Jump to content

Finn Valley Railway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Finn Valley Railway
Overview
Stations called at6
HeadquartersStranorlar, Ireland
Reporting markFVR
LocaleCounty Donegal, County Tyrone
Dates of operationOctober 1, 1863 (1863-10-01)–1892 (1892)
SuccessorDonegal Railway Company
Technical
Track gauge3 ft (914 mm)
Previous gauge5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) (Irish gauge)
Route map

Londonderry & Enniskillen Rly
to Londonderry│to Enniskillen
Strabane
Clady
Castlefinn
Liscooly
Killygordon
Stranorlar

The Finn Valley Railway (FVR) was a 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) gauge railway in Ireland.

History

[edit]

Incorporation

[edit]

The Finn Valley Railway Company was incorporated on 15 May 1860 with capital of £60,000 (equivalent to £7,120,000 in 2023).[1]

Personnel

[edit]

The Chairman of the directors was The 4th Viscount Lifford, whose seat was Meenglass Castle, just south-east of Ballybofey, and the Deputy-Chairman was James Thompson Macky of the Bank of Ireland in Derry.[2]

The other directors were:

The other offices of the company were:

  • James Alex Ledlie, Stranorlar, Secretary
  • Peter W. Barlow, 26 Great George Street, Westminster, Consulting Engineer
  • John Bower, Engineer

Opening

[edit]

A 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) gauge rail line between Stranorlar and Strabane was opened on 1 October 1863.

Operation

[edit]

The directors entered into a contract with the Irish North Western Railway to work the line for a period of 10 years. This company became amalgamated with the Great Northern Railway (Ireland)[3] in 1876.

Merger and gauge conversion

[edit]

In 1892, the line merged with the West Donegal Railway into a new company, the Donegal Railway Company. The line from Stranorlar to Strabane was reconstructed to (3 ft (914 mm)) gauge shortly afterwards.

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  2. ^ Bradshaw's railway manual, shareholders' guide, and official directory. W. J. Adams, 1864
  3. ^ The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland, William Alan McCutcheon, Northern Ireland. Dept. of the Environment, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984