Schull and Skibbereen Railway
{{Short description|Disused narrow gauge rail line in Ireland}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=March 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2010}}
{{Infobox rail line
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| caption = No. 2 {{Whyte|0-4-0|T}} with train
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| status = Closed
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| start = Schull
| end = Skibbereen
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| open = 1886
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| close = 1947
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| gauge = {{Track gauge|3ft|lk=on}}
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The Schull and Skibbereen Railway (also known as the Schull and Skibbereen Tramway and Light Railway) was a minor narrow gauge railway in County Cork, Ireland.{{Sfn|Casserley|1974|p=118}} It opened in 1886 and closed in 1947.{{Sfn|Casserley|1974|p=118}} The track gauge was a {{RailGauge|3ft|lk=on}} narrow gauge.{{Sfn|Casserley|1974|p=118}} The formal name of the company was The West Carberry Tramways and Light Railways Company Ltd.{{Sfn|Casserley|1974|p=118}}
Route
File:Ballydehob Viaduct - geograph.org.uk - 1382844.jpg
The S&S's main line was 15 ½ miles long.{{Sfn|Schull and Skibbereen Light Railway|1906|p=150}} It was one of several in Ireland built under the terms of the Tramways and Public Companies (Ireland) Act 1883 (46 & 47 Vict. c. 43).{{Sfn|Casserley|1974|p=118}} It largely ran alongside roads, although a large 12-arched masonry viaduct was built over an inlet of Roaringwater Bay, and at times using gradients at steep as 1:30.{{Sfn|Casserley|1974|p=119}}
The line linked the small harbour and village at Schull (in Irish: Scoil Mhuire) with the town of Skibbereen (An Sciobairín).{{Sfn|Casserley|1974|p=118}} The only sizeable intermediate village was Ballydehob (Béal Átha an dá Chab), although the station was located inconveniently far from the village.{{citation needed|date=March 2022|reason=Might be in Boyd or Ferris but not verified}} The line was single track, with a passing place at Ballydehob station.{{citation needed|date=March 2022|reason=Might be in Boyd or Ferris but not verified}} Other halts were built at Newcourt, Church Cross, Hollyhill, Kilcoe and Woodlands (of which only Hollyhill had a station building).{{Sfn|Casserley|1974|p=118}}
The station at Skibbereen was built on a cramped site adjacent to that of the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway.{{citation needed|date=March 2022|reason=Might be in Boyd or Ferris but not verified}} The S&S trains had to reverse out of the station into a headshunt, before proceeding towards Schull.{{Sfn|Bairstow|2012|p=49}} (A similar reversing operation is still required at Killarney railway station on Iarnród Éireann's line from Mallow to Tralee).{{citation needed|date=March 2022|reason=Might be in Boyd or Ferris but not verified}}
Early years
Construction was begun in 1885 and soon proved to be substandard.{{citation needed|date=March 2022|reason=Might be in Boyd or Ferris but not verified}} The Inspector of Railways refused to allow the line to be opened for public service in August 1886.{{citation needed|date=March 2022|reason=Might be in Boyd or Ferris but not verified}} Following some remedial work and a subsequent inspection, the line opened in September with a restricted speed limit of only 15 miles per hour.{{citation needed|date=March 2022|reason=Might be in Boyd or Ferris but not verified}} In October the service had to be suspended for 10 days owing to problems with both the track and the locomotives.{{Sfn|Bairstow|2012|p=46}} Services had to again be suspended in April 1887, with local ratepayers having to subsidise the company.{{Sfn|Bairstow|2012|p=46}} The Inspector of Railways gave a highly critical report of the line's standards of operation.{{citation needed|date=March 2022|reason=Might be in Boyd or Ferris but not verified}}
Following further losses, in 1892 the Grand Jury of County Cork appointed a committee of management to run the line.{{citation needed|date=March 2022|reason=Might be in Boyd or Ferris but not verified}} In 1893 a short extension to Schull Pier was built, qualifying for a grant as it was an existing railway, the justification being fish traffic.{{Sfn|Bairstow|2012|p=49}}{{efn|Rowledge claims stock remained around until abandoned in 1954.{{Sfn|Rowledge|1995|p=141}}}}
Ownership by the GSR and CIÉ
In 1925 the company was incorporated into the new Great Southern Railways.{{Sfn|Casserley|1974|p=118}} Owing to a shortage of coal during World War II (known as The Emergency in neutral Ireland), services had to be suspended between April 1944 and December 1945.{{Sfn|Bairstow|2012|p=49}} In 1945 the GSR was incorporated into Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ).{{Sfn|Rowledge|1995|p=43}} A further shortage of coal resulted in a renewed suspension of services on 27 January 1947.{{Sfn|Bairstow|2012|p=49}} The line never reopened; CIÉ formally abandoned the railway in September 1952.{{Sfn|Bairstow|2012|p=49}}
Rolling stock
The line was operated by steam locomotives throughout its existence:
- SSLR 1 to 3 – Dick, Kerr 0-4-0T tramway locomotives of 1886 named Marion, Ida and Ilen.{{sfn|Schull and Skibbereen Light Railway|1906|pp=150–151}}
- SSLR 4 – Nasmyth, Wilson & Co. 4–4–0T of 1888.{{Sfn|Casserley|1974|p=120}}
- SSLR 1 and 3 – Peckett and Sons 4–4–0T of 1906,{{sfn|Schull and Skibbereen Light Railway|1906|pp=150–151}} and 1914.{{Sfn|Casserley|1974|p=120}}
- GSR 6S – ex CMLR 6.{{Sfn|Casserley|1974|pp=120–121}}
Services
The standard train service, journey time 80 minutes, were two mixed trains a day. morning and evening, except Sunday were there was one, supplemented by additional trains on fair days.{{Sfn|Bairstow|2012|p=49}}
See also
=Other narrow gauge railways in County Cork=
References
=Notes=
{{Notelist}}
=Footnotes=
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{Cite book|last=Bairstow|first=Martin|date=2012|title=Railways in Ireland
|volume=Part Five:Cork, Bandon & South Coast,...|isbn=978-1871944426|oclc=931336727}}
- {{Cite book|last=Casserley|first=H. C.|date=1974|title=Outline of Irish Railway History
|isbn=0715363778|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot & North Pomfret|oclc=249227042|author-link=H. C. Casserley}}
- {{cite magazine|author=LM|date=15 September 1906|title=Schull and Skibbereen Light Railway
|magazine=The Locomotive Magazine|volume=12|issue=169|url=https://archive.org/details/locomotiverailwa1219unse/page/150|oclc=762067807|ref={{sfnref|Schull and Skibbereen Light Railway|1906}}}}
- {{cite book|last=Rowledge|first=J. W. P.|date=1995|title=A regional history of railways
|volume=16 – Ireland| publisher=Atlantic Transport Publishers|location=Penryn |isbn=0-906899-63-X | oclc=164930974}}
Further reading
- {{cite book|last=Boyd|first=J.I.C.|title=The Schull and Skibbereen Railway|year=1999|isbn=0-85361-534-9}}
- {{cite book|last=Ferris|first=T.|date=1993|title=The Irish Narrow Gauge
|volume=1|publisher=Midland Publishing Ltd.|isbn=1-85780-010-9}}
External links
{{Commons category|Schull and Skibbereen Railway}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110607095228/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0093/D.0093.194404250011.html Parliamentary question (in Dáil Éireann), 25 April 1944]
- [http://www.trainweb.org/i3/line_ssr.htm S&SR on Trainweb]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schull And Skibbereen Railway}}
Category:History of County Cork
Category:Transport in County Cork
Category:3 ft gauge railways in Ireland