Tralee to Dingle Railway.

stevielenihan

The Tralee to Dingle Railway was a 51km (32mi) narrow gauge railway running between Tralee And Dingle. It operated between 1891 and 1953. It also had a 10km (6.2 mi) branch from Castlegregory Junction to Castlegregory. It was the most Westerly Railway line in Europe. Anyone who has info or any photos of the line in the olden days or some of today's photos they can be posted here.

ofcork

Does the bit from tralee to blennerville still operate?

stevielenihan

ofcork wrote: »

Does the bit from tralee to blennerville still operate?

It will operate again for the 2013 season and will include a new station for the Wet Lands Centre.

stevielenihan

Anyone got any news on the railway line?

si_guru

I have some old photos at home I bought of ebay.. most are also in this clip.
http://youtu.be/_gSse_QBLT8

stevielenihan

si_guru wrote: »

I have some old photos at home I bought of ebay.. most are also in this clip.
http://youtu.be/_gSse_QBLT8

Great video. Its nice the way it shows the old line working and showing the parts of the line left today.

stevielenihan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWrhCl0DL50&feature=player_detailpage Here is vide of the Blennerville section operation in 2002


http://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/kerry/lispole/lispole02.JPG plus here is a image of the Lispole Viaduct.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Irl-TraleeDingleRailViaduct.jpg I also managed to get this photo of the disused Curraduff Viaduct.

I will find more pictures or videos when I get a chance.

si_guru

There is another BBC clip here:

http://youtu.be/nUIwZquH8xA

stevielenihan

si_guru wrote: »

There is another BBC clip here:

http://youtu.be/nUIwZquH8xA

Another great video keep them coming. http://www.tdlr.org.uk/gallery/grove512a.jpg hers another photo of the old steam train at Derrymore in 1935.

stevielenihan

http://www.tdlr.org.uk/gallery/2tsos512px3.jpg Plus here is a train at Glenagalt.


http://www.tdlr.org.uk/gallery/dingle512fayle.jpg The old Dingle stastion.

http://www.tdlr.org.uk/gallery/2tsos512px8.jpg Train at the Ballinaclare Crossing keeper cottage in 1952.

http://www.tdlr.org.uk/gallery/joemaher310510b.jpg Cattle train at thw eyard at Dingle stastion.

carchaeologist

Go to Blennerville windmill, into the reception and for the princely sum of €1 you can buy a great little 36 page booklet that has all the history of the line, some photos and excellent period advertisements for local businesses like Revingtons, McCowens and the Munster Warehouse.

I just picked one up today while at the Vintage show and am reading it tonight.
Huge value for a quid!

si_guru

Oh... I'm going to do that. Only passed thru' today on my way to Cork Airport.

I have a book on it to...

Seen on this page http://www.tdlr.org.uk/davidrowlands.htm .. another ebay purchase from a few years back.

Also I have a DVD that feature many narrow guage line.. with a bout 5 mins on the TDR... many just b/w film cut to video.

Juts along the fields from us in the bridge that replaced the curraduff bridge.. loads of barn round here made from rails... any my father in laws pillars for the porch are metal rails if you peel off the Upvc..

carchaeologist

Is the replacement bridge in Curraduff lower down the road so than the one that collapsed in 1893 killing the pigs. This steel bridge was built in 1907/08 so that would mean Curraduff would have been in use after the accident?

My own shed has rail track in the roof, I'm not sure where from though...

savagecabbages

stevielenihan wrote: »

It will operate again for the 2013 season and will include a new station for the Wet Lands Centre.

Will that be the real Steam train, or the Bord na Móna diesel runabout they used when it was last open?

stevielenihan

savagecabbages wrote: »

Will that be the real Steam train, or the Bord na Móna diesel runabout they used when it was last open?

Well they say it will be the real train as I think they have got a new engine for it.

savagecabbages

That sounds like good news, though I' wonder how/where they have found this engine??

AFIK the existing engine is the last one, and had to be sourced from the USA in the 90s. Maybe its an engine from another narrow gauge railway somewhere else.

(i have also heard about the new engine, but suspect its just wishful thinking)

kingdumb

I don't think there was any talk about getting a new engine for the line. There is an issues with the boiler and it needs to be fixed, for which funding is required. I also suspect the even if the engine was up and running again there will be further issues with the line as bits of it look in need of repair.

It is a bit sad to see over all, quite like other project, Tralee tc are great at getting projects like this off the ground, and then forgetting all about them and moving onto the next big thing !

carchaeologist

The old/original/existing engine is still in Blennerville. But i doubt it is ready for steam, or even close to being certified as such.

