Mallow to Waterford

[StevieB]

I've just been looking at the Roger Joanes collection, and in it is a photo of the last Rosslare to Cork boat train on March 1967. It has nine bogie coaches plus 4w van, yes nine bogie coaches plus 4w van. CIE really did want to shut the Mallow to Waterford line!

Stephen

[heirflick]

have you a link to that pic?

[Eiretrains]

Might be this one, everyone should have a good look at Roger's material, definitely a link for the favourites bookmark.

[snapper]

Lismore looks like an interesting little station

[Mayner]

Lismore looks like an interesting little station

 

Not exactly the smallest station on the line some good photos of the line in the Waterford Museum collection http://www.waterfordmuseum.ie/exhibit/web/BasicImageSearch/offset/15/location/_3_25_14_/

 

Apart from the trice-weekly Boat Trains traffic seems to have been very light, the route was indirect compared with the road for Cork-Fermoy and Cork-Waterford traffic. Like most cross country lines CIE didn't exactly encourage traffic with a single one train a day stopping service, goods traffic over the centre section between Fermoy & Dungarvan seems to have been fairly light. Fermoy and Lismore seem to have the look of an abandoned railway about them with few wagons to be seen in photos of the yards.

 

Possibly would have been different had the route survived into the 70s with Cork Waterford Bell Traffic and Tivoli-Ballinacourty Oil-Magnesite, possibly export container traffic from Waterford Co-Op Dungarvan to Waterford or Dublin Port. A layout based on the line would make a wonderful scenic model with its combination of mountain backdrops compact station layouts and signature viaducts including Fermoy Capaquinn , Abbeyside Causeway, Ballyvoyle, Strabally, Kilmacthomas and numerous level crossings.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Mayner

[heirflick]

Might be this one, everyone should have a good look at Roger's material, definitely a link for the favourites bookmark.

 

thanks Eire, some beautiful pics on his site- this is a real beauty...

 

 

site bookmarked for futhure reference:tumbsup:

[josefstadt]

Fantastic site with a wealth of memorable images. Looking at the image of Lismore linked to in Eiretrains post above, the signal cabin looks a bit mundane when compared to the standard of the rest of the buildings. Originally there were two cabins at Lismore, one at either end of the station, but they seem to have been replaced by a single more central one, possibly as an economy measure, by 1905. I wonder if the original structures were more in keeping with the architecture of the rest of the station buildings.

 

Back in 1970 the Transport Research Associates published a collection of track diagrams covering the Mallow-Rosslare Harbour line, along with the Fermoy-Mitchelstown, Ballinacourty, Grace Dieu Jct-Waterford South and Rosslare Strand-Wexford branches. Also included were a list of all the level crossings on the lines concerned, diagrams of gradients and curves and facsimiles of the relevant GS&WR Working Timetable pages dated 1 October 1906. All this information was available for the princely sum of 16 shillings (€1.02)! The diagrams were drawn by Herbert Richards and the publication is a mine of information, especially for anybody contemplating building a model based on this line. The IRRS probably has a copy of the publication.

Edited August 8, 2014 by josefstadt

[Eiretrains]

Back in 1970 the Transport Research Associates published a collection of track diagrams covering the Mallow-Rosslare Harbour line, along with the Fermoy-Mitchelstown, Ballinacourty, Grace Dieu Jct-Waterford South and Rosslare Strand-Wexford branches. Also included were a list of all the level crossings on the lines concerned, diagrams of gradients and curves and facsimiles of the relevant GS&WR Working Timetable pages dated 1 October 1906. All this information was available for the princely sum of 16 shillings (€1.02)!

Heard of this but never seen it, very envious of anyone who were lucky enough to get it at the time!

Lismore is a wonderful station, the old locomotive shed is similarly of a fancy design (unlike the cabin as you say). It's a fascinating place, and once boasted an overall roof up to GSR days. There was also a separate short-lived 'station' at the eastern end consisting of a single platform serving Waterford, Dungarvan & Lismore Railway services, the traces of which (grass grown platform served by a head-shunt from main station) survived right up until closure of the line in 1967.

