No windows and with wooden seats, it must have been an uncomfortable ride in winter-time with rain, cold, smuts, and smoke. Who wants the window seat?

Atock was succeeded by E Cusack who immediately realised that the stock needed replacement and modernisation. He sourced new locos (with more conventional cabs), coaches, and restaurant cars. The engines were Royal Blue with yellow and red lining and the carriage stock were white above and blue below waist or window height. This livery proved to be short lived due to poor wearing of the paints and soon the company had reverted to Atock's green and brown. So brief was this colour scheme that in 1905 the company had reverted to Grass Green before all of the stock had even been once painted in blue.

4-4-0 locomotive No. 7 Connemara in green livery, built in 1889 and withdrawn in 1909. (The Railway Magazine).

A commercial postcard from the MGWR.

However, by 1914 engines were black and carriages were dark-red by the time Cusack was succeeded by the final Locomotive Superintendent of the MGWR, W H Morton. This plain colour scheme may have been due to wartime shortages of pigments with which to manufacture coloured paints. However, the blue was retained on the Royal Train, bogie coaches, and restaurant cars. Goods wagons were dark slate grey while coal wagons were rather sensibly painted black.

Up to 1912 the only heating in carriages for passengers was by foot warmers that were filled with hot water and supplied at stations along the journey. These were replaced in 1913 by steam heating piped from the locomotive along the length of the train.

At the time of the amalgamation of Irish railways in 1925 the MGWR had 139 locomotives of which 119 survived to the founding of CIÉ in 1945.

A Woolwich locomotive in GSR days at Broadstone yard. Although it looks to be painted black, it was in fact dark grey, but dirty. Notice former GNR(I) navy blue furniture vans at left and oxford blue and cream buses at right following amalgamation of GNR(I) into CIE in 1958. (Photo the late David Murray IRRS).

After the war years (1914-1918) locomotives were in short supply and poor condition so MGWR ordered twelve kits for mainline engines from Woolwich in England. GSR later purchased an additional 14 sets of parts plus an extra set for retention as spare parts. The Woolwich engines although powerful, were not popular with crews. They were particularly difficult to keep fired owing to an extra-long fire grate area and loss of steam was a frequent problem. This meant the use of extra-long firing shovels and prickers which would become red-hot. Despite this they were excellent runners but very tiring on the fireman. A Woolwich would smother you with smoke and dust. As well as that they tended to oscillate severely with every beat of the pistons which meant the driver could never sit on his cab-side seat.

In 1955 CIÉ introduced the 'A' class diesel electric* engines (above) which were destined to revolutionise the railways of Ireland, making this country among the first to totally abolish steam traction by 1963. The 'A' class, and their smaller cousins the 'C' class (which were mainly for branch line work) were powered by Crossley engines which proved very temperamental, troublesome and prone to failure. It was only after 1961 with the arrival of the General Motors (GM) locomotives from Le Grange in Illinois, USA, that CIÉ persuaded GM to supply replacement engines for the 'A' and 'C' classes. This change made them the loved and reliable locomotives that would nearly all endure until September 1995 when they gave way to the new Canadian-built '201' class from GM. The 'R' after 'A3' on the locomotive above signifies that it has been re-engined.

* Note the fact that a locomotive is 'diesel electric' means that the diesel engine drives the dynamos to power electric motors, which in turn propel the train. It does not have diesel powered transmission, as in a diesel mechanical engine.

Artist's impression of one of the new General Motors '121' class locomotives prior to delivery in 1961. They sported an attractive grey and primrose livery that was short-lived before being replaced with orange, black, and white. To avoid confusion it is worth noting that the 'A' and 'B' class engines lost the letter prefix in 1976 becoming instead the '001', '121', '141', '181' classes.

Two '121' class locomotives, bonnet to bonnet at Gort, hauling a special Ballybrophy to Claremorris 'Knock' special working. (Photo by 'The Turf Burner', licensed to reuse image).

The first twelve GM locos were single cabin and so had to be turned after each journey. Although they were initially driven either cab leading or bonnet leading, some incidents caused by restricted sight lines brought about the banning of bonnet-first running. For heavier trains they were often coupled in twos, bonnet to bonnet, so that they could be driven from either end without turning. These machines were largely based on a design for American shunting engines and became known here as 'the Yanks'

An '071' class loco heading an early morning GAA excursion train out towards Renmore in August 1998. Note man walking the line path.

The next generation of GM locos were twin cabbed and were the '141' class and the more powerful '181' class. They were followed by the larger '071' class which became the backbone of main line passenger trains from 1977 and through the eighties until the advent of the '201' class in 1996.

In recent years all Galway services are handled by railcar sets which do not need to have a locomotive 'run around' to make a return journey. Of course the drawback of railcars is that if the engine fails, so too does the carriage so it is not simply a matter of substituting the locomotive.

The 'A' class were painted plain silver when first delivered, but this proved so unsatisfactory due to dirt and grime that they were painted a shade of green before becoming black, and ultimately the well-known black, white, and orange as did passenger coaches. The CIÉ livery for passenger coaches since GSR days had been an attractive dark green with a band of eau-de-nile to break it. The sixties would see a move to the orange, black and white for carriage liveries. The '121' class when first delivered were an attractive livery of grey lined with primrose, but this too soon gave way to the ubiquitous black, white, and orange sported also by the '141','181', and '071' classes.

'201' class loco 216 seen at Galway (left) on 5th August 1995 alongside a '141 class coupled to a '121' class with GAA specials.

The powerful '201' class, one of which (No. 206) was named River Corrib were a shade of orange and yellow but this was replaced by a new inter-city livery of green and white. They are now seldom seen on the Galway line.

Around 1990 IÉ purchased what the motor trade would describe a 'demonstration model' of a rake of carriages for the Galway service.

Cú na Mara (name above door window) coach at Inchicore 27th June 1996.

The Mark 3A Cú Na Mara set, now withdrawn, operated almost exclusively on the Dublin to Galway route, and was originally the British Rail Engineering International train, a showcase project designed to secure overseas orders. The set travelled to a German rail exhibition in 1988, but returned without any new orders and languished for some years before being sold on by 'scrap-man' Vic Berry to IÉ.* This train of coaches was the jewel in the crown of the Irish railway scene for many years and the coaches are still regarded by many as having been the most comfortable coaches ever to run on an Irish railway. A number of these coaches have been preserved, including one in a garden centre, and another derelict but awaiting conversion in a Kildare hotel.

*It should be noted that all pre-owned railway vehicles purchased from Britain have to be re-gauged (the distance between the rails) to the Irish standard 5 foot, 3 inches, from the UK standard of 4 foot 8½ inches. This of course adds greatly to the cost of what otherwise would be a very convenient supply of second-hand rolling stock.

The Craven Coach was the mainstay of inter city services for many years, 1993 - 2006. Seen at Inchicore on 27th June 1996.

State coach at Inchicore 27th June 1996. This coach, built by GS&WR at Inchicore in 1902 saw little use after independence and was in storage until 1961 when it was taken out of mothballs and used extensively by President de Valera. In service until 1972 and now preserved by RPSI. .

The executive train coaches were painted a nice shade of maroon lined out with a golden band above and beneath the window line. These coaches formed more recent state trains as required.

Travelling Post Office (TPO)

Preserved Travelling Post Office on exhibition in Inchicore works on 27th June 1996.

The last TPO to run out of Galway, ready to leave in January 1994. Note the pigeon holes where the post office employees sorted mail as the train travelled through the countryside. (Photo courtesy Stan Shields from his 2006 book Stan's Galway)

The travelling post office was a part of the postal system from as early as 1835 when it was inaugurated on the Dublin & Kingstown Railway until its eventual demise at the end of January 1994. The concept was that a group of post office workers as against railway workers would sort mail from the place of origin so as to accelerate the mail's onward transit on arrival at destinations along the route. There was a special posting slot on the side of the TPO coach for customers to post late items on the platform as the train stopped along the route. It was necessary to attach an extra stamp (a penny at a time when the inland rate was two pence.

Two stamps on a 1943 letter which travelled by 'POT Atha Claith - Gallimh (Poist Oifig Teastail or TPO, Dublin to Galway). The extra half penny stamp (which commemorates our first President Douglás de Híde) was the TPO surcharge.

In 1888 the Galway mail train left Dublin at 07.40 and arrived at Galway at 11.30. The time of departure could be delayed by up to thirty minutes if the mail boat from Holyhead was late in arriving in Kingstown. The postal authorities paid MGWR an annual sum of £29,030.12s.6d. for the facility of the mail trains.

In the twentieth century the night mail carried a single passenger coach and this gave the late traveller the opportunity to get to a destination after normal passenger traffic had ceased. I have memories of collecting a friend at Connolly Station at around 01.30 after a long slow journey from Galway.

CIÉ built ten new TPO vans at Inchicore in 1968. The Galway service terminated at Pearse until 1973 when it transferred to Connolly. The mail departed Dublin at 08.30 and arrived in Galway at 11.30, having travelled by the old Mullingar line. After 1982 the Dublin departure of the day mail was 07.53 with return at 15.10.

The TPO carriage carried an apparatus on the side with which to pick up bags of mail from lineside posts without stopping. These devices were discontinued after June 1968 when the last exchange point at Enfield was abandoned. The service suffered a setback on 5th October 1986 when the TPO and heating van were completely destroyed by fire close to Portarlington.

By 1980, when CIÉ were suffering from severe shortages of rolling stock it was decided to withdraw all passenger accommodation from mail trains. Now the mail train comprised only a locomotive, a TPO van, and a brake / heating van. The Galway service to Connolly was ended in 1982 when the postal sorting office at Dublin's Sherriff Street was closed. The day mail service was then part of the 07.50 from Heuston returning on the 15.10 from the west, both ways via Portarlington. The night mail continued to use Connolly Station.

A Bertram Mills' Circus train at an unknown location in Britain. Notice that the circus wagons are all low and squat vehicles to comply with railway loading gauge. (Unknown).

But perhaps the most unusual train to include a TPO in Galway was the special arrival in 1961 and 1964 of the Bertram Mills Circus train. The show erected their big top at Fr. Burke Park from 24th to 28th August 1961, and 7th to 11th September 1964. The circus artistes travelled by road while the animals and equipment came by train. It was necessary to prepare the loading docks in the station to ensure the tractors pulling the circus vehicles could be easily loaded and unloaded here.

