Irish Narrow Gauge Railway Slide Show

All of these images were taken in the 1950s except the picture of Bord na Mona Barclay LM45, which is taken in 1964.
The soundtrack was recorded in a couple of bars in County Kerry in 2011 during a family holiday.
Enjoy! Dave.

[@johndodd2537]

Beautiful collection. Thank you for sharing it.

[@Timsvideochannel1]

These are priceless memories, thanks for making them available. Like yourself I have a large collection of slides and negatives, many of them given to me by people who were aware of my interest in railway photography and didn't want to throw them away when sorting the possessions of loved ones who had sadly passed away. Having watched your slide show I think I will share them in a similar manner.

[@galbeadon]

Excellent Dave, only just managed to watch this one but my word, what a treat! The Irish 3ft gauge has so much charm and character and reminds me of my Isle of Man summers in the 1960s!

[@foaliesbridge9051]

Would it be possible to please get some of these for our museum here at Belturbet Railway Station? Kind regards, Kevin

[@jfreelan1964]

What is the gauge of the railways in the photos? To me they look like Meter gauge. Excellent slide show. The locomotives look like they were locally built. Meaning some builder in the U.K.

[@TomandMattWaldren]

Hi there; Thanks for your comment. Narrow gauge in Ireland meant almost exclusively three foot gauge, as depicted in these shots. All Irish narrow gauge railways railways were supplied with British-built equipment, and steam locos illustrated here came from Naysmith Wilson, Dubs and Hunslet, whilst the railcars were mainly built by Walker Brothers. Cheers, Dave

[@jfreelan1964]

I myself am a 3' gauge fan. Do you know how many 3' gauge railways there were? Do any of them still operate today as tourist lines?

[@TomandMattWaldren]

A few years ago there were a growing number of tourist lines running; Cavan and Leitrim, Fintown and Glenties, 'Derry museum, Tralee and Dingle etc, however I believe that all of these lines have now ceased operation, due to lack of cash. I think that the West Clare Railway at Moyasta is probably the only line to be currently operating original equipment in Ireland, although there are a handful of smaller lines operating ex-industrial and new equipment. The problem is the remoteness of the original lines and consequent lack of passengers; these lines were originally built to provide transport and development in remote areas. In contrast, the UK tourist lines have easy access to large centres of population and thus attract ever increasing passenger numbers (or 'ridership' I believe is the US term?)