[josefstadt]

This is an example of the standard of what was produced. The originals were printed on foolscap paper (216 x 343 mm) so when scanning this had to be done in two parts - hence the vertical join line seen in parts of the centre of the diagram. The positions of the original east and west cabins can be seen along with the newer central cabin. Also shown is the WD&LR platform referred to by Eiretrains above.

 

[Mayner]

The Fermoy & Lismore was basically the Duke of Devonshire’s private railway, no doubt the station buildings were intended to be in keeping with his castle.

The Duke seems to have been something of a railway enthusiast ,besides financing the Fermoy & Lismore and other local lines in Munster the Duke had his own private engine Dunrobin and station on the Highland Railway in Scotland.

The WDLR struggled to make ends meet, building its own station in Lismore probably cost less than paying the F&L for the use of its station and share of the signalling and infrastructure costs.

The diagram looks like the F&L and WDLR each had their own signal cabin controlling the signals and crossover at the approach to their stations. This would have allowed passenger or mixed trains from Tallow Road and Cappaquin to arrive in their platforms simultaneously.

The F&L side of the station is basically a typical branch line terminus with single platform roof, runround loop, goods yard and loco shed. The WDLR appears to have a platform road, run round loop and loco shed.

Crossover 6 in the diagram may have been hand operated at some stage and used to allow a loco to run round at train at either platform.

The crossover with the diamond crossing from the loop to the engine shed is a GSWR arrangement, which allow a train to shunt from the loop to the loco shed while a train is in section from Tallow Road. The WDLR appears to have had its own loco shed but no turntable shown in the diagram.

Train working at Lismore in WDLR days would have involved a lot of shunting, possibly with two passenger trains in the station at the one time, locos running round turning and servicing before re-marshalling their trains and in American terms interchange traffic between the GSWR & WDLR.

The GSWR may have routed goods traffic from the South-West to Waterford over the WDLR as a friendly connection rather than over the W&L which was considered a serious competitor.

Small obscure railway almost no published information, no kits or RTR sounds tempting

[minister_for_hardship]

The Fermoy & Lismore was basically the Duke of Devonshire’s private railway, no doubt the station buildings were intended to be in keeping with his castle.

The Duke seems to have been something of a railway enthusiast ,besides financing the Fermoy & Lismore and other local lines in Munster the Duke had his own private engine Dunrobin and station on the Highland Railway in Scotland.

The WDLR struggled to make ends meet, building its own station in Lismore probably cost less than paying the F&L for the use of its station and share of the signalling and infrastructure costs.

The diagram looks like the F&L and WDLR each had their own signal cabin controlling the signals and crossover at the approach to their stations. This would have allowed passenger or mixed trains from Tallow Road and Cappaquin to arrive in their platforms simultaneously.

The F&L side of the station is basically a typical branch line terminus with single platform roof, runround loop, goods yard and loco shed. The WDLR appears to have a platform road, run round loop and loco shed.

Crossover 6 in the diagram may have been hand operated at some stage and used to allow a loco to run round at train at either platform.

The crossover with the diamond crossing from the loop to the engine shed is a GSWR arrangement, which allow a train to shunt from the loop to the loco shed while a train is in section from Tallow Road. The WDLR appears to have had its own loco shed but no turntable shown in the diagram.

Train working at Lismore in WDLR days would have involved a lot of shunting, possibly with two passenger trains in the station at the one time, locos running round turning and servicing before re-marshalling their trains and in American terms interchange traffic between the GSWR & WDLR.

The GSWR may have routed goods traffic from the South-West to Waterford over the WDLR as a friendly connection rather than over the W&L which was considered a serious competitor.

Small obscure railway almost no published information, no kits or RTR sounds tempting

 

Think you may be confusing the Duke of Devonshire (Cavendish) with the Duke of Sutherland (Leveson-Gower). Two different families.

The 1st Duke of Sutherland was infamously connected with the Highland Clearances, the 3rd Duke had interests in local Railway companies, operated and subsequently absorbed by the Highland Rly...and the private station and private loco 'Dunrobin' still exist.

 

Since Devonshire was main shareholder and chairman, seems reasonable to think he should get his moneys worth, ie a station building matching his ancestral pile.

Edited August 9, 2014 by minister_for_hardship