The three trains were jointly provided by CIÉ and UTA and contained 9 horse boxes, 4 long vans, 1 TPO for (non-mail) baggage, 17 flat trucks, 14 low (military) tank wagons, and 4 passenger carriages with the seats removed and four bunks per compartment installed for the hundred or so men who travelled with the circus. The van designated for the carrying of the elephants had to have its floor reinforced and the flat wagons had steel strips fitted to protect the timber floors from damage by the tractors. Each train had a brake van at both ends. The 1964 train was somewhat smaller. The train was loaded by connecting the flat wagons together by steel plates and then a tractor pulled the circus wagons onto the first flat and along the length of the train to the top. The tractor then drove off the train onto the platform alongside while the tractor pulling the next wagon pushed the previous wagon into final position where it was secured. Care was needed that the train arriving in Galway had the circus vehicles facing the correct direction for unloading, which was towing-bars facing forward to the unloading dock. Because the tow bars coming to Galway were facing the wrong way, it was necessary to bring the train to Claremorris where it was reversed onto the Tuam line, thence to Athenry and Galway. The reversal put the road wagons in the correct direction for unloading. When the train left Galway for Limerick there was a similar problem so the trains went via Foynes Loop to turn the wagons in the right direction. On the final night of the circus performance the wagons would start coming to the station at around 21.00, with the main traffic emerging after the show closed around 23.00. The first train was generally ready to leave by midnight, but the train containing the elephants was restricted to a speed of 25 mph. because the animals swayed with the motion of the train and greater speed might have caused derailment.

There was one sequel to Mills' visit of 1964: two circus hands were slightly injured as they drove to the next ground at Ennis when their car collided with a petrol pump at Labane. Incidentally, 1961 was not Bertram Mills' first visit to Galway. In the early thirties the Sir Bertram Mills air fleet gave a one day display at Carnmore with an admission price of 2s. 6d. and 7s 6d for a five minute flight over the airfield.

Accidents, Incidents, and Events

On Thursday 19th August 1852 the Lord Lieutenant, the Countess of Eglinton and suite, left the terminus of the MGWR at Broadstone by special train for Galway for the purpose of visiting the great cattle show here. The journey from end to end was accomplished in about four hours, the train reaching the Galway terminus shortly after 14.00. The party were met by a large number of dignitaries on the station platform, and after a thirty-minute rest in the Railway Hotel for the visitors, a large crowd gathered opposite the hotel listened to the speeches of welcome for the Lord Lieutenant.

An extraordinary case of kidnapping occurred at Galway Station in 1860 as related by The Spectator of 5th May: Eight months ago, Sherwood, a sailor, died and left a widow and seven children unprovided for. Mrs Sherwood, however, exerted herself to get aid, and a lady gave her an admission for her seven children to the 'Protestant Orphanage', an institution in Galway, where they would be maintained and educated. The children were sent by the train under charge of the guard, and the matron was to meet them at the Galway station. In the same carriage were two men, M'Robins and O'Connor by name. Finding from conversation where the children were going, and being Roman Catholics – M'Robins was, in fact, interested in a rival institution – these two men refused to give up the children to the matron, carried them back to Dublin, and hid them after the manner of the Roman Catholics! The case is before the courts, but the principal kidnapper has been hidden like the children whom he stole. Funny old world! One would have thought that the Catholics had enough children of their own without kidnapping somebody else's!

A serious accident occurred at Ballinasloe on Saturday afternoon 29th October 1864 when George Glanville, a builder from Ballinasloe and Thomas Henry a mason from Galway were killed and six persons were seriously injured when a locomotive overturned. The train was what was termed a 'Parliamentary train'. Sir Robert Peel's Conservative government enacted the Railway Regulation Act from 1st November 1844. The Act for the benefit of the less well-off passenger compelled "the provision of at least one train a day each way at a speed of not less than 12 miles an hour including stops, which were to be made at all stations, and of carriages protected from the weather and provided with seats; for all which luxuries not more than a penny a mile might be charged'.

One of the passengers stated that the train seemed to be going faster than usual. As the 13.00 train from Dublin approached the Bog of Clarara a third class carriage next to the locomotive and tender became derailed and fell down an embankment pulling the tender with it. The engine ran on some distance but the now loose following carriages propelled the second down the bank after the first one, shattering both carriages completely. Mr Thomas Persse, a passenger, stated that he was afraid that a terrible accident would occur when all of a sudden the carriage gave a leap and he was thrown to the opposite side of the carriage and then back again. He felt certain that the train was travelling at a speed of 40 mph. The guard, however, swore that the train was travelling no faster than its customary 25 mph. Driver Robert Deane said that they were going at about 30 mph when all of a sudden the engine oscillated for the lengths of two or three rails. The inquest jury found that the two passengers died by excessive speeding over a bad line of railway.

On 1st March 1867 the police authorities at Athlone apprehended a passenger from a train from Galway, the passenger suspected to be the fugitive Fenian 'General' O'Connor of Caherciveen. He was detained while the authorities summoned a policeman from Co. Kerry to identify him.

In that same year an engine driver named Patrick Connor was in charge of a goods train from Galway to Dublin. He stopped at Athenry and went to oil the wheels of the locomotive. He fell from the foot-way and was killed instantly.

On 31st March 1869 a shunter broke his leg while working at Galway. The company statement said the accident was caused by circumstance beyond his control. Ten days later a trespasser was killed instantly when he fell from a wagon which was being shunted at Athenry.

Just three days into the year 1870 the two front wheels of a 6-wheeled van which was the penultimate vehicle on a passenger train left the rails about three miles from Oranmore. The accident was caused by the breaking of an iron tyre on a wagon wheel, and the train was brought to a halt without injury to any person and with little damage to track or train.

In 1874 goods driver William Carroll appeared before the Royal Commission on Railway Accidents which maintained that he fell off his box when asleep from exhaustion and want of rest after 43 hours of continuous working. Apparently the practice of extra-long working shifts was not at all uncommon at that time.

There was an incident that would have serious consequences for the area around Athenry in March 1870 when a passenger named William Burke arrived in a train from Tuam and was found to be suffering from smallpox. It was discovered that the man's employer had surreptitiously put him into the train then purchased a ticket for him so that the staff at Tuam would not be aware of the man's condition. There followed considerable correspondence between the local doctor and the health authority under the 1866 Sanitary Act. Several people in Athenry, including a priest (who died) and a relation of the doctor's contracted the disease as a result of its being thus brought to the town and causing the ensuing local epidemic.

On 23rd October 1870 a passenger train entering Galway station collided with a goods train that was being shunted into a siding. Three or four passengers and the driver and guard of the passenger train were injured. The driver of the passenger train had disobeyed the home and distant signals which were both at 'danger'. It was stated that the distant signal had been out of order for some time and was therefore constantly dis-regarded by the drivers. The company rules stated that the passenger line must be clear for twenty minutes before the time of arrival of a train.

A strange group travelled from Galway to Ballinasloe in November 1880 to attend a trial in Killimor over a land issue on the estate of Mr Trench. A tenant named Mrs Dempsey had been evicted and replaced with a new tenant named Kennedy. The Land League evicted Kennedy and re-instated Dempsey, but the police arrested four men along with Mrs Dempsey and conveyed them to Galway prison to await trial. There was a large vociferous crowd at Ballinasloe and delight was expressed when the judge at Killimor said there was no evidence against the prisoners and discharged all five.

2nd January 1884 and a collision took place between two passenger trains at Athenry Station. The MGWR train from Galway to Dublin collided with a WL&WR train from Tuam. Two first-class carriages on the Galway train were totally wrecked but were fortunately unoccupied. Another carriage was derailed and the passengers were shocked and bruised. A passenger named Donohoe who was Station Master at Oranmore was much cut about the face.

Seven months later all eight carriages of a mail train from Galway were derailed between Athlone and Moate. It was believed that an axel on the locomotive broke causing the train to leave the tracks. There were no injuries, but the passengers were seven hours late in arriving in Broadstone.

There was a rather humorous occurrence in 1890 when Chief Secretary of Ireland Mr Arthur Balfour who was the man largely behind the Clifden line was due to visit railway workings in Co. Sligo. His saloon was attached to the Galway train in error. When Balfour discovered the error he arranged horse carriage transport from the nearest point and sent telegrams to have his party meet him at Castlerea. On his arrival there a large crowd assembled when word got around that they had an important visitor. He continued his re-arranged schedule by outside cars.

The Melbourne Advocate (Australia) of 29th July 1890 gave a strange report from Galway: On arrival of the train from Clifden at Galway on Tuesday June 14th, a porter discovered a gentleman of very respectable appearance lying prostrate and apparently in a lifeless condition in a second-class carriage. Mr Simpson, the Stationmaster was immediately on the scene, and observing the critical condition of the gentleman, had Dr Matt Lydon sent for immediately. The doctor arrived in about two hours, and had the gentleman removed to the Infirmary, where he expired a short time after his admission, death being attributed to heart failure caused by excessive heat. The deceased was Michael Mellett of the Neale in Co, Mayo who was one of the largest landholders in the West of Ireland. One cannot but wonder if Mr Mellett might have survived had medical help arrived sooner?

There was a land-related incident at Craughwell Station in 1907 when a lady named Ryan was leaving a train. The lady had returned from America some time previously and had purchased a farm previously occupied by an evicted tenant. Mrs Ryan was slightly injured but in January 1909 two workmen at Mrs Ryan's property were shot at and the RIC man who was protecting them was shot dead there.

The Sydney Evening News of 9th January 1909 told an unusually spooky story of an alleged event on the Line between Renmore and Galway:

One evening late in November two young fellows who were walking into the town along the railway line were suddenly confronted by a strange visitor when within half a mile of their destination. They describe it as 'resembling a man, but 9 feet in height.' It approached them quickly, and when almost upon them suddenly vanished. In terror they ran towards the town, but a short distance further the ghostly visitor again stood before them and again mysteriously vanished. On reaching Galway they related their strange adventure, and a number of their companions arranged to sally forth on the following evening to 'lay' the ghost. Accordingly, a party of young fellows left the town after dusk, armed with shotguns, pistols, and revolvers. Blank cartridge only was carried, so that if the 'ghost' turned out to be something more material he might suffer no personal injury. They hid on a bank near the line at the place where the apparition was first seen, and waited. The vigil was brief, for they had scarcely settled down when in the distance the tall form was seen approaching in the dusk. On reaching the place where they lay, the visitor stood and gazed at them, whereupon one young fellow, bolder than his companions jumped to his feet and presented his revolver fully at the apparition, but no shot came from it and his arm fell powerless by his side. His companions, becoming alarmed jumped to his assistance, and there was much confusion, in the midst of which the ghost vanished. The party, without delay, made their way back to the town, where it is said that medical aid had to be summoned to the youthful hero of the revolver. By this time the story had been circulated all over the neighbourhood, and on the following night another band, amongst whom were some students armed with big sticks, cautiously stole to the hiding-place but though they waited and watched for hours, the ghost failed to appear, and they had to return near midnight, without having had the satisfaction of 'laying', it. Others in, the town who stated that they, too, had seen the strange visitor sometime before, described him as 'of a greyish colour, 8 feet high, and tapering towards the top'. Some of them credit him with jumping from the railway bridge into the Corrib, where he disappeared in the waters. That he was not drowned is proved by the fact that he was subsequently seen by a number of youths.

