LSK181

Hi seagoebox, I am compiling a list of (oown) Irish railway stations for me to visit and their histories. I am trying to determine when various lines serving them were singled. At present I am looking at MGWR lines to Galway and Sligo, but I will also be looking at all lines that are still ecxtant. I have been caculating the mileage oo double track singled each year from 1927 to 1930, based on the stats in the GSR annual reports. From these, on the Galway line over 5 miles were singled in 1927, over 12 miles in 1928 and over 33 miles in 1929, coming to a total of 51 miles and 9 chains. The latter suggests that this was the esection from Clonsilla. However, the distance from Clonsilla to Ballinasloe was 84 miles and 40 chains, so this does not compute. There was a big row in the Senate in 1928 involving Senator Walter Nugent, who just happened to be Chairman of the GSR, about the singling, which specifically mentioned Balliasloe, suggesting to me that work started there in advance of 1928. Up to now i had read that lines were singled in 1931, while other sources suggested that it was in May 1929. This was a major project as it involved singling over 50 miles of track and installing Whitaker ETS equipment and automatic tablet catchers on the Galway line alone to enable trains to travel trhough block posts at 60 mph. A 3 year period, 1927-1930 ,a) soudns a more reasonable timescale for this level of work and b) that is when the mileage was reduced. Hiwever as some double track was left in situ as sidings, the actual mileage cannot simply be calculated based on the distances between stations. I have the map showing the lines singled by December 1930 from the Railway Gazette and your diagrams. Do the Railway Gazette articles or diagrms give dates when the various sections were singled? Where would I be able to find these issues of the Railway Gazette so I could read these articles? Thanks in advance, Liam