Everything about The Londonderry And Lough Swilly Railway totally explained
The
Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company (
The L&LSR, the
Swilly) is an
Irish public transport and
freight firm, incorporated in June
1853. Despite the company's name, it doesn't operate any railway services, its last railway line having closed in July
1953. However, its successor company, the Lough Swilly Bus Company, still operates bus services over much of its old routes between
Derry and northern
County Donegal, as well as some services in
County Londonderry.
History
Initially planned as the
Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company when an application for incorporation was filed in
1852 after spurning the construction of a
canal network to connect the two inlets, the company opened its first line, a standard gauge link between
Derry and
Farland Point on
December 31 1863. A branch line to
Buncrana followed in
1864, with much of the Farland Point link being closed in
1866. An extension to
Letterkenny was constructed in
1883, and the network was converted to narrow gauge in
1885.
Carndonagh was served by an extension constructed in
1901 and
Burtonport in
1903. These two lines were constructed as joint ventures with the
British Government, with ownership and liabilities shared between the two parties. During this period the company didn't turn a profit, and struggled to meet its debts.
Locomotives
Routes
Routes eventually included:
Foyle Road Station, Middle Quay and Graving Dock Stations to
Pennyburn level crossing, all in Derry where the depot was. Then east into
Inishowen to
Galliagh Road, Harrity's Road (approximate site of border between NI and the Republic), Bridge End,
Burnfoot and
Tooban Junction. At Tooban Junction (as the name implies) the railway branched, north into Inishowen and south into County Donegal proper. Northwards it ran through Inch Road,
Fahan,
Buncrana,
Ballymagan,
Kinnego,
Drumfries,
Meendoran,
Clonmany,
Ballyliffin,
Rashenny,
Carndoagh Halt, and
Carndonagh. Southwards it ran through
Carrowen (near Farland Point),
Newtowncunningham,
Sallybrook,
Manorcunningham,
Pluck,
Letterkenny, Old Town,
New Mills,
Fox Hall,
Churchill,
Kilmacrenan,
Barnes Halt,
Creeslough,
Dunfanaghy Road,
Falcarragh,
Cashelnagore,
Gweedore,
Crolly,
Kincasslagh Road,
Dungloe and terminating in
Burtonport.
Owencarrow Viaduct Disaster
Disaster occurred on the night of
30 January 1925 at around 8pm at the Owencarrow Viaduct,
Donegal. Winds of up to 120mph derailed carriages of the train off the viaduct causing it to partially collapse. The roof of a carriage was ripped off throwing four people to their deaths. The four killed were: Philip Boyle and his wife Sarah from
Arranmore Island, Una Mulligan from
Falcarragh and Neil Duggan from Meenbunowen,
Creeslough. Five people were seriously injured. The remains of the viaduct can today be seen from the road (N56) which carries on from the Barnes Gap on the road to Creeslough.
Transfer to road operations
Starting in
1929, the company began to acquire
bus assets throughout Donegal. Further expansion followed rapidly. It entered profitability in the early
1930s off the back of these ventures. Acquisition of freight operations followed, and this led to a reduction of rail services, and eventual closure of lines. The Carndonagh branch was closed
circa 1935, with the Burtonport line closing entirely in
1940, with a section temporarily re-opening in
1941 to
Gweedore, closing finally in
1947. The Buncrana section of the line lost its passenger service in
1948, with its freight service, and the remaining Letterkenny services all closing on
August 8 1953.
Following this entire cessation of rail services, the company moved solely to road transport. Second hand vehicles were purchased from a number of operators including
Ulsterbus, and vehicles were obtained on loan from
CIE. However, it failed to be profitable throughout the
1970s, and was purchased from bankruptcy by
Patrick Doherty, a Buncrana businessman, in
1981.
The company exists to this day, operating passenger bus services, freight services, and holiday tour services; as well as providing the school bus services for many schools in Donegal. However, problems still exist for the company, with an attempt to withdraw bus services from Donegal in
June 2003 met with resistance, and it's believed that the services are now being subsidised by the
Irish Government, as they're seen as crucial to the often elderly and rural population they serve in Donegal. Their Northern Irish domestic services are generally subsidised by the
Rural Transport Fund
The company has offices in Derry City at the Foyle Street Bus Depot. They also have offices in the Letterkenny Bus Depot. The company also has a large garage area in Derry and Letterkenny, where their fleet of buses is kept. The majority of their bus fleet, with the exception of those used for holiday touring, is more than 10 years old; mainly considering of 1994 registered
Dennis Dart vehicles. The firm has no web presence, with timetables and contact information being generally difficult to obtain. Their registered offices are in Letterkenny. The bus service offered by Lough Swilly is of very poor quality. Even to this day the company still uses the old-fashioned ticketing service rather than upgrading to the new electronic ticketing service which other bus services, including Translink & Bus Éireann have done in recent years.
The end of rail operations
The last train to run on the line was the 2.15pm from
Letterkenny to
Derry, on 8 August 1953. It was laden with 14 wagons of cattle and turned in 50 minutes late! Bob Turner was the driver with Paddy Clifford as fireman. As the Derry Journal reported at the time "... the guard, Mr. Daniel McFeeley, or anyone else, didn't call out 'Next Stop Derry'. Everyone knew that the next stop would be the last stop - the last ever."
Source: The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway - Edward M. Patterson, 1964.
In the media
An episode of the
Channel 4 short documentary series
Small Railway Journeys was based on the L&LSR giving many first hand accounts of the railway, including the viaduct accident. It detailed alleged cross border contraband smuggling and some irregular payment methods using local produce. The railway apparently had a reputation of treating freight with greater priority than passengers, evidenced by the distance of some stations from their served populations, and the delays caused due to the shunting of goods trucks attached to the passenger trains. It detailed the difficulties of running a railway in such an impoverished and inaccessible part of the country, with the frequent use of
peat to fuel the trains, and the practice of handing down valued jobs on the railway from father to son.
Further Information
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