Spectres of a more earthly and material nature were involved in storming the signal box at Killucan, Co. Westmeath on a night in August 1920. They forced the signalman to bring the Galway to Dublin mail train to a halt. The driver and fireman of the train were threatened by armed men while fellow raiders carried

the mail sacks away in motor vans.  Similarly the train was again robbed at Attymon in September and mail bags were taken.

Saturday 17th February 1922 saw a dishevelled group of 200 men arrive at Galway Station for a special train. However, this was not a normal pleasant excursion, rather it was a heavily guarded train to bring 200 anti-Treaty prisoners from Galway Jail to The Curragh for incarceration there. The men were brought to the train in motor trucks, many of which had been commandeered by the military for the purpose. Because all available coaching stock had been assembled for the 'prisoners' special' the MGWR found it necessary to include goods and cattle trucks for the daily market train to Oughterard. Amazing that paying passengers had to pay to travel in cattle cars while the guests of the new Free State travelled on cushioned seats! Later that evening some sixty men were brought by train to Galway for transfer to the city jail from various barracks in Co. Mayo.

On 30th March 1922 the 11.30 goods from Mullingar to Galway was held up outside Galway Station by a number of heavily armed and masked men. They removed any goods consigned to or from Belfast and destroyed them on the lineside. The goods involved were said to be of considerable volume and value. On 6th July in that same year Gort signal box was destroyed and all of the porters there were put on notice until services were restored.

Still on the Civil War theme, in July 1922 a number of tracks were removed from the line close to Oranmore. The gap was spotted by the crew of the next train and repairs were quickly effected so that the train continued without undue delay.

What follows is not quite what one would term an incident or an accident, but it was a minor event that would have a major impact (for good!) on the city of Galway up to the present day. On Monday morning twenty-five members of the newly formed Civic Guards (Gardaí) arrived in Galway by the morning train. They were accommodated in the Country Club which had been vacated by the military some weeks previously. Their inspector said we are an entirely civil force; we do not carry firearms. Our only weapon is a truncheon and our mission is to carry out the civil law irrespective of party or politics.

Crumlin Bridge on the Tuam to Athenry line was completely destroyed on 23rd September 1922. A week later Tomás Ó Conaill told the Dáil of the very extreme hardship being suffered by the people of the hinterland of Tuam owing to the severing of railway connections for over three months and the difficulty of procuring foodstuffs and supplies for the area. Kevin O'Higgins replying for the Minister for Industry and Commerce said that the Government was aware of the problems in Tuam and that the GS&WR had been asked to expedite repairs to the line as soon as security might be provided.

The MGWR Hotel at Recess was burned to the ground on Tuesday 10th October 1922. After the burning the MGWR closed down the station halt which had served the hotel. Two weeks later a group of armed men held up the station master at Ballinasloe and forced him to hand over a sum just short of £37. The raiders gave the station master notice to leave the town of Ballinasloe within seven days. The MGWR asked the Government for protection for the man and the station property, especially during hours of darkness.

Clifden resumed its livestock fairs on 13th November with a sale of pigs. However, the nearest station that could be accessed was Oughterard so animals had to be walked to and from here to Clifden.

Wednesday 6th December 1922 was a very significant day not alone for the railway but for the entire country for on this day Saorstát Éireann came into being. However, Civil War unease still festered.

Railway relations also festered as Christmas Eve saw a mass meeting of 300 railway employees in Dublin to object to and reject a proposed reduction of 3s. 6d. per week in wages across all of the main railway companies.

An attempt which was partially successful was made to blow up Lough Gannon Bridge which was 1½ miles west of Ross Station on the Clifden line on 24th March 1923. When the oncoming train reached Ross station a group of men stormed it and took possession of the engine. The passengers were de-trained and three men who mounted the footplate ordered the driver to proceed at speed towards the recently repaired Lough Gannon Bridge. They ordered the train stopped before the bridge and all the raiders dismounted ordering the driver to set the train going at full speed towards the bridge which they said had been mined. The train went forward and the locomotive and two carriages became derailed when they reached a spot where tracks had been torn up. The train came to a standstill, but had it continued it would have toppled into the river below. The raiders were very disappointed with their morning's work and criticised the driver that he had not done his work properly

Two Gardaí who were escorting a prisoner from Galway to Clifden in November 1923 saw the body of a man lying beside the tracks. They alerted the train guard and together they carried the body onto the train. On reaching Oughterard Station they handed over the remains to the Station Master there.

Two youths of about fifteen went for a walk along the line path to Renmore one March 1927 night at about 21.00. On their way back towards the station, just opposite the signal box, one of the youths climbed onto the iron rails of the bridge and slipped. He fell into the waters below, but unfortunately for him, owing to the low state of the tide there was no more than a foot of water where he landed. His body was carried by the filling tide into Lough Atalia and not recovered until next day.

The mail train from Broadstone approached Galway station on 20th April 1931 at a speed that was obviously too great and collided with the buffer stops at the end of the platform. Some passengers fell with the sudden stop and the driver received minor injuries. Two passengers later received treatment for minor injuries at Galway Central Hospital. So slight was the impact that people waiting on the platform were unaware that the incident had occurred until they say the injured leaving the train.

A curious episode befell train guard Dominick Ryan on the goods train from Galway to Dublin on 3rd March 1933. Approaching Woodlawn the guard was (as was his place) in the van at the rear of the train when the wagons and van all derailed while the engine stayed on the track. The driver was unaware of the derailment of the wagons as they stayed upright while they clattered along the sleepers due to the high snow drifts on either side of the line which prevented their toppling. When the engine eventually stopped the snow was up to the level of the funnel. Guard Ryan stepped off his van to go to the driver, but immediately sank up to his armpits in the snow. With difficulty he regained his van where he was compelled to stay overnight. The breakdown train from Athlone had to turn back and could not reach the stranded train until the following evening. Guard Ryan got back to Galway on a relief train the following night.

Steam crane engaged in lifting operations on Lough Atalia Bridge concerning the singling of the line to Oranmore.

In December of the same year a number of passengers and workmen had a narrow escape from death or serious injury when a large steam crane toppled over while lifting a heavy load at Galway Station. Sometime previously Inspector Kelly had warned spectators who were watching the crane lift sections of track to stand clear in case of accident. The line to Clifden was blocked until late on the following day.

Three months later, on 6th March 1934 Gardaí on duty in Oughterard saw some men running away from a bridge over the line there. On searching, the Gardaí discovered a very large rock of about one hundredweight balanced on the parapet of the bridge. At this time a train from Clifden bearing Fine Gael supporters and 'blueshirts' (sic.) was approaching some short distance away. The Gardaí believed that the intention of the men was to drop the rock on to the line in front of the train.

It (1934) was not a good year for Oughterard railway life as the signalman there was struck by lightning on Saturday 15th September. The man was not injured but the gable of the signal box suffered damage and the electric staff signalling system was disabled for quite a time.

On a Monday morning in late March 1939 Mrs Annie Warrington was killed when struck by a train at Doughiska crossing. The inquest was told that the lady crossing-keeper had opened the gates to allow a horse and cart to pass but did not re-close them. On hearing the whistle of the train she rushed to reclose them and was just closing the second gate when the train hit her. Mrs Warrington was the mother of four children

A lapel badge purchased aboard Athenia about 1936 when my late father travelled aboard the vessel on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.

1939 was the year that would see the world plunged once again into warfare. The first civilian casualties at sea were aboard the liner SS Athenia which was torpedoed off the coast of Donegal as she hurried to America carrying citizens of that country anxious to escape the war in Europe. The war was only some four hours old when Athenia was sunk by a patrolling German U-Boat off the coast of Donegal. On 5th September 450 survivors of the vessel were brought into Galway Bay aboard the Norwegian ship Knute Nelson. Among those arriving in Galway was Captain James Cook who told reporters that some 200 souls had perished in the disaster. A friend of mine who lived to the age of 97 once told me that he was married on 5th September 1939 in Dublin and drove to Galway to spend honeymoon in the Great Southern Hotel in Eyre Square. In those days of radio-less cars he and his wife were astounded to find the whole foyer area crowded with survivors huddled in blankets and borrowed clothing. The Dún Aengus and the tender Cathair na Gallaimhe were among the vessels that acted as tenders to ferry people from Knute Nelson into the harbour.

The GSR combined with the GNR(I) to give special facilities to 237 of the passengers who left by special train for Belfast via Amiens Street in Dublin where the MGWR locomotive from Galway was replaced with a GNR(I) engine.

On 8th December 1944 a beet train was approaching Athenry station when the train began to run away out of control of the crew. The engine ran through the signals and eventually turned over, blocking the line for a considerable time. The driver received two weeks suspension for this accident.

On Tuesday 2nd October 1951 a pilot engine pulling a number of wagons was derailed in the Dock Road area of Galway station. Little damage was caused but the goods train for Dublin was delayed by four hours. August 1952 saw the derailing of two wheels of the Dublin to Galway passenger locomotive as it crossed Lough Atalia Bridge on its way into the station. The train stopped immediately and the passengers walked into the station.

Gardaí were investigating an incident outside Galway on 12th January 1961 in which the down night train from Dublin ploughed into two heavy railway sleepers which had been laid across the tracks. The train pushed the sleepers for about eight hundred yards before managing to stop close to Murrough Crossing. Gardaí and CIÉ personnel took a very serious view of the incident as they felt that had the train derailed, the family of Patrick Mannion (the crossing keeper) in the keeper's cottage might have been endangered. No passenger or crew member was injured in the incident which was accredited to adult hooligans.

A motorist was killed at the accident-prone Garraun level crossing on 7th June 1967. A heavy goods train left Galway with 35 wagons attached and struck the car while travelling at a speed of about 35 mph. At the ensuing inquest the driver said that his view of the crossing was severely impaired by the large number of stone walls in the vicinity of the crossing. The driver said that after seeing that there was little he could do at the scene, he uncoupled his engine and drove to Oranmore station to alert the emergency services.

Two French tourists has a remarkable escape at the same crossing in July 1975 when their car was struck by a slow moving train from the Dublin direction at 21.20. The Gardaí stated that the couple owed their lives to the fact that the train was travelling slowly and that the impact was into the rear of the car. The car was dragged along for about fifteen yards.

Yet again tragedy struck at this spot in 1984 when a lady and her niece who were travelling in a car, were killed when struck by the Galway-bound train which was travelling at about 60 mph. There was public outcry once again and people demanded the installation of warning bells and stop lights for motorists here. A scene of carnage ensued here again, but not thankfully human carnage in June 1992. A train from Galway collided with a herd of twenty-seven cattle that had strayed onto the line and were meandering along the tracks in the direction of Oranmore. Seven of the unfortunate animals were killed and the train was delayed for two hours as a replacement locomotive was required.

