Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway (CB&SCR), was an
Irish gauge () railway in Ireland. It opened in 1849 as the Cork and Bandon Railway (C&BR), changed its name to Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway in 1888 and became part of the
Great Southern Railway (GSR) in 1924.
The CB&SCR served the south coast of
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...
between
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
and
Bantry. It had a route length of , all of it single track. Many road car routes connected with the line, including the route from
Bantry to
Killarney
Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...
.
Following absorption into the GSR and the network could be referred to as the West Cork Railways or variations thereof, this also encompassing the former previously independent
Cork and Macroom Direct Railway
The Cork and Macroom Direct Railway (CMDR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland which ran the from Cork to Macroom.
History
It was incorporated in 1861 and was chaired by Sir John Arnott and Joseph Ronayne. The engineer for the scheme w ...
and the
Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Railway
The Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Railway was a long light railway connecting Timoleague station and Courtmacsherry station. It was the last roadside railway operating in Ireland.
History
The railway was incorporated in October 1888 and ope ...
.
History
![Drimoleague Station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Drimoleague_Station.jpg)
The Cork and Bandon Railway was formed in 1845 and began operations on the from
Bandon to
Ballinhassig
Ballinhassig () is a village in County Cork, Ireland, situated south of Cork City just off the N71 Bandon road and near the source of the River Owenabue (''Abhainn Bui'', meaning "Yellow River").
Traditionally an agricultural area, Ballinhass ...
from 1 August 1849, 25 seat horse omnibuses being used for transfers to and from Cork City. The section from Ballinhassig to Cork opened to public services on 1 December 1851. The C&BR was financially challenged after by building the Bandon to Cork section which had had some cost overruns and future extensions to the network were undertaken by independent companies some of which operated their own services for a number years.
Extensions to the railway
The Cork and Kinsale Junction Railway (C&KJR) company built the first extension to the railway to the port of which opened in 1863 and was operated by the C&BR from the outset. The branch left the main line some from Cork at a station simply called and was notable for some long 1 in 76 and 1 in 80 gradients. The C&BR completed purchase of the line from the C&KJR on 1 January 1880.
The West Cork Railway (WCR) was formed with the intention of extending the line to
Skibbereen
Skibbereen (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is located in West Cork on the N71 national secondary road. The name "Skibbereen" (sometimes shortened to "Skibb") means "little boat harbour". The River Ilen runs through the town; it reac ...
, the C&BR being in favour of such an extension but without the ability to raise the capital itself. The WCR opened the section from Bandon to ) in June 1866 and operated the section itself hiring in rolling stock and locomotives from elsewhere. There were ongoing tensions between the WCR and C&BR especially at with independent stations and goods transfer disputes. The WCR itself was unable to resource the building of the Dunmanway to
Skibbereen
Skibbereen (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is located in West Cork on the N71 national secondary road. The name "Skibbereen" (sometimes shortened to "Skibb") means "little boat harbour". The River Ilen runs through the town; it reac ...
section which was completed by the Ilen Valley Railway (IVR) opening in 1877. Following arbitration the section was worked by the WCR. The operating situation agreed to was resolved on 1 January 1880 by running the network under a single operational management, the C&BR leasing the IVR until absorbing it in 1909 whilst concluding terms to absorb the WCR in October 1882.
12 May 1866 saw the opening of the independently operated
Cork and Macroom Direct Railway
The Cork and Macroom Direct Railway (CMDR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland which ran the from Cork to Macroom.
History
It was incorporated in 1861 and was chaired by Sir John Arnott and Joseph Ronayne. The engineer for the scheme w ...
(C&MDR) which initially used the terminus before almost immediately branching off on a line to . Toll charges and sharing difficulties led to C&MDR to use its own newly built terminus at from 27 September 1879 with the connection C&BR severed soon thereafter.
The IVR completed an branch from to
Bantry which it leased to the C&BR to operate from 1 July 1881.
