A GoFundMe campaign to facilitate the repair of the damage caused to Elphin Windmill during Storm Eowyn has been setup and can be accessed here.
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Author: ewan.duffy
Per the Belfast Telegraph, the on off saga of the Commissioners of Irish Lights proposals to modernise the lighting arrangements in St. John’s Point Lighthouse in Co. Down continues, with local residents objecting to the replacement of the fundamentally unsafe mercury based rotation mechanism and light with LED lights and a ball bearing based rotation mechanism, citing a range of spurious arguments against this.
There are many examples of former lighthouse lights preserved as static exhibits in adjacent (and non adjacent) areas and I would suggest that if the local community wish to have a known toxin in their community, they should be facilitated to have the mechanism preserved at a site in the community in the community/council ownership, with all the associated civil liability for same on the community/council if the mercury leaks.
Armaghi.com reports on a refusal to grant planning permission to convert a former reservoir in Banbridge into a house.
The applicant had sought to construct a new build house above ground and incorporate the former reservoir into the structure as a basement.
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Newtownards to Bangor Greenway
Another day, another greenway. This time in Co. Down, from Newtownards to Bangor.
At first the headline on insidermedia.com had me confused, stating:
“Construction starts on £5.6m Newtownards to Bangor Greenway – will utilise former railway track”.
Was there a heretofore unrecorded railway line from Newtownards to Bangor? A quick look at my own gazetteer enlightened me. The plan is to use the trackbed from Newtownards to Conlig (also known as Whitespots) and head across country from there to Bangor.
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Midleton – Youghal Greenway
I have finally updated the photos taken at the three stations on the former Midleton to Youghal railway, now a greenway (Mogeely, Killeagh and Youghal) and these are available to see via the Gazetteer.
There is a well known image of a steam locomotive protruding through the end wall of Harcourt Street station, this being the end result of an accident on 14th February 1900. The 125th anniversary of this was 2 days ago and the YouTube algorithm recommended this video to me:
It is reasonable enough in terms of the history, although I take issue with the narrative around how the locomotive was re-railed and left the following comment on YouTube:
Are you sure about how the locomotive was re-railed? My understanding is that the engine was lowered onto Hatch Street (the street that it protruded onto) where there was a tram line. Conveniently, the original tram network in Dublin used the same gauge as the railway, allowing it to be moved closer to Adelaide Road, where temporary track was laid to bring the engine up the goods area access road to be re-railed.
Co-incidentally, the locomotive in question had another off road excursion during the Irish Civil War and also had to be re-railed using temporary track.
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Railway carriages to bridges
Between 1920 and 1943, the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee had an enterprising general manager in the form of Henry Forbes, a man whose initiative probably kept the company in better nick than most narrow gauge railways and especially its northern neighbour, the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway.
One of the things he was known for was actively reusing life expired equipment for different purposes and were he around today, he would undoubtedly be impressed with this activity.
North Carolina, USA, suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Helene in September 2024, including the destruction of road bridges.
I came upon this news article which showcases an innovative use of withdrawn railway carriages (referred to as “railcars” in the article), in forming temporary road bridges, allowing for the quicker restoration of connections than would be the case if localities had to wait for a conventional bridge to be installed.
I don’t normally comment on trains, not even railway accidents (although technically they do constitute railway history). However, this news item got me thinking about Westport and suggestions for a change.
TLDR, there is actually freight handled at Westport station, specifically timber trains. These are loaded in the old goods area. Not a large area to start with, it was inevitable that something like this would happen eventually.
Looking at the map above, the greyed out section of track is that in use for train stabling/timber loading. If this activity were to move to a dedicated loading site east of the station within Westport station limits (track circuits/axle counters could protect trains), this would free up the area west of the passenger station, allowing for the connection of the Westport to Achill greenway to that running to Westport Quay, improving the tourist amenity of Westport and segregating passenger and freight trains. I have added a line in blue to the map above, showing how the 2 greenways could be connected.
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Mine Lands: Glendalough and Glendasan
Mine Lands: Glendalough and Glendasan is the title of an art exhibition taking place in the Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray, Co. Wicklow, which will open on 24th February 2025 and run until 10th May 2025.
From the Irish Independent, the exhibition constitutes:
“the focus of new work by Dublin-based painter Judy Carroll Deeley, who explores the former lead and silver mining sites at the Glendalough and also at the Glendasan valleys in Co Wicklow”
There is a reception with opening address on Saturday 22nd February at 14:00 and all are welcome.
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Atmospheric Railway
The first commercial use of the Samuda and Clegg patent for the propulsion of trains by atmospheric means was on the railway line between Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) and Dalkey, opening in 1844 and closing 10 years later.
The great Isambard Kingdom Brunel also tried to use the system on the South Devon Railway in England, where it was a complete failure. This is alleged to be due to the use of insufficiently powered engines in the lineside engine houses used to create the necessary vacuum in the centre pipe, which in turn moved a piston along said pipe to propel the train.
Little remains of the Atmospheric Railway in Dublin today – the station site (still used by Irish Rail as a Permanent Way dumping ground) and the final road overbridge at Dalkey, which has been abandoned for railway purposes are the only significant traces, the cutting in which the line ran having been rebuilt for conventional railway purposes.
At the Didcot Railway Museum in England, they have a section of the pipe used on the South Devon Railway (along with replica broad gauge track).
I availed of the February Bank Holiday to travel to Didcot and took the photograph below of said pipe.