Probably the worst accident to befall a Galway train was on the evening of 21st August 1983. The train from Galway ran into the rear of the train from Tralee at Cherryville Junction close to Kildare. The Tralee train had run out of fuel and the following train was operating at caution because of a signalling failure. Most of the casualties were believed to have been in the buffet car at the rear of the Tralee train. Firemen used cutting equipment to free the injured from the wreckage and a fleet of double-deck buses was dispatched from Dublin to take most of the 800 passengers from the two trains to Dublin. Seven passengers died and fifty-five were injured in this horrible accident. The subsequent enquiry was highly critical of the laxity of safety procedures and faulty equipment at the time. The following photograph by RTÉ shows the crash scene at Cherryville the morning after the collision.

On 18th September 1996 Mrs Agnes Kennedy who was crossing keeper at Caherryon, Athenry, was killed by the 10.55 train from Galway to Dublin.

January 5th 2007 saw a motor van destroyed when struck at Garraun crossing by an early morning train that was travelling at about 70 miles per hour. The van driver was injured but was expected to make a full recovery while the train driver was treated for shock. The train and its 120 passengers was two hours late arriving in Galway. An elderly wheel-chair-bound priest was killed at Oranmore crossing when his car apparently broke through the barriers and was struck by a Dublin-bound train in February 2004.

On 27th June 2008 a train from Dublin struck a car at Garraun crossing near to Oranmore. The train struck the bumper of the car not causing injury to anyone. However, IÉ management were at last concerned at the number of strikes at this non-barrier crossing and they initiated a review of safety there. The upshot was the installation of automatic barriers on 16th December that year.

February 2011 brought a collision at Murrough crossing between a car and the 09.30 train ex Dublin. Two young people from Co. Fermanagh lost their way and drove their car over the crossing, the gates of which had been left open by the previous motorist to use it in contravention of the rules governing unmanned crossings. As soon as the driver realised that he was on a railway he reversed but was not quick enough to avoid impact with the 3-car railcar. No person was injured in the accident but the car was destroyed.

Five months later a lorry drove through Oranmore level crossing as the barriers were dropping for the 07.45 train from Galway. Yet just two months later again the 15.05 train to Dublin with 260 passengers aboard suffered an engine fire close to Athenry. The passengers were evacuated onto the line side and had to walk almost a mile to the nearest road. There they waited for replacement buses. Most of the passengers (including my brother-in-law) were on their way to Lansdown Road in Dublin for an international soccer match, so a two-hour delay did nothing to help their mood.

The railways in the area of Oranmore had a difficult time with unmanned crossings being left open by road users. In 2006 IÉ felt compelled to employ hidden cameras to identify offenders. Four individuals were identified and prosecuted with fines of €875 each plus witness expenses and legal costs.

Severe flooding caused the lengthy disruption of services on the Athenry to Ennis section in November 2009 and again in November 2015.

There were a number of incidences of violence on the Clifden line during the War of Independence and the ensuing Civil War. On St Patrick's Day 1921 thirty Black and Tans, summoned by the Royal Irish Constabulary, two of whose members had been fatally wounded the day before, arrived by train in Clifden and set about their riot of destruction. They killed one civilian and injured another while burning down fourteen houses. The 'Tans looted pubs and wreaked havoc during their drunken spree.

In the early days of the Civil War the Irregulars blew up bridges and tracks cutting Clifden off for some seven months. It would be January 1923 before Free State troops took control of the town and re-instated the railway connection. The MGWR tried as far as possible to restrict the running of trains to daylight hours during that time of frequent sabotage.

Frank Bailey versus The Clifden Train

John Henry Bailey was born around 1843. He had a brother who emigrated. It is claimed that he had six uncles who were each over six feet in height. He had many hobbies of which shooting and fishing were the principal.

He had the distinction of being the first man to own and ride a bicycle in Galway. He carried on the business of selling Morris cars and various makes of bicycle, of which Raleigh and Swift were the most popular. They were contracting agents for Ford, Studebaker and Swift cars.

The Baileys business of selling and repairing Morris cars was continued on by his son Frank, who also developed the bicycle business and enlarged the front of his premises so as to exhibit the variety of bicycles then on the market, and to show off his cars. This business was on the east side of Eyre Square, and is now remembered as the site of the former Odeon Hotel.

Frank Bailey is best remembered for his happy manner, cheerful disposition, and the unusual athletic feats he performed. When the River Corrib became frozen over in the winter of 1904, he cycled on the river from the Steamers' Quay to Menlo Castle and back (the ice was reported to have been eleven inches in thickness in places).

I hope I have given the reader some idea of Frank Bailey's standing and respect in the community. Perhaps his most interesting feat was his race against the train from Clifden to Galway, by bicycle. The best report I can present to the reader on this race is from the Connacht Sentinel of the 19th August 1906.

In August, 1906, Frank Bailey of Eyre Square, Galway, told his friends that he intended to race the passenger train from Clifden to Galway on his bicycle, a distance of fifty miles exactly. Now the train was supposes to take 1 hour 52 minutes, including stops but owing to unscheduled hold ups it usually took two and a half hours.

While Frank was quite an accomplished cyclist with a number of first places to his credit in both races and track events, nobody believed he could do it. The road from Clifden to Galway was fairly flat, but it was little used, and the surface from Clifden to Oughterard was not tarred. From there to Galway the road had long tarred stretches.

On paper he had no chance of beating the train. He had to cover fifty miles of barren exposed unsurfaced roads, at an average speed of just over 20 m.p.h.

A back-up vehicle would have been unthinkable in those days, as cars were still very unreliable, and would have added greatly to the expense of the ride, so he would have no spares readily available. A puncture would take the best part of five minutes to repair. Yet he still believed he could do it.

The day before the event he took the train to Clifden, and had a good night's sleep. The day dawned dry and as he had hoped, with a very strong North West wind. There were no weather forecasts in those days, but he had studied the weather patterns over the previous few years, and felt there was a high probability of a strong tail wind to Galway at that time of the year. This was the edge. In spite of this advantage he knew that to beat the train he would have to use all his experience, and in addition, have luck on his side.

Frank surged ahead at first, but about two miles from Clifden; the train went under the bridge about thirty seconds before he went over it. Past the lakes and on the upgradients to the Protestant church by the road at Ballinahinch, he caught occasional glimpses of the train, and could see that he was losing ground.

As he reached the favourable gradient at the church, he felt the wind directly behind him; he increased his effort and with legs whirling like an egg-beater – there was no ten speed gears in those days – he gradually reduced his deficit and as the train started to slow for the stop at Recess, he was within 400 yards of it.

As the train stopped, he went on to Recess with the shouts of the passengers ringing in is ears. They had heard of Frank and his race, and young and old were anxious to see the crazy man from Galway who thought he could race the train.

He knew that there was a very gradual climb from Recess to Maam Cross, but his schedule depended on his holding the lead he had gained at Recess when the train stopped. He planned to be at Maam Cross, 23 miles from Clifden and 27 miles from Galway Station, at 2.44 leaving him 1 hour and 21 minutes to cover the remaining 27 miles of undulating country.

He held his speed at 20 mph up the long gradient in spite of the terrible surface of the road.

This was no pleasure ride – Frank was trying to prove to himself and his friends that he could beat the train, but by now he was starting to have doubts about his ability. His whole body was starting to feel the effect of the constant hammering from the bad road surface, and he decided to take the optional stop he had arranged at Peacock's in Maam Cross for a quick snack.
He stopped and ran into the dining room at Peacock's, just as Mrs Peacock came in with a fresh pot of tea. As Frank ate and drank, she told him how the station-master had phoned ahead from Recess to Maam Cross, and the station-master at Maam had sent a porter over to let them know that Frank was just ahead of the train, so she was able to time making the tea so that it would be just right.

By now, the train had arrived, so Frank took an extra half-cup of tea and left. By now quite a crowd had gathered outside as word had spread about the madman from Galway, and Frank's appearance caused a cheer.

He mounted his bike as the train pulled out. He had intended to leave before the train because the road surface was bad as far as Oughterard, and there were quite a number of stiff little hills to climb. He got going again, and found he was cold and stiff; moreover he had eaten too much. He could see the train ahead of him across the bay to the left, and as he tried to find his rhythm again, he realised he was losing ground. Within a couple of miles he had warmed up again, but was unable to gain any more ground. The continual pounding from the bad surface was beginning to take its toll. As he reached the top of the hill before Oughterard he could see the last of the carriages rounding the corner about a mile ahead of him. He hurtled down the hill into the village throwing caution to the winds and as he reached the tarred road, he saw the smoke of the train leaving the station.  
To his surprise cheering crowds greeted him, and this, together with the knowledge that there were long stretches of tarred road before Galway, gave him a lift. He found the heavy feeling in his stomach had subsided and in spite of the train being out of sight by now, he was feeling as if he might achieve his goal. After climbing the hill out of Oughterard, the road as far as Roscahill was level, and the occasional glimpses he had of the train showed him that he was gaining. At Roscahill, he and the train were neck and neck, but on the hill up to Moycullen he lost several hundred yards on the train whose smoke he could see among the trees to the left. Again as the train left the station, they were neck and neck, but he could feel the wind veering around to his right, and his ally for the previous two hours was turning into an enemy at the wrong time.

But for the fact that he was starting to meet other cyclists and horse-drawn vehicles, bearing the curious who had heard of Frank's exploit and had come to see for themselves, he would have considered giving up. As he rounded a corner four miles from Galway, he felt the wind behind him again, and realised that it was the road that had changed direction not the wind. Lifted once again by this knowledge, and the proximity of friends who had cycled out from Galway to encourage him, he ignored saddle sores which were bleeding by now, shoulders which he felt as if they were dislocated, and legs without feeling, he increased his speed and could see that as he approached Bushy Park, he was ahead of the train which was puffing away close to the river, by about 200 yards.

He reached the top of the hill, and whilst the train had the shorter route to follow Frank knew it had to slow down to negotiate the curves leading to the river bridge and to the station to Galway.

He catapulted himself down the hill, through Newcastle, past the University, over the Salmon Weir Bridge, and as he did so he could see the train just reaching the bridge – down Eglinton Street, around Eyre Square, and worked to a stop at the station a bare 30 seconds before the train pulled in and stopped.

Frank Bailey was grand-uncle of this writer's Phil.

Who was Éamonn Ceannt?

Éamonn Ceannt was born in the village of Ballymoe in Co. Galway. He was the sixth of seven children of an RIC police officer who moved his family to Dublin upon his retirement.

In 1899 Éamonn joined the Gaelic League where he met men like Pádraig Pearse who had a deep and passionate interest in Irish culture and nationalism. He was a proficient musician, a founding member of the Pipers' Club in Dublin, and on one occasion he played for Pope Pius X. In 1905 he married fellow Gaelic Leaguer Áine Brennan. 1912 saw him sworn into The Irish Republican Brotherhood by Seán Mac Diarmada.

In the rebellion, Ceannt had as his deputies Cathal Brugha and W T Cosgrave at the South Dublin Union. Later he moved to Marrowbone Lane Distillery where his unit of fighters managed to hold out and defend their position until ordered to surrender by Pádraig Pearse. After the unconditional surrender, Éamonn Ceannt was detained in Richmond Barracks. He was sent to Kilmainham Gaol for court-martial and subsequent execution. He was shot by firing squad on 7th May 1916. In 1966 Galway railway and bus station was renamed in his honour.

