RTE reports that plans for a greenway on the ‘Burma Road’ – i.e., the line from Claremorris to Collooney – are dead. Technically, the decision only applies to the bit in Sligo, but given that Irish Rail have ruled out anything but a licence for the section in Co. Sligo, Sligo County Council have determined that a greenway adjacent to the railway is not feasible.
Located in northern Spain is Canfranc station, nowadays a 5 star hotel but opened in 1928 as an international border station between Spain and France, on a line running through the Somport railway tunnel. At the time of opening, it was the 2nd largest station in Europe (Leipzig Hauptbahnhof in Germany being the biggest).
No through trains ran beyond Canfranc as France uses the international standard gauge of 4 foot 8.5 inches whereas Spain has its own gauge of 5 foot 6 inches. The station acted as a transhipment point.
The station continued in this role until 1970 when a train derailment in France damaged a bridge on the route, which saw the cross border line closed. Spanish services continued from Zaragoza, as they do today, albeit now to a new station adjacent to the original.
Renovation of the spectacular station building started in 2020 with the hotel opening in January 2023. In addition to the station building, there is a restaurant in 2 carriages located on the site of the historic tracks of the original station (the modern station is off to one side on the site of former sidings).
I am writing this post from the hotel, having arrived off the train from Zaragoza at 19:50 on Sunday, after travelling by train from Barcelona. This involved a change of train at Zaragoza and again at Huesca. The reception staff seemed surprised at both my method of getting here and that I had travelled all the way from Ireland!
The modern day station is nothing spectacular from an architectural viewpoint, with three platforms and a siding for a grain silo. Elsewhere on the site of the former station, there are static displays of former track and two carriages.
industrialheritageireland.info would like to extend its congratulations to the Downpatrick Railway Society on receiving The King’s Award for Voluntary Service 2025.
RTE have a video clip about the successful restoration of an old platform crane by the W&SVR, which is now on display at their main station at Kilmeaden.
The crane was originally at Ferns station in Co. Wexford, where I took a photo of it in 2003:
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Irish railways in the 1980s
I found this video on Youtube, which is a (UK) Channel 4 programme about railways in Ireland (primarily focuses on Northern Ireland but includes pieces about railways in the Republic of Ireland).
The above titled talk will take place in the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh on Thursday 20th November 2025 at 19:00.
Tickets, costing £3.50, can be bought here.
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Further site visits
I thought that I had my final trip taking photos/site visits for 2025, but the mild weather today led me north again on a mopping up exercise in Co. Down.
I managed to visit half a dozen sites today that I had previously missed for various reasons and these photos will be added to the site over the next few weeks.
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The Royal Canal
I am acutely aware that the primary focus of this site has been the railway built infrastructure of the island of Ireland, due to the fact that my underlying interest in industrial heritage lies in that area.
Now that I am coming close to completion of the development of the railway aspect of the online gazetteer, it is time to start looking at the canals of Ireland.
I already have extensive coverage of the Ulster Canal and the Lagan Navigation and the next canal I intend to add detail to on the gazetteer is the Royal Canal, primarily because it is the one closest to where I live and therefore the easiest to complete.
As the towpath outside of Dublin can be hit and miss, Winter is not the time to be cycling this and the plan is to work on the back end (map, location links etc) over the next 3 months with a view to adding in photographs in 2026.
However, I have, over the last couple of weekends, cycled from Kilcock to Castleknock along the towpath and photographed the bridges/locks etc. One final bike trip from Castleknock to Dublin city should finish this section.
The plan would then be to do two day trips by train with bike to cover Longford to Mullingar and Mullingar to Kilcock.
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An Illustrated Talk on the Grand Canal
The above titled talk takes place on 28 October 2025 at 20:00 in Suncroft Community Centre, Suncroft, Co. Kildare.
Organised by the Curragh Local History Group, all are welcome.
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Brian J Goggin – in memoriam
It is hard to believe that it is 5 years since Brian J Goggin, chronicler of the canals and navigable waterways of Ireland, passed away.
His loss is noticeable in the absence of anyone stepping into his shoes as he delved into both online and offline resources to ferret out that last bit of detail about the canals and navigable waterways of Ireland that mainstream research overlooked.
RIP Brian – you are missed.