In 1886 Skibbereen became an interchange with the
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
Schull and Skibbereen Railway
The Schull and Skibbereen Railway (also known as the Schull and Skibbereen Tramway and Light Railway) was a minor narrow gauge railway in County Cork, Ireland. It opened in 1886 and closed in 1947. The track gauge was a narrow gauge. The form ...
.
The Clonakilty Extension Railway (from Clonakilty Junction), , opened on 24 August 1886 and was operated by the C&BR. A long siding for a flour mill owned by the Bennett family at
Shannonvale about north of
Clonakilty
Clonakilty (; ), sometimes shortened to Clon, is a town in County Cork, Ireland. The town is located at the head of the tidal Clonakilty Bay. The rural hinterland is used mainly for dairy farming. The town's population as of 2016 was 4,592. Th ...
was notable for being horse-operated. The siding was created in 1887 and extended to the mill shortly thereafter and remained horse operated until closure in 1961. Horse traction was used uphill, and trains were worked by gravity downhill.
On 21 September 1887 a draft Bill was submitted to the company's board. The draft would give the C&BR powers to construct a line to avoid Gogginshill Tunnel, at an estimated cost of £10,702. Other powers to be granted included a connecting line to the
Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway
The Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway known locally to the locals aThe Black Bridge(CB&PR) was a narrow gauge railway in County Cork, Ireland. The line originally opened in 1850 as a Irish standard gauge railway between Cork and Passage West ...
, extensions to Cork's quays, and closure of the Gas Works level crossing.
Cork Corporation
Cork City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Prior to the enactment of the 2001 Act, ...
objected to the quay line and level crossing closure, and the connection to the Cork, Blackrock and Passage was defeated. The Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway Act, 1888 passed on 5 July, changing the name of the C&BR to the Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway (CB&SCR). Powers to build the line avoiding Gogginshill Tunnel were granted in this Act, but the line was never built.
The
Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Railway
The Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Railway was a long light railway connecting Timoleague station and Courtmacsherry station. It was the last roadside railway operating in Ireland.
History
The railway was incorporated in October 1888 and ope ...
opened and operated as a independent branch from on the branch with stations at , and terminated at the seaside village at .
22 October 1892 saw the opening of an extension of the Bantry branch by by another company, the Bantry Extension Railway, through to the pier at Bantry Bay, the CB&SCR again leasing the line. Direct passenger services onto the pier were introduced in 1908 to connect with Bantry Bay
steamers. These services ceased in 1936 and the pier was dismantled in 1949.
An extension from to by the Baltimore Extension Railway was operated by the CB&SCR from May 1893.
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
was a port on the southernmost extent of Ireland and increased the length of the CB&SCR to .
1 January 1912 saw
Cork City Railways
The Cork City Railways were constructed in 1911 and opened in 1912 to connect the Irish standard gauge systems north and south of the River Lee in Cork, Ireland.,
In the 19th century Cork city had a population of the order of 80,000 and was s ...
creating a connection between the CB&SCR and the rest of the Irish rail network by running a road tramway across the road bridges over the
River Lee
The River Lee (Irish: ''An Laoi'') is a river in Ireland. It rises in the Shehy Mountains on the western border of County Cork and flows eastwards through Cork, where it splits in two for a short distance, creating an island on which Cork's ...
from immediately before across to the
Great Southern and Western Railway at
Glanmire Road.
The CB&SCR was subject to various damaging incidents during the 1922—1923
Irish Civil War, the most damaging to the railway being the partial destruction of the
Chetwynd Viaduct
Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway (CB&SCR), was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland. It opened in 1849 as the Cork and Bandon Railway (C&BR), changed its name to Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway in 1888 and became part of the Great Sout ...
on 9 August 1922. Passenger services were restored between Cork and Bandon on 20 February 1923, with full service across the network being restored on 23 May.