Railway Personnel

The following lists are of those people who in 1901 and 1911 made a census return with occupations associated with the railway in the Galway Urban area. The lists are probably incomplete as some people may have described their occupation as 'driver', 'clerk', porter, or some other broad term which could not be directly associated with railway operation. It is interesting that I could only find two females in 1901, two sisters named Crawford, and one lady (Mrs Keeny) in 1911 who was crossing keeper at Murrough. The details are listed as surname, Christian name, age, address, occupation, and county of birth. It is important to note that some of those listed may have just been in Galway for the night, as railway crews frequently lodged away from home on what were known as 'overnight turns'. Similarly persons who usually resided in Galway may have been 'lodging' away at other stations that night.

1901 GALWAY

Betts William, 41, Frenchville Park, porter, Westmeath.

Blackmore William, 51, St Patrick's Avenue, driver, England.

Brennan Michael, 25, Water Lane, milesman, Galway.

Carleton Joseph, 20, Middle Street, foreman, Meath.

Crawford Emma Miss, 20, Eyre Square, clerk, Sligo.

Crawford Rabie Miss, 25, Eyre Square, clerk, Sligo.

Daly Martin, 63, Suckeen, labourer, Galway.

Garr William, 26, St Nicholas Street, railway official, Roscommon.

Healy William, 21, Eyre Square, Clerk, Westmeath.

Holland Thomas, 26, College Road, ganger, Galway.

Jennings Laurence, 26, Abbeygate Street, driver, Roscommon.

Keane Bernard, 23, Shop Street, porter, Meath.

Kelehan John, 26, St Patrick's Avenue, fireman, Galway.

Kelly James, 22, St Nicholas Street, guard, Mayo.

Kelly John, 31, Bohermore, porter, Westmeath.

Magee Stephen, 27, Fairfield Road, railway official, Galway.

Maguire Joseph, 33, Bohermore, driver, Dublin.

Manley George, 48, Queen's Street, foreman, Dublin.

Manley Joseph Patrick, 20, Queen's Street, engine cleaner, Roscommon.

McGuire James, 27, Eyre Street, porter, Westmeath.

McHugh John, 27, Bowling Green, railway servant, Westmeath.

Mitchell Edward, 30, Eyre Square, ganger, Galway.

Morgan Patrick, 47, College Road, inspector, Galway.

Morris Thomas, 34, Prospect Hill, porter, Kildare.

Newell James, 21, Abbeygate Street, porter, Galway.

Noonan James, 21, Eyre Street, fireman, Westmeath.

O'Reilly Michael P, 22, Frenchville Park, porter, Galway.

O'Sullivan James P, 30, Churchyard Street, labourer, Galway.

Reape Michael, 30, Eyre Street, porter, Mayo.

Rooney John, 23, St Augustine Street, porter, Galway.

Ryan Frederick W, 30, Bohermore, driver, England.

Shine John, 28, St Augustine Street, porter, Roscommon.

Simpson George William, 54, Eyre Square, gate keeper, London.

Ward James, 20, Eyre Street, fireman, Mayo.

1901 ORANMORE

Banks Patrick, 27, Oranmore, signalman, Westmeath.

Connors Michael, 45, Glenascaul, milesman, Galway.

Connors Thomas, 38, Glenascaul, driver, Galway.

Crosson John Francis, 28, Carrowmoneash, Station Master, Galway.

Molloy Peter, 40, Oranmore, labourer, Galway.

Murray John, 38, Frenchfort, Labourer, Galway

Pepper Gerald, 30, Deerpark, signalman, Leitrim.

Philpin Thomas, 28, Innplot, porter, Mayo.

1911 GALWAY

Two men are listed only by initials; they may have been attached to military or police and their names not listed for security reasons. Their return was on 'barracks sheets'. The six entries followed by * were all boarding in the premises of John Rabbitt in Forster Street.

Armstrong John Henry, 39, Eyre Street, plumber, Dublin.

Barrett John, 25, Spanish Parade, porter, Galway.

Bartley Thomas, 38, Victoria Place, driver, Longford.

Bates Philip, 53, Townsparks, porter, Westmeath.

Bracken Joseph, 30, Forster Street, ticket checker, Westmeath.*

Brady James, 41, Forster Street, porter, Meath.

Carew Thomas, 21, Bohermore, shunter, Kildare.

Connelly John, 68, Bohermore, retired driver, Galway.

Cooke Richard F, 22, Newtownsmith, clerk, Galway.

Crosbie John, 37, Eyre Street, porter, Westmeath.

Daly Martin, 75, Eyre Street, railway pensioner, Galway.

Duffy Owen, 39, Eyre Street, bricklayer, Monaghan.

Egan Michael, 27, Bohermore, fireman, Roscommon.

Flanagan George, 33, Bohermore, porter, Dublin.

Folan Pat, 26, St Patrick's Avenue, fireman, Galway.

Fox Alick 21, Forster Street, clerk, Mayo.*

Garr William, 37, College Road, signal man, Westmeath.

Gethings Michael, 23, Eyre Street, porter, Westmeath.

Greally William, 40, Bohermore, driver, Roscommon.

Green William, 21, Forster Street, clerk, Monaghan.*

Hanahoe Patrick, 46, St Patrick's Avenue, retired signalman, Meath.

Hasley Patrick, 21, Forster Street, clerk, Waterford.*

Hoey Patrick, 25, Suckeen, milesman, Galway.

Horan Patrick, 37, Bohermore, carriage cleaner, Westmeath.

Hynes Thomas, 23, Henry Street, fireman, Galway.

J.A., 37, Eglinton Street, clerk, Limerick.

James John, 70, Forster Street, retired driver, Roscommon.

Joyce Thomas, 38, Townsparks, ganger, Galway.

Judge William, 29, Suckeen, porter, Longford.

Kavanagh D, 38, Rinmore (sic.) fireman, Dublin.

Keeny Mary, 60, Murrough, crossing keeper, Galway.

Keeny Tom, 56, Murrough, crossing keeper, Galway.

Keogh William, 31, Prospect Hill, porter, Dublin.

Laton John, 45, St Patrick's Avenue, porter, Kildare.

Long Michael T, 20, New Docks Street, fireman, Galway.

Long Michael, 32, College Road, labourer, Galway.

Lynch William, 46, Middle Street, driver, Westmeath.

M.F., 35, Prospect Hill, signalman, Galway.

Mahon Ludlow, 25, Eyre Square, clerk, Roscommon.

Molloy Patrick, 33, Forster Street, signalman, Galway.

Morgan Patrick, 57, Victoria Place, inspector, Galway.

Mullan Patrick, 32, Forster Street, fireman, Westmeath.

O'Brien Thomas Joseph, 20, Forster Street, clerk, Dublin.*

O'Hara J, 23, Rinmore (sic), engine cleaner, England.

O'Reilly Michael, 31, Townsparks, general employee, Galway.

O'Sullivan James, 40, Middle Street, coalman, England.

O'Sullivan Stephen, 19, Middle Street, engine cleaner, Galway.

Parsons John, 60, Cloghatiskey, driver, Cornwall.

Prentice Henry B., 37, Wood Quay, driver, Armagh.

Ryan James, 27, Forster Street, engine fitter, Dublin.

Ryan Michael, 16, Forster Street, engine cleaner, Dublin.

Spollen John, 28, Forster Street, clerk, Westmeath.*

Sullivan John, 22, Fairhill Road, driver, Galway.

Tiernan Thomas, 30, Bohermore, driver, Dublin.

Toole Patrick, 36, Newcastle, ganger, Galway.

Walsh Patrick, 35, Abbeygate Street Lower, signalman, Galway.

Ware Charles Edward, 37, Bohermore, porter, Cavan.

Warner Joseph John, 40, Eyre Square, station master, Mayo.

White John, 57, Forster Street, night engine man, Westmeath.

1911 Oranmore

Banks Patrick 38, Oranmore, signalman, Galway (Westmeath in 1901).

Casey John, 50, Frenchfort, milesman, Longford.

Daly John, 39, Deerpark, signalman, Meath.

O'Connor Michael, 57, Glenascaul, milesman, Galway. (Connors in 1901).

Éamon Crowley, Station foreman at Galway in 1987. (Photo Stan Shields from his 2006 book Stan's Galway)

Three railway men at Galway photographed by the late J P O'Dea. Middle is signal man the late Ned (Eddie) Reilly.

One of the last crossing-keepers at Doughiska before automation of the barriers here. Ned Reilly's cottage at right. (Photo Graham Horn, Licensed to reuse)

Some Station Masters at Galway

The station Master at Galway was paid an annual salary of £60 while his counterpart at Oranmore was paid £36 at the opening of the line. Until station accommodation would be made available, both men were paid a 'lodging' allowance of 10s. per week.

Johnny Cuffe, unknown dates.

Simpson 1890

Thomas McHale, 1900.

William Giffney, 1905.

John Joseph Warner 1911

Casserly (acting), 1914.

Edward Merry, 1937 -1940.

V A Waterson, 1942 – 1949

J Griffin, (acting), 1949.

Thomas McNamara, 1949 – 1954.

M Barry, 1961.

Seán Connolly, late 1970s.

Michael Leahy, 1992, – (erstwhile Mayor of Galway)

John Daly, 1994.

Peter Caulfield, 2011.

A delightful photograph by an unidentified photographer shows Stationmaster Seán Connolly with two young passengers at Galway.

Visit of Pope John Paul II in September 1979

It is recognised that Friday 28th September to Monday 1st October 1979 were the busiest days ever experienced in the history of Coras Iompar Éireann. For the Papal ceremonies in Galway Racecourse on Sunday 30th September rail traffic started to build from the Friday 28th with many people making their way to the city for the weekend. The success of the railway operation was dependant on the smooth and efficient operation of the services in Dublin on the Saturday for the Phoenix Park Mass. Also critical was timetable compliance at Galway in order to allow empty trains in and out of the city. It must be borne in mind that the line into Galway is single so only one train could be in the section between Galway and Athenry at any time. Provision was also given to the stand-by train in Heuston station for departure at 06.20 on Sunday morning if the weather proved unsuitable for the Pope's helicopter to fly. In the event the decision to fly was only made five minutes prior to departure when the fog that had settled on the city of Dublin overnight cleared. The 'Papal train' then ran empty to Claremorris in case it would be needed there in the evening, which in the event it wasn't.

Fourteen special trains to Galway operated: five from Connolly in Dublin via Portarlington, four from Cork via Ennis and Athenry, and others from Heuston Dublin (bearing the Press Corps), Wexford via Dublin, Tralee, and Waterford. All Dublin originating trains operated via Portarlington because of the congestion on the Mullingar line caused by the traffic at Ashtown for the Saturday Mass. A further train was operated by Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) but this train was vacated in Ballinasloe by passengers who had arranged to be accommodated in that town while the train continued empty to Galway whence it returned with its passengers on Sunday evening. These passengers were brought into Galway by bus on Sunday.

