The story behind the proposed rail line to Teelin Pier
The story behind the proposed rail line to Teelin Pier
The line was intended to serve the government pier at Teelin. The reason given in histories of the line, for the failure to extend the line beyond Killybegs is that the topography would have required serious civil engineering features making it too expensive to construct, which in Paterson's book, The County Donegal Railway, is described as the railway through there would have resembled a Swiss Mountain Railway. The Heritage Centre in Donegal has a few used copies of the book for sale (it has been out of print for thirty years). It is the definitive history of the CDJR. There is one formation in the area of Bavan that some local people attribute to the beginning of the construction of the route. Although it looks possible, there is no evidence that it had anything to do with the railway. The County Donegal Railway however saw Carrick as a business objective because in my Bradshaw's timetable books of Great Britain and Ireland from 100 years ago, Killybegs is shown as the station for Carrick, stating that is is nine miles on. Right up to the closure of the line, the station master from Killybegs had to be in Carrick on fair day to drum up trade, mostly for the movement of livestock.
Of course the railway to Killybegs was built under the auspices of the Congested District Board. Many of the original minutes of meetings and decisions of the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee are held in The Public Records Office in Kew, London. Many years ago I visited the office and pulled out some of the minutes while researching the history of the railway. Thanks to Leo Solosy for the above and Peter Molloy for the newspaper article.