Indeed its a pity its not operating, but i suppose its not a viable operation costings wise?

kingdumb

No, it is up stream from the viaduct.

carchaeologist wrote: »

Is the replacement bridge in Curraduff lower down the road so than the one that collapsed in 1893 killing the pigs. This steel bridge was built in 1907/08 so that would mean Curraduff would have been in use after the accident?

stevielenihan

I heard they were getting a new engine for it.

kingdumb

Not too sure why they would do that, most of the draw of the attraction is due to it being one of the original engines from the t&d railway.

The last thing I heard about it was talk about converting it from coal to bio fuel !

stevielenihan wrote: »

I heard they were getting a new engine for it.

savagecabbages

I also heard that bio fuel story, but the boiler needs to be fixed first and foremost...

Why don't the politicians/local heroes who come up with all these projects stick with them??? As mentioned they are great to get something off the ground then move on to the next ribbon cutting fanfare and let what they started fizzle out...

The Windmill itself - Seems to be on a constant slope downwards
The Geanology centre - Dont know if anyone ever actually used this hugely expensive attraction
The Ashe Hall (Geraldine experience) - Last i heard you had to walk around on foot
The Train - as discussed here
The Jeannie Johnson - prob the most infamous project of them all, is sitting on the Quays in the Liffey gathering dust.
The Wetlands Park - goodness knows what this will be like in 5 years...

All these attractions, if properly run could make huge money for the town -rather than slowly soak up money with little or no return! The potential is there.

stevielenihan

Someone from the wetland park said it will be runing again in 2013 with a new station for the Wetlands.

kingdumb

Amen to that,

Just to add another one to the list,

Tralee Ship canal -
restoration project #1 [80's] - Lock gates reconstructed, then forgotten they still lie rotting in the area.

restoration project #2 [2000's] - Locks Replaced, bridge replaced, canal reinstated - then quickly forgotten about !

savagecabbages wrote: »

I also heard that bio fuel story, but the boiler needs to be fixed first and foremost...

Why don't the politicians/local heroes who come up with all these projects stick with them??? As mentioned they are great to get something off the ground then move on to the next ribbon cutting fanfare and let what they started fizzle out...

The Windmill itself - Seems to be on a constant slope downwards
The Geanology centre - Dont know if anyone ever actually used this hugely expensive attraction
The Ashe Hall (Geraldine experience) - Last i heard you had to walk around on foot
The Train - as discussed here
The Jeannie Johnson - prob the most infamous project of them all, is sitting on the Quays in the Liffey gathering dust.
The Wetlands Park - goodness knows what this will be like in 5 years...

All these attractions, if properly run could make huge money for the town -rather than slowly soak up money with little or no return! The potential is there.

savagecabbages

The only people who use the basin are the rowing club (great to see), and a certain ethnic group who use it to wash their piebald horses!!!

The proposed marina in there could draw huge money for the town, provided whoever own it dont drop it once the headlines have died away...

stevielenihan

Its nice to see some viewing my thread. Click the thanks button so i will see how many are viewing.

carchaeologist

What's the deal with the geaneology centre?

savagecabbages

carchaeologist wrote: »

What's the deal with the geaneology centre?

Funny the first hit on google links back to the tralee thread. What I was referring to seems to have vanished almost entirely, but it is mentioned here: (4th paragraph dated 2000!!!)
http://www.focuskerry.com/jeanie/sculptures.html
Seems the project is still in the pipework/never got off the ground. AFIK the geanology centre was launched upstairs in the Windmill visitors centre to much fanfare a while back, but the information was never input into the computers and they sat there doing nothing... Kinda like the e-voting macines:p
The project was dropped, and nobody held responsible.

The computers may still be there.

I know nothing about the geanology 2.0 which people seem to to be talking about in the tralee thread.

Bigfellalixnaw

I wonder is the rest of the Tralee-Dingle railway going to be converted into a walkway/cycleway like the walkway in West Limerick and Mayo? There would be some views off of it if it was.

stevielenihan

Bigfellalixnaw wrote: »

I wonder is the rest of the Tralee-Dingle railway going to be converted into a walkway/cycleway like the walkway in West Limerick and Mayo? There would be some views off of it if it was.

There was talk of it but this is unlikely because most of the line has be widened on by the road and the viaducts would need a lot of repairs if this was to happen. Unlikely to happen in the foreseen future. Also the trackbed is in a very bad state in many parts.

Bigfellalixnaw

But surely it would be possible to convert whatever is left of the railway into a walkway, I understand that the whole line won't be converted but at parts of it could be converted over time.