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  • The West Clare Railway

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Discussion about railroad topics everywhere outside of Canada and the United States.

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 #1505752  by rogerfarnworth
 
This thread is the result of reading another article in The Railway Magazine, this time from the May 1951 edition!

This time we are in the Republic of Ireland, specifically in County Clare. The May 1951 edition of the magazine carried an article on the 3ft gauge light railway which ran from Ennis to Kilrush and Kilkee. The total length of the railway was about 53 miles.

The first post gives some consideration to the history of the line and then looks at the section of the journey between Ennis and Corofin.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/04/08/th ... to-corofin" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1506054  by george matthews
 
The West Clare railway was the result of a British policy, following the Irish Famine, to improve transport in the rural areas. The government chose three foot gauge for most of these new lines, to reduce construction costs. The result was a number of these small gauge lines in rural Ireland. Of course by the 1950s their functions were replaced by road transport and all of the lines closed, except a few remain as tourist lines. When they were still functioning their reputation featured in comedy. Thus the famous song "Are you right there Michael" satirised one of these rural lines - in fact the West Clare itself. A short section of the Tralee and Dingle has been revived as a tourist attraction, which I came across about 20 years ago. It does not connect at Tralee Broad gauge station, which is now a terminus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Are_Ye_Ri ... re_Michael
Last edited by george matthews on Wed Apr 17, 2019 7:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 #1513316  by rogerfarnworth
 
We have almost reached the end of the story of the West Clare Railway and the study of its route. The post below completes the details of the remainder of the line, covering the route from Moyasta to Kilrush and Cappagh Pier. One further post will follow eventually which will look at the Locomotives and Rolling Stock on the line.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/07/07/th ... ppagh-pier