GSR and CIÉ years
The CB&SCR,
Great Southern and Western Railway, and
Midland Great Western Railway
The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) was the third largest Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railways in 1924. At its peak the MGWR had a network of , making it Irelan ...
were amalgamated into the ''Great Southern Railway'' in 1924. It then amalgamated with the
Dublin and South Eastern Railway
The Dublin and South Eastern Railway (DSER), often referred to as the Slow and Easy, was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland from 1846 to 1925. It carried 4,626,226 passengers in 1911. It was the fourth largest railway operation in Ireland oper ...
to form the
Great Southern Railways in 1925, absorbing the smaller railways within the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
. An early action of the new combined management was to re-instate the connection between the former CB&SCR and C&MDR railways so the line from could use the terminus at to achieve some operating economies.
Due to mounting losses the Kinsale branch was closed on 31 August 1931. A parliamentary question asked in February 1934 sought to prevent the line from being lifted, but the relevant minister lacked the power to do so. The line was fully lifted that summer. The junction station remained open, being renamed Crossbarry in October 1936.
The GSR was consolidated into
Córas Iompair Éireann in 1945.
CIÉ introduced
AEC railcars to the railway in 1954.
Closure
Due to economic problems, competition from road traffic and falling passenger numbers, the line closed on 1 April 1961. The planned closure of the railway network met with strong local opposition, including the establishment of the West Cork Railways Association. At a meeting of Cork County Council's Southern Committee on 3 October 1960, councillors were very critical of CIÉ's running of the line.
A report published by a local pressure group in 2022 suggested that the railway in West Cork could feasibly return. This suggestion was rejected by Minister for Transport
Eamon Ryan
Eamon Michael Ryan (born 28 July 1963) is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister for Transport since June 2020 and Leader of the Green Party since May 2011. He ha ...
.
Route
The system was completely built as single track with passing facilities provided at most stations. As a condition of loans from the Board of Works some infrastructure on the main line was built to accommodate later conversion to double track, this had implications for costs particularly at
Gogginshill Tunnel.
Rocksavage works
The Rocksavage works and yard serviced the CB&SCR rolling stock and was situated at the south end of the site encompassing the terminus complex. The works built a single locomotive, the CB&SCR No. 7/GSR No. 478 in 1901 that was composed mostly of parts salvaged from other locomotives. On amalgamation to the GSR in 1925 major repair work was transferred to
Inchicore
Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchicore railway works (b ...
with Rocksavage being used for light repairs.
Major infrastructure
Chetwynd Viaduct
![Chetwynd-Viaduct](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Chetwynd-Viaduct.JPG)
The Chetwynd Viaduct carried the line over a valley and the main Bandon road (now the
N71) between the
townland
A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...
s of Chetwynd and Rochfordstown about southwest of Cork city.
It was designed by Charles Nixon (a former pupil of
I.K. Brunel), and built between 1849 and 1851 by
Fox, Henderson and Co
Sir Charles Fox (11 March 1810 – 11 June 1874) was an English civil engineer and contractor. His work focused on railways, railway stations and bridges.
Biography
Born in Derby in 1810, he was the youngest of five sons of Dr Francis Fox. In ...
, which also built
the Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around th ...
in London.
The cast iron ribs were cast on site. When ''in situ'' they had transverse diagonal bracing and lattice spandrels that supported a deck of iron plates. These in turn supported the permanent way. The viaduct is high, has four spans, each span composed of four cast iron arched ribs, carried on masonry piers thick and wide. The overall span between end abutments is .
The structure was seriously damaged in the
Irish Civil War in 1922, but was subsequently repaired. It was in regular use until the line was closed in 1961, though "recovery" trains continued to use it during the dismantling of the line until at least 1965. The bulk of the decking was in place as late as 1970, other than at the ends, but this was all subsequently removed for safety reasons.
Gogginshill Tunnel
![Approach cutting to Gogginshill Tunnel, Co](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Approach_cutting_to_Gogginshill_Tunnel%2C_Co.Cork_-_geograph.org.uk_-_77377.jpg)
The Gogginshill Tunnel near Ballinhassig in Co. Cork, was constructed between February 1850 and December 1851 by 300 men working day and night. There are three ventilation shafts and the tunnel is lined with brick, which was added between 1889 and 1890 after some minor collapses of the rock face.