NIR railcar set headed by railcar Sir Myles Humphreys waits for its passengers at Galway Station sidings on 30th September 1979. (© Copyright Albert Bridge and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence.)

A big problem was that a maximum of only six trains could be stored at Galway so it was necessary to bring some empties to stations as far away as Ballinasloe for storage. Other coaches (for example TPO vehicles) not in use that day were brought to Athenry for stabling. A special train ran from Athlone to Athenry on the Sunday afternoon to bring train crews to the station where their vehicles had been stored.

Maintenance crews were on stand-by duty to see to any fault that might occur in vehicle, track or signalling and every coach and locomotive had been checked to ensure as far as possible that there would be no breakdowns.

There was a certain amount of difficulty and congestion experienced because of the operation of a rail service into Claremorris for ceremonies later that evening, but by and large the Galway operation was deemed to have been most successful. While thirteen specials operated into Galway we must remember that seven of those had to be moved out for storage (Attymon, Athenry (3), and Ballinasloe (3) and back again in the evening. This in effect means that a total of forty-two trains operated into and out of Galway Station on that date. The return departures from Galway were as follows: For Dublin (15.00, 15.22, 15.45, 16.30, 18.00), Lurgan (NIR) (17.15), Waterford (18.45), Tralee (19.30), Cork (20.20, 21.10, 22.00, 22.40), Wexford at 23.05, in addition to the Press Corps train for Heuston. A total of some 7,000 passengers were carried into and out of the city which represents 14,000 passenger journeys.

Recent Developments

On 15th December 2003 Minister for Transport Séamus Brennan met with a group of interested people to discuss the possibility of re-opening the rail link between Sligo and Ennis to join with the still open Ennis to Limerick line. Six months later he announced the establishment of a working group to examine in detail what was now being referred to as The Western Corridor. The chairman was to be Pat McCann who was CEO of the Jury's Hotel Group. Their brief was to examine costs and benefits and the Minister stressed that the line must be rigorously assessed and justified in the context of road development with one billion Euro to be spent in the region on road projects.

Pat McCann's report was delivered one year later with the general conclusion that a strong case can be made for the re-instatement of the line. IÉ agreed with the recommendations and agreed to commission studies on the likely demand for the service.

The line was divided into five sections for the purpose of study:

1. Athenry to Ennis costing €74.7m. Recommended to proceed.

2. Athenry to Galway commuter traffic. To be part of the plan.

3. Galway to Tuam, €34.7m. Should be second project.

4. Tuam to Claremorris, €58.9m.

5. Claremorris to Collooney €197.4m. Was deemed extremely expensive and difficult to justify.

By March 2006 some insignificant works had been done on the section in option 1 above; this included new mileposts which was hardly a major expenditure! Six months later the Government announce funding for the design of section 1 as well as preliminary funding for the section from Athenry to Tuam.

Line clearance work commenced between Athenry and Ennis where 36 miles of new continuous welded track was required as well as 125 farm-crossings and five stations; at Craughwell, Ardrahan, Gort, Sixmilebridge and eventually Crusheen (to follow later). The promise was for a service of 7 trains daily with a journey time of 1hr.55m. Galway to Limerick. Track laying commenced in summer 2007. The track was laid on concrete sleepers manufactured by IÉ in their own plant at Portlaoise and with rails imported through the Port of Cork and transferred by road to the site.

By the end of 2009 the stations which were eventually unmanned and equipped with only a shelter, a bus-stop style bench and a ticket dispensing machine were almost completed.

At this time plans were afoot for a new station for Oranmore. It was decided that the site of the old station beside the main level crossing on the Oranmore to Claregalway road was unsuitable as it did not have space for car parking. The suggested site at Garraun was not popular because of its distance from the village of Oranmore. In the event the Garraun site was chosen and the station is now operating there.

Minister Leo Varadker (centre) at the opening of the new station in Oranmore on 29th July 2013.

On 29th March 2010 a special train with Minister for Transport Varadker, politicians and railway officials left Limerick calling at all stations. Unfortunately the peasants (those who would pay the fares!) were not even allowed onto the platforms as the train made a brief stop at each station along the way. However, at Gort the common man was treated to refreshments in a tent.

The service of five trains per day with four on Sundays commenced the next day. There was concern at the delay of 25 minutes at Ennis on the first train from Limerick each morning as the train had to cross path with another train. The first month saw some 30,000 passenger journeys between the two cities.

The service was provided by a two-car railcar, sometimes augmented to three or four for some heavier traffic.

The service now operates but is deemed to be somewhat slow and cumbersome compared with road traffic. A report in 2013 stated the Limerick to Galway train to be slow, infrequent and dear. The route is 20Km longer than road and speed has to be curtailed owing to the presence of no less than 35 level crossings on the route.

Following some clearance works on the northern section of the Western Corridor no further work has been sanctioned and in light of the current and recent-past economic state of the country it seems unlikely that we will see this section re-opened in the immediate future.

Catering

An early photograph of The Railway Hotel. The entrance to the right was the goods entrance which later became the bus and truck depot.

The principal place of catering on the MGWR line to Galway was undoubtedly The Railway Hotel which adjoined the station. In January 1852 the company, having decided not to run the hotel themselves leased that part of the business to an operating tenant. However the MGWR did stipulate that hotel porters from other hostelries in the town were not to be permitted onto the station platforms. The early operators were gentlemen named Birchehough, Kilmurray, Odlum, and Bergin. From 1871 to 1924 the hotel was run by a Colonel Hackett and his wife. In 1918 the hotel was commandeered by the British Army for use as a hospital for wounded soldiers and they would stay in occupation until handing over to the Free State army in 1922. The hotel was returned to its owners following the Civil War. After the Hackett incumbency the MGWR decided, in view of the often uncomplimentary remarks about food and services at the establishment to run it themselves under a manager. The former manager of the Recess Hotel in Connemara, a lady named McCarthy was appointed manageress.

In 2006 with IÉ suffering severe financial difficulty all of the Great Southern Hotels were sold to the Monogram Hotel group. The new owners gave the hotel the name by which Eyre Square had formerly been known; Meyrick. The hotel was completely re-furbished between 2007 and 2009 and is now a luxury four-star hostelry.

Well-known people to have visited the hotel include, Prince Louis Napoleon of France, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, Rex Harrison, John Count McCormack, Siobhán McKenna, David Hemmings, Michéal Mac Liammóir, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Jack Nicholson, Anjelica Heuston and her father John, Paul Newman, and a quartet from The Quiet Man Barry Fitzgerald, John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, and Victor McLaglen.

Catering has always been an integral part of railway life with the railway sandwich being a standard fare for comedians' humour. In the early years when there were no lavatories fitted to trains it was necessary for the train to stop for a 'comfort break' at major stations. This gave the passenger an opportunity to purchase food from the station buffet, or sometimes to collect a pre-booked food basket from the restaurant. In his final book From Connemara to Cock o'the North (Colourpoint 2002) my late good friend Laurence Liddle described the 'luncheon basket' on the MGWR: one could, for three shillings, be supplied with a luncheon basket containing half a chicken, with ham or tongue, bread, cheese, and butter and either a half bottle of claret, two glasses of sherry, or a bottle of ale or stout. Correspondingly well filled breakfast baskets were available on the MGWR, but in their case the charge was only half a crown (2s.6d). There was a reduction of sixpence if the customer did not take an alcoholic drink with his or her luncheon basket! The baskets were available at Dublin, Mullingar, Athlone, Claremorris, Sligo, and Cavan, but apparently if one joined a train at Galway, it would seem that one tightened one's belt and waited until the train got to Athlone.

The availability of alcohol on trains came about with the introduction of restaurant and buffet cars on main lines but there were also loopholes in the laws concerning service. Alcohol could not be sold from a trolley service, only in the catering car or in the station buffet.

The Irish 'Intoxicating Liquor Act 1924' permitted the selling of alcohol at any time at railway stations on the arrival or departure of trains. This rule was later restricted to those persons in possession of a valid ticket for travel of ten miles or more. This caused a situation where Good Friday saw a huge influx of passengers, bearing tickets for ten miles distant, to the restaurant in order to circumvent the enforced drought on that day.

On the trains the MGWR did not permit 3rd Class passengers to enter the restaurant cars. However, in 1909 the Board relented somewhat and allowed 'the thirds' into 2nd Class dining cars at no extra ticket cost. Previously they were forced to pay the difference in fare between 2nd and 3rd for the number of miles during which they were 'upgraded'. Staff were instructed that Third Class passengers could not enter the dining car until their meal was ready and then they were to be conducted back to their seat, and conducted back as soon as they had eaten.

It was noted by the Board that hotels along the way would be too expensive for 'thirds' so they did not feel the need to legislate for their incursion into these hallowed halls.

On 5th April 1943, with war-time shortages at their most severe, it was unofficially announced that the GSR proposed to transfer the dining car from the Athlone to Galway section of the train and utilise it on the Athlone to Westport section. The Galway Chamber of Commerce sent a telegram of protest and asked Senator Hawkins who was in Dublin, to make representations to the Government for the retention of the dining car on the entire journey to Galway.

On a final note about 'victuals' there is an amusing story told in Ballyglunin folklore that Robert Blake of Ballyglunin Park would regularly have his evening meal cooked in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin and delivered to Ballyglunin station, packed in special 'hay-boxes', the thermal food containers of the day. A special extra delivery would arrive on the evening mail train if there were guests in residence or a county gathering planned.

Immigrating to Galway!

Occasionally when I am reading a book quite unrelated to a railway topic I come across a little snippet that throws a light on the pleasure or otherwise of travelling by train. One such book is a marvellous recollection of a young lady who spent her earliest years in Ballinasloe but then moved to Galway when her father took up a position as a veterinary surgeon here. Her name was Frances Moffett and here is how she described her move to Galway in 1908, in her 1985 book I also am of Ireland.

We were the only passengers for Galway. The (Ballinasloe) station-master, distinguished by his frock-coat and small peaked hat, came out to greet my mother. The signal went down with a loud click. In the distance the black engine appeared round the bend. Red sparks, mingled with thick black smoke, came from its funnel. Chunk-akan, chunk-akan, chunk –CHUNK-AKAN got louder and louder. As it drew nearer, I crouched back against the wall, afraid in case the black monster should leave its rails and mount the platform. The train slowed up as it entered the station and came to a halt with a long grunt from its brakes. The station-master opened the door of a first class carriage, as was his privilege, and we climbed in. The trunks were put in the luggage van. Two wicker baskets and a black Gladstone bag were put on the rack in the carriage. Rugs were tucked round us as there was no heating in the train.

The station-master shook my mother's hand. 'We'll miss you all', he said, 'but himself's right to move farther afield. Good luck now.'

He looked at the guard, standing at the ready with his green flag. The flag dropped, the engine whistle sounded shrill. The train began to move slowly. We were leaving Ballinasloe for ever. Even at the age of eight I was aware that a new chapter in my life was beginning.

