The Finn Valley Railway (FVR) was a gauge railway in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

History

Incorporation

The Finn Valley Railway Company was incorporated on 15 May 1860 with capital of £60,000 ().

Personnel

The Chairman of the directors was The 4th Viscount Lifford, whose

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair ...

was Meenglass Castle, just south-east of

Ballybofey Ballybofey ( , ; ) is a town located on the south bank of the River Finn, County Donegal, Ireland. Together with the smaller town of Stranorlar on the north side of the River Finn, the towns form the Twin Towns of Ballybofey-Stranorlar. B ...

, and the Deputy-Chairman was James Thompson Macky of the

Bank of Ireland Bank of Ireland Group plc ( ga, Banc na hÉireann) is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Iris ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

. The other directors were: *Robert Collum, 1 Chester Place,

Hyde Park Square Hyde Park Square is a residential, tree-planted, garden square one block north of Hyde Park fronted by classical buildings, many of which are listed and marks a crossover of Lancaster Gate and Connaught Village neighbourhoods of Bayswater, Londo ...

, London *Edward Hunter, The Glebe, Blackheath,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

*Maurice Ceely Maude, Lenaghan,

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

* Sir Samuel Hercules Hayes, 4th Baronet, Leuaghan,

Stranorlar Stranorlar () is a town, townland and civil parish in the Finn Valley of County Donegal, in Ireland. Stranorlar and Ballybofey (located on the other side of the River Finn) form ''the Twin Towns''. Transport The town is located at the junctio ...

*Robert Russell, Salthill,

Mountcharles Mountcharles () is a village and townland (of 650 acres) in the south of County Donegal, Ireland. It lies 6 km from Donegal Town on the Killybegs road ( N56). It is situated in the civil parish of Inver and the historic barony of Banagh. ...

*Major Humphreys, Milltown House,

Strabane Strabane ( ; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,172 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the east bank of the River Foyle. It is roughly midway from Omagh, Derry and Letterkenny. The River Foyle mark ...

The other offices of the company were: *James Alex Ledlie, Stranorlar, Secretary *

Peter W. Barlow Peter William Barlow (1 February 1809 – 19 May 1885) was an English civil engineer, particularly associated with railways, bridges (he designed the first Lambeth Bridge, a crossing of the River Thames in London), the design of tunnels and the ...

, 26 Great George Street,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, Consulting Engineer *John Bower, Engineer

Opening

A gauge rail line between Stranorlar and Strabane was opened on 1 October 1863.

Operation

The directors entered into a contract with the

Irish North Western Railway Irish North Western Railway (INW) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. Development The company was founded as the Dundalk and Enniskillen Railway (D&ER) and opened the first section of its line, from to , in 1849. In Dundalk th ...

to work the line for a period of 10 years. This company became amalgamated with the

Great Northern Railway (Ireland) The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I) or GNRI) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The governme ...

The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland, William Alan McCutcheon, Northern Ireland. Dept. of the Environment, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984 in 1876.

Merger and gauge conversion

In 1892, the line merged with the

West Donegal Railway The West Donegal Railway (WDR) was a narrow gauge railway in Ireland. History The Finn Valley Railway had reached Stranorlar in 1863. The West Donegal Railway Company was incorporated by an act of July 1879 to extend the Finn Valley Railway ...

into a new company, the

Donegal Railway Company The Donegal Railway Company (DR) was a gauge railway in Ireland. History The company was formed in 1892 by a merger of the Finn Valley Railway and the West Donegal Railway. One of the first acts of the new company was to convert the former ...

. The line from Stranorlar to Strabane was reconstructed to () gauge shortly afterwards.

Footnotes

{{Reflist Railway companies established in 1860 Railway companies disestablished in 1892 Irish gauge railways Great Northern Railway (Ireland) Closed railways in Northern Ireland Defunct railway companies of Ireland Transport in County Donegal Transport in County Tyrone Railway lines opened in 1863