It is the longest abandoned railway tunnel within the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
, measuring 906 yards (828 metres) end to end.
Halfway Viaduct
![Halfway Viaduct, near Ballinhassig, Co, Cork - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Halfway_Viaduct%2C_near_Ballinhassig%2C_Co%2C_Cork_-_geograph.org.uk_-_78690.jpg)
The Viaduct is located at Halfway, between Innishannon and Ballinhassig, c.30m above the valley floor. It is a three arch viaduct of masonry construction.
Kilpatrick Tunnel
![Kilpatrick Tunnel east portal, Inishannon, Co](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Kilpatrick_Tunnel_east_portal%2C_Inishannon%2C_Co.Cork_-_geograph.org.uk_-_80167.jpg)
The Kilpatrick (Innishannon) tunnel is 122 meters in length and located less than 1 km west of Inishannon, just before the
River Bandon
The River Bandon ( ga, Abhainn na Bandan, from ''ban-dea'', meaning "goddess") is a river in County Cork, Ireland.
The Bandon rises at Nowen Hill (one of the Shehy Mountains), to the north of Drimoleague. The river then flows to Dunmanway, ...
crossing.
Services
![West Cork time table](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/West_Cork_time_table.jpg)
Passenger services on the C&BR and CB&SCR were of low frequency with most routes seeing up to a handful of trains each way a most, with connections being of poor quality at times.
Regular
Diesel Railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...
operations began on the Cork to service from 28 May 1954 and permitted a reduction in journey time of 38 minutes. Railcars and the
550 hp C-Class diesel locomotives had replaced steam on all but a freight service to by July 1957. The large
A class locomotives were used on 2 trial runs. One going to and another going to
1948 Timetable
On the right is the Cork to Bantry passenger timetable that was operational from 1948 until the closure in 1961. A few points may be noted from it:
* Travel time was about 2 hours. In 2008, a car journey (without the nine intermittent stops) is less than 30 minutes faster, according to the
AA website.
* It was not possible to make a same-day return journey from Bandon to Dublin as the Cork express train left at 9:00 am (arriving at 12:00 pm) and departed at 2:25 pm from Heuston (which would have allowed the 6:00 pm connection to Bandon to be made though).
Rolling stock
Following the 1924 grouping the Great Southern Railway inherited 20 locomotives CB&SCR.
At some point the CB&SCR was recorded as having 68 coaching vehicles and 455 goods vehicles.
Locomotives
Over 40 steam locomotives were used by the C&BR/CB&SCR, mostly of the
tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...
variety though some early examples had
tenders. The most notable are generally considered to be the
''bandon tanks'' build by
Beyer, Peacock and Company
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, ...
between 1908 and 1920. Also of note are two
Baldwin locomotives, the design of 1900 being the only instance of steam locomotives supplied from America to Ireland.
Livery
The locomotives and carriages were various shades of olive green often with yellow lining.
See also
*
History of rail transport in Ireland
The history of rail transport in Ireland began only a decade later than that of Great Britain. By its peak in 1920, Ireland had 3,500 route miles (5,630 km). The current status is less than half that amount, with a large unserviced area arou ...
*
History of Durrus and District
References
Notes
Footnotes
Sources and further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Hume, Robert,"The mystery crash of the West Cork train that never reached Dunmanway", Southern Star 13 May 2017, p.9
*
*
*O'Donovan, Daniel, ''On removal of Bantry line'' Durrus, Bantry, (oral history)
*
External links
Beneathesummergrowth.wordpress.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cork, Bandon And South Coast Railway
Defunct railway companies of Ireland
Transport in County Cork
Transport in County Kerry
Irish gauge railways
Railway companies disestablished in 1961