'We're nearly there'. Mother began to fold up the rugs. She took the baskets from the wooden rack. The train journey of forty miles took about two and a half hours from Ballinasloe to Galway. There was a leisurely stop at the intermediary stations. Sometimes a passenger or two got on or off. At Athenry, there was a barefooted woman in a bright red homespun skirt, a black shawl over her head and shoulders. She carried a large deep basket of fresh eggs, probably for one of the 'big houses'. There were always mail bags to be loaded and unloaded by the waiting postman. Corridor trains had not come to Ireland, so there were no lavatory facilities on them. A small enamel chamber-pot, discreetly covered by a terry towel, was often carried in a wicker basket. It was used in case of an emergency with children – an emergency never encouraged. Not every station had a 'ladies'. Where there was one, the train made a longer stop, while women and children 'made themselves comfortable', as the euphemism was. The station-master himself usually supervised the passengers getting off the train and saw that everyone was back again before giving the signal to the guard. It was not unusual for the first whistle to signal a false start. As the train began to leave Athenry, hollering and shouting were heard from just outside the station.

'Hold her, hold a minute', the porter shouted, rushing on to the platform. 'Mr Joyce himself is just a-coming down the road'. On a shout from the station-master, the driver reversed back on to the platform. Mr Joyce, puffing and blowing, came through the barrier.

'Arrah now I've not time for a ticket; I'll get it at Oranmore.' 'Sure that's all right, sor.' A first class door shut with a bang, there was a whistle and the train started again.

'Here we are at last,' said mother.

The train drew into Galway station. It seemed vast compared with then one in Ballinasloe. It was covered with a domed roof and not open to the sky. At one end was a large sign saying 'Railway Hotel'.

My father was there to meet us with a pony trap and donkey cart driven by Moran, his new man. The cart was to take the luggage.

Plenty of willing porters loaded up the cart, and we started on the three Irish miles drive to our new home (Gentian Hill House).

How does that account compare with a similar journey 108 years later I wonder?

Frances Moffett (above in 1915) went to England after she developed tuberculosis and never came back to live in Galway. She was a highly esteemed teacher and became Vice-Principal of a Women's Theological College following some time working for the Church of England. Her book I also am of Ireland was serialised on BBC's Radio 4 Woman's Hour.

Railway Signage

GSR 1950s.

This writer beside a CIÉ station name board with stick-on letters about 1964. (Bill O'Meara)

CIÉ 1980s.

As far as I can ascertain station identification signs were plain block lettering in English only, in MGWR days. As replaced by GSR and CIÉ the signs bore the name of the station in Irish above the English version.

Tickets

Although not for the Galway area this GNRI three-month season ticket, third class under fourteen, shows the leather covered document that was durable and non-transferrable. Not a bad price for a commuter ticket with unlimited travel between the named stations for less than thruppence a day!

Pre-printed Edmondson tickets including the platform ticket which was required for people 'seeing off' friends and relations at the station.

A 1996 ticket.

Modern Crouzet ticket again using blank cards and purchasable from vending machines.

Automatic self-service ticket dispenser at Oranmore station.

The tickets issued were Edmondson type (called pasteboard) as were common on most early railways. These were pre-printed with station of departure and destination printed on them as well as the price. The date issued was stamped on the back of the ticket. Return tickets were perforated for halving. The problem with this ticket was that each station had to retain a large stock of first, second, third, fourth, return, weekly, monthly, and excursion, for child and adults, and for dog, bicycle, pram, and admission to platform. A complete new set was required every time there was a change in fare rates. Of course these stocks which were pre-numbered in controlled sequence had to be audited on a regular basis to prevent theft or fraud. The ticket clerk had to keep daily record of each ticket sold from his hatch and tally the list with cash taken. CIÉ introduced Almex machines in 1964 which meant that the stock of tickets stocked was simply a selection of each type issued; adult single, child, adult return, etc. The booking clerk printed the ticket details as required and the auditors just tallied money lodged with the machine reading. The actual ticket stock was of no more value than paper.

2002 saw the introduction of Crouzet ticketing, but since then tickets now come in many guises; on-line booked, smart card, and indeed Social Welfare passes, although the latter do require the issuing of a ticket for mail line travel.

The modern trend is for passengers to purchase a Leap card (above) for travel. This function is not yet available in Galway but undoubtedly it will be within a short time. At present it can be used on Dublin and Cork commuter services. The user tops up his or her card with money then presents it to an electronic scanner in the train or bus which deducts the fare applicable to the journey. Leap card fares are at least 20% cheaper than those using conventional tickets.

Letter stamp for a letter to be conveyed by the railway company, not a Post Office stamp. Below a parcel stamp for MGWR.

Uniforms

A GSR uniform button.

An early twentieth century scene at Oughteratrd shows typical railway uniforms of that era. No person is bare-headed. (Unknown).

MGWR cap badge for an inspector

An IÉ lapel badge from about 1996.

Today the ubiquitous high-visibility orange vest seems to be the recognisable uniform of railway staffs. In early years all staff wore uniforms, in fact it was considered one of the perks of the job. Drivers and firemen were supplied with great-coats which were an absolute necessity in the early years when the only protection from the speed-generated draught and weather conditions was the wind-screen on the locomotive, which of course was totally worthless if the engine was travelling backwards. Early signalmen wore uniforms made of corduroy but these were changed to cloth in 1895. The wearing of uniforms was mandatory; staff could not turn up in their own clothes even if they had been foolish enough to do so. Caps were a necessary part of the dress of all staff coming into contact with the passengers such as station masters, ticket checkers, porters, and booking clerks. The cap badge often denoted the rank of the wearer. Inspectors' caps sometimes had gold braiding to enhance their importance. Foreman and management almost always wore hard hats, and by that I do not mean construction site hard hats. Workers such as milesmen, permanent way workers, and general labourers were not required to wear uniform but they did utilise all protective clothing available to them.

Some workers took a great personal pride in their appearance, and I remember one ticket checker in Heuston in the seventies when I was a frequent traveller on the Galway train who always sported a rose in his uniform buttonhole. The man was most outgoing and friendly and was conspicuous because he only had one arm. He was reputedly a good golfer despite his limitation.

Company Crests

The Future?

In 2013 IÉ spent €1m. investment on new bus / rail / taxi interchange at Galway station with widened pavements and new bus bays.

In September 2005 CIÉ (the holding company) announced plans for a €750m. retail and commercial development and transport interchange to be built on the 4-acre site of Ceannt Station and the adjacent bus depot. Key features are improved facilities for passengers in a development of this fifty thousand square metre development. Architects Murray O'Laoire were asked to design the proposal and at last count the estimated price had risen to almost double the original at €1.5 billion. The proposal is for what has been termed The Station Quarter (Galway will soon have more quarters than an American slot machine!) destined to make it the most modern transport hub in Ireland. The area will include crèche, car park, gym, hotel, offices, 573 residential units, culture facility (probably a pub!), community facility (another pub?), private commercial space, and a public square.

By 2007 the controversial proposal was coming under fire from local people. The feeling was that it was too much a 'non-transport' development and had made no provision for a later tramway or light railway system for the city, or indeed a second main line track into the station.

At present the railway faces serious competition from road transport: three bus companies operate a regular service between Galway and Dublin in a time for express services that more than matches the train. The passengers are brought right into the heart of Dublin at O'Connell Bridge or even directly to Dublin Airport whereas the train traveller has to take additional transport in the form of Luas, bus, or taxi to take them to the city centre. This is seen as a serious challenge to the long term viability of the train at a time when a significant number of its passengers are travelling on Social Welfare travel passes.

The railway operator is obliged to maintain the permanent way, bridges, crossings, and auxiliary staff while the bus operator uses public roadways at the expense of the taxpayer. A broken-down train, especially in the single line section between Portarlington and Galway can delay train passengers for hours while a bus break-down will probably be solved in a shorter time.

In February 2009 in answer to questions, IÉ replied that the projected cost of doubling the line from the city to Athenry would be in the region of €180m. Galway Councillors replied that this was not remotely credible and called for an independent assessment. We await developments.

Accidental Nature Reserves.

A profusion of Red Valerian by the side of a railway line.

When we think of the future of our railways we often tend to overlook their contribution to the wildlife of the country. The railways are, in all rural areas, and in many urban areas, lined by two lengthy nature reserves. Along these banks grow an abundance of wildflowers like willowherbs, Herb Robert, Field Scabious, Red Valerian, Primroses, Dog roses, Honeysuckle, to mention but a few. Some plants like the Oxford Ragwort that originated on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius thrive on the type of habitat provided by a century and a half of stone ballast, ash, and cinder. Seeds from the flower escaped over the wall of Oxford Botanical Gardens and came here in loads of coal from the rail yards of Britain and as its seeds were pulled along on the slipstream of trains it settled throughout the country. The colourful Fireweed, or Willowherb is a plant that quickly colonises ground that has been burned, and where better place than railway banks which frequently burned in the days of the steam engines and their errant sparks. With wild flowers come butterflies and bees, so the entire range of nature is free to thrive on the railway; the only truly free passengers!

IÉ weed spraying train (© Copyright Albert Bridge and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence.)

Of course the railway company runs a special weed spraying train over the entire track network each summer in order to keep the track bed clear of growth that might cause blocking of gullies and subsequent flooding if unchecked.

The banks are also safe havens to rabbits, foxes (especially in urban areas), and all other small mammals as shown in the following photograph on an extensive railway bank near Baldoyle in Dublin. This also is a valid reason for the retention of these modern and accidental nature reserves.

.

A Miscellany of Photographs

Tank engine 553 (formerly MGWR No. 8 Swallow) acting as GSR pilot engine for shunting at Galway on 1st May 1938. She was built for shunting duties in 1891 by Sharp Stewart & Co. and Kitsen & Co. (Photo W A Camwell)

GSWR No. 184 (possibly 186 as the steam prevents me from seeing the top of the firebox to be sure; 186 has a bigger firebox by Belpaire) on a rail tour at Gort in the nineties.

Also at Gort was this derelict goods brake van. When I started to come regularly to Galway to see my fiancé in 1977 there was a line of these derelict guard's vans along the line path at Renmore.

Gort Station on 9th August 2005 shows great dereliction. Although it is a picturesque scene, the water tower and signal box are showing decay and the platform has knee-high grasses and weeds. The track bed hosts a splendid display of ragwort and there is a nice clump of common poppies to bottom left.

An old semaphore lattice-post signal at Gort in November 1999. Note the bluish glass in the lower spectacle. Railways always used blue glass in signals as green glass gave off a light that appeared to be clear or white light from a distance. The blue always looked green! Now make sense of that!

