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Donegal's neighbouring town of Strabane had its first railway lines
laid during the famine years, around 1847. In 1859, the first tentative
efforts were made to have a railway in County Donegal.
Needless to say, those engaged in the preliminary survey to have
a railway laid in the Finn Valley were the main Estate owners of
the time, men such as Lord Lifford, Sir Samuel Hayes, Sir Edwin
Hayes, Alexander Stewart, and Dr. Robert Collum, London.
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After many meetings and even more wranglings, spread over
several years, the necessary permissions to cross lands were
obtained and the lines laid. At the time, the building of
the railway and its ancilliary services of stone and girder
bridges and Station House, cost the princely sum of £69,000.
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On September 7th, 1863, the first train chugged
it's way slowly up the valley from Strabane to Stranorlar. People
gathered all along the route to see this spectacular sight, and
a huge crowd were waiting in Stranorlar to witness this historic
event. Among the distinguished guests were the Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland, Earl Carlyle, who officially declared the line open.
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Did You Know?
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| Many residents of the valley placed a silver coin on the running
lines of the railway track on the first day the train passed
up the valley. Some of these coins can still be found in homes
along the valley, as a keepsake. |
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And
Did You Know?
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| Money earned by the railway in the first four months
of its existence came to £1,112 and the train carried
12,500 passengers in the same period. |
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For the next nineteen years the terminus was Stranorlar.
In 1882 the line was extended to Donegal Town via Barnesmore
Gap and then to Ballyshannon in 1905. The Stranorlar/Glenties
line was in operation by 1895. |
The logo used by the Finn Valley Railway Company
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The extensions of the narrow-gauge branch lines meant that a face-lift
was needed. The platforms at Clady and Castlefin had to be lowered,
and at Stranorlar, the waiting-room at the down-platform needed
completion. The work also involved the laying of more narrow-gauge
track from Strabane to Stranorlar. The extension line from Donegal
Town to Ballyshannon and Bundoran meant great access for people
from the Finn Valley to other parts of Donegal. The Finn Valley
Railway Company's line (originally Great Northern Railways) was
then renamed County Donegal Railways (CDR).
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From then, the railway continued with great success, but the approaching
1960's saw the last train and passengers of the Finn Valley section
of the railway make the sad and final journey to Strabane on the
last day of December, 1959.
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