A line of derelict brake vans at Ardrahan. Note the look-out additions to the sides of the vans; the guard sat on a seat set into these so that he could look to ensure he could always see the engine or its lights at night time, in case of problems. His job was to screw down the handbrake when the train was slowing or going uphill to prevent the couplings breaking. He had to keep the couplings taut so that when the train re-started there would be no sudden break of couplings. His van could be a cosy place with its stove, but a van with worn bearings or axels would be a penance. One guard once described a journey during which he was tossed around like a golf ball in an empty barrel!

A beautifully preserved guard's or brake van at Cultra Museum. .

An advertisement to attract tourists onto the MGWR railway around 1910.

General Motors no. 190 and GSWR No. 184 (or less likely 186) at Galway signal cabin around 1983. (mjh collection).

A 1968 picture by Cyril McIntyre shows a 1952 AEC railcar awaiting a service to Dublin at Galway Station.

A map of the complete railway system, all broad gauge of 5 feet 3 inches between Clifden and Athlone, Tuam and Ennis. The other Co. Clare lines were operated on the narrow gauge by West Clare Railways.

1995 Sunday morning GAA specials awaiting departure from Galway. It would appear that there was a problem with points at right with the group of employees gathered.

On 27th December 2008 a '201' class engine heads a Dublin-bound train over a frosty Garraun crossing. These locomotive-hauled trains have now been superceded by dual-directional railcars that do not need the engine changed from end-to end to change direction of travel.

A Clonbrock photograph of a family group on the down platform of probably Galway in 1915.

A very modern line up of trains at Galway on 29th January 2016. On left is a mainline train awaiting a later service; at centre is the 13.00 about to depart for Dublin Heuston, and on right is the two-car local train awaiting departure at 13.50 to Limerick.

The forlorn scene that once was the busy goods yard of Galway Station on 29th January 2016 showing its minimal siding facilities today.

Two-car railcar (or diesel multiple unit DMU) awaiting its departure to Limerick on 29th January 2016.

The water crane for steam engines at Galway. There would have been a heavy leather pipe (known as a 'bag') connected to the top of the crane; this 'bag' was let into the tender of the loco and the fireman would have turned the valve-wheel at right to start or stop the flow of water. .

Morning train at Loughrea Station. The carriage for this train was heated by a storage heater which was plugged into the station office all night. The tale was told that one morning the train started off with the plug still plugged in to the station building. (© Copyright Albert Bridge and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence.)

A nice cut-stone bridge under the railway at Craughwell on the Athenry to Ennis line. Below a machine fitted with auxiliary rail wheels works at Craughwell in 2007.

Metropolitan-Vickers A11 hauling a goods train along by the 'Line' into Galway yard probably in the 1970s judging by the livery of the engine. Note the two people cycling (strictly forbidden, but we all did it!) on the Line path. (mjh collection).

A Galway to Dublin train headed by a Woolwich engine approaches Athenry Station. Notice the book and newspaper kiosk on the platform to left; these were mainly operated by Easons and were to be found on larger stations, 88 in total. The original Charles Eason had come to Ireland to work as Dublin manager on the W H Smith bookstalls, but he eventually took over the stalls himself in 1886 when Smith ceased his Irish operation. (IRRS collection).

A post card view of Tuam Station from about 1910. Note the proliferation of enamel advertising signs on the walls. In most cases Easons, the newsagents leased out the space for the displaying of these signs.

An MGWR train with old six-wheel carriage stock in both the Royal Blue and 'Wood'- finish livery. A painting by unknown artist.

The engine simmering at right is No. 59 which is probably the Irish locomotive most seen by people around the world as it is the loco that was pulling the train in the film The Quiet Man. The railway scenes were filmed at Ballyglunin (Castletown for the film). Below shows the film train in a still from the movie.

The above still from The Quiet Man with John Wayne, shows the luxury of the seats and door padding on the then CIÉ train. Note the 'Green and Eau de Nile' colour scheme and the leather strap with which to lower and raise the door window. The door could not be opened from inside and I always feared as a child that I would not be able to open the window in time to open the door before the train would depart again.

A passenger train at Ballyglunin at the farm crossing just north of the station. Compare the signal post to its condition today as seen in next view. (© Copyright TurfBurner and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence.)

Two views of Ballyglunin, possibly a hundred years apart (about 1920 above and 2016 below), show surprisingly little change, due to the loving care of the Quiet Man group.

The partially restored signal box at Ballyglunin in February 2016.

But The Quiet Man was not the only film to be shot on Galway line metals! In 1978 Starling Films shot The First Great Train Robbery between Moate and Mullingar with Moate station disguised as the 1855 Ashford. The RPSI supplied the trains and Heuston Station became London Bridge and almost unrecognisable. Seán Connery, Lesley-Ann Down, and Donald Sutherland were the principal actors. Seán Connery did all of his own stunt work throughout the film including precarious train-top sequences. The carriages of the two trains used were specially built by Ardmore Studios craftsmen on the frames of old CIÉ wagons to represent the era of the film.

The following photograph is from the film The First Great Train Robbery and shows the train near Moate. Note the carriages and the fact that the cab has been removed from and a new dome fitted to the locomotive, No. 184 which we have seen elsewhere.

Moate Station as Ashford, not in 1855 but in 1978.

Two views of Heuston Station in 'make-up'. The lower shows Seán Connery and Lesley-Ann Down at London Bridge Station (Heuston) in a scene from the 1978 film The First Great Train Robbery. (All above photographs Starling Films).

Former Dublin & South Eastern Railway No. 461 seen hauling a rail tour at Rosshill on a very misty summer evening, 19th June 2015.

The rail line at Oranmore shown above and below, with probably twenty years in between. The siding on left has long disappeared. (Upper unknown, lower ©mjh)

A Westrail train headed by engine No. 90 (also below) at Rosshill bridge in summer 1993. This locomotive had been a static exhibit on Mallow Station Co. Cork for many years which almost undoubtedly accounts for its escaping the scrapper's torch. It was restored by Westrail at Tuam. It was barely able to cope with the three coaches and at the time the upper picture was taken it had stopped in order to 'blow up' or generate more steam to continue at snail's pace into Galway.

No. 90 on exhibition in Inchicore Railway Works in 1996. The two headlights were a recent addition to comply with modern operating regulations. Since 2007 this engine, still in ownership of CIÉ, has been operational on long term loan on the Downpatrick & Co. Down Railway. .

E428 was also part of the running of the Westrail enterprise. This locomotive, in fact a shunting engine, was used when No. 90 was not available. E428 is now also at Downpatrick Railway. The green engine to the right (B113) may have, but most likely did not work trains into Galway. It was one of the 1956 Birmingham Railway Wagon and Carriage Company's products fitted with Sulzer engines which were early diesel engines procured by CIÉ.

CIÉ steam crane in 1996.

Two photographs to show the change in 'housekeeping' at Galway Station between 1998 and 2016. Above shows neatly kept flower beds and general cleanliness while the lower picture shows the takeover by nature.

Bibliography.

Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland, and Ireland, Joseph Tatlow, 1920.

From Connemara to Cock o'the North, L H Liddle, Colourpoint, 2002.

In Time of Civil War, Bernard Share, Collins Press, 2006.

Journal of Irish Railway Record Society, various issues.

Rails Through The West, Beaumont & Carse, Colourpoint, 2012.

Railways in Ireland 1834 – 1984 Oliver Doyle & Stephen Hirsch, Signal Press Dublin, 1983.

The Connemara Railway, Kathleen Villiers-Tuthill, Connemara Girl Publications, 1997.

The Corrib Railtour Brochure, Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, 2002.

The Irish Post Box, Stephen Ferguson, An Post & Associated Editions, 2009.

The Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland, Ernest Shepherd, Midland publishing 1994.

Walking the Line, Kevin T. Brophy, Mainstream Publishing 1994.

References
 Handbook to Galway, Connemara, and the Irish Highlands pub. M'Glashan & Gill, Sackville Street, 1859
 Ibid.

 Connacht Tribune 5/1/1963.
 Connacht Tribune 3/4/1948.

 Connacht Tribune 17/7/1965.

 Connacht Tribune 10/2/1962.
 Connacht Tribune 17/3/1962.

 Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland, and Ireland, by Joseph Tatlow 1920.

 The Perkins Diaries 1932-'34, M. Davies, Journal of Irish Railway Records Society No.117 Feb.1992.

 The Times London, 9/2/1914.

 A Branch to Barna, Michael J. Hurley Journal of Irish Railway Records Society No.114 Feb.1991.

 Connacht Tribune 13/11/1915.
 Connacht Tribune 18/6/1927.

 Connacht Tribune 1/8/1942.

 Memories, by Val Horan, IRRS Journal No. 87, February 1982.

 Connacht Tribune 11/3/1988.

 Times of London 3/11/1864.

 Times of London 4/3/1867.

 Times of London 9/2/1869.

 The Times London 25/11/1880

 The Times London 3/1/1884.

 The Times London, 12/8/1884.

 The Times London, 25/10/1890.

 The Times London 13/8/1920

 Connacht Tribune 24/2/1923.
 Connacht Tribune 1/4/1922.

 Connacht Tribune 8/7/1922.

 Connacht Tribune 30/9/1922.

 Connacht Tribune 31/3/1923.

 Connacht Tribune 10/11/1923

 Connacht Tribune 12/3/1927.

 Irish Examiner 27/4/1931.

 Connacht Tribune 4/3/1933.

 Connacht Tribune 23/12/1933.

 Connacht Tribune 10/3/1934.

 Connacht Tribune 22/9/1934.

 Tuam Herald 1/4/1939.

 Connacht Tribune 6/10/1951.

 Connacht Tribune 21/1/1961.

 Connacht Tribune 11/8/1967.

 Connacht Tribune 18/7/1975.

 Connacht Tribune 2/11/1984.

 Connacht Sentinel 9/6/1992.

 Connacht Tribune 15/12/2006.

 The Connemara Railway , Kathleen Villiers Tuthill, Connemara Girl Publications, 1997

 Age stated as 58 in 1901 census return. All birth years of family are based on ages stated on this return.

 Frank Bailey was grand-Uncle of this author's wife. Her grandmother was Kathleen Bailey (Leech) who married John Leech Secretary of Galway Omnibus Company and The Galway Bay Steamboat Company.

 Trains for The Papal Visit in Journal of Irish Railway Record Society no. 81, February 1980

 Connacht Tribune 10/4/1943.

 Notes by Mrs Mary McNally in Corofin Parish Magazine

 I also am of Ireland, Frances Moffett, Ariel Books / British Broadcasting Corporation, 1985. Based on radio broadcasts on BBC's Woman's Hour.

Gort and looks like the end of the line!

The Final Word!

The Irish Railway Records Society has for seventy years provided an archive, library, and social centre for people who harbour an interest in Irish railways, both north and south. The Society which is based at Heuston Station in Dublin produces a thrice-yearly journal of recent railway developments and news as well as informative articles on Irish railways. The library contains a photographic archive of major importance to railway researchers. As a member for over thirty years, this writer strongly recommends membership of the IRRS to any reader who has an interest in Irish railways. Full details are available from the society's website www.irrs.ie
