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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
County Cork

County Cork is the most southerly and the largest of the modern counties of Republic of Ireland. Cork is nicknamed "The Rebel County", as a result of the support of the townsmen of Cork in 1491 for Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the throne of England during the Wars of the Roses....
, Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
. It opened in 1886 and closed in 1947. The track gauge was 3 feet (914 mm). The formal name of the company was The West Carberry Tramways and Light Railways Company Ltd.

S&S' main line was 15½ miles long. It was one of several in Ireland built under the terms of the Tramways Act 1883.






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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
County Cork

County Cork is the most southerly and the largest of the modern counties of Republic of Ireland. Cork is nicknamed "The Rebel County", as a result of the support of the townsmen of Cork in 1491 for Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the throne of England during the Wars of the Roses....
, Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
. It opened in 1886 and closed in 1947. The track gauge was 3 feet (914 mm). The formal name of the company was The West Carberry Tramways and Light Railways Company Ltd.

Route

The S&S' main line was 15½ miles long. It was one of several in Ireland built under the terms of the Tramways Act 1883. It largely ran alongside roads, although a large 12 arched masonry viaduct was built over an inlet of Roaringwater Bay.

The line linked the small harbour and village at Schull
Schull

Schull or Skull is a village in County Cork, Republic of Ireland. Located on the southwest coast, in West Cork, the village is situated in a scenic and remote location....
 (in Irish
Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
: Scoil Mhuire) with the town of Skibbereen
Skibbereen

Skibbereen , is a town in County Cork, Republic of Ireland.The name "Skibbereen" means "little boat harbour." The river Ilen which runs through the town reaches the sea at Baltimore, County Cork....
 (An Sciobairín). The only sizeable intermediate village was Ballydehob
Ballydehob

Ballydehob is a small town in County Cork, Ireland....
 (Béal Átha an dá Chab), although the station was located inconveniently far from the village. The line was single track, with a passing place at Ballydehob station. Other halts were built at Newcourt, Church Cross, Hollyhill, Kilcoe and Woodlands (of which only Hollyhill had a station building).

The station at Skibbereen was built on a cramped site adajacent to that of the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway
Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway

The Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway was a major Irish railway. It operated from Cork and served towns along the southern coastal strip to the west....
. The S&S trains had to reverse out of the station into a headshunt, before proceeding towards Schull. (A similar reversing operation is still required at Killarney railway station
Killarney railway station

Killarney railway station serves the town of Killarney in County Kerry. It is situated next to the bus station and the Killarney outlet centre. Trains serving the station must either turn off the main line and reverse back onto it or pass the station and reverse in ....
 on Irish Rail's line from Mallow
Mallow railway station

Mallow railway station is located in Annabella, just outside Mallow, County Cork, in north County Cork. It is two miles from Cork racecourse.Mallow station is located just north of the junction between the lines from Cork railway station and Tralee railway station....
 to Tralee
Tralee railway station

Tralee railway station serves the town of Tralee in County Kerry.The station, originally named Tralee South, was opened on 18 July 1859. It was given the name Casement on 10 April 1966 in commemoration of Roger Casement, one of the executed leaders of the Easter Rising....
).

Early years

Construction was begun in 1885 and soon proved to be substandard. The Inspector of Railways refused to allow the line to be opened for public service in August 1886. Following some remedial work and a subsequent inspection, the line opened in September with a restricted speed limit of only 15 miles per hour. In October the service had to be suspended for 10 days due to problems with both the track and the locomotives. Services had to again be suspended in April 1887, with local ratepayers having to subsidise the company. The Inspector of Railways gave a highly critical report of the line's standards of operation.

Following further losses, in 1892 the Grand Jury of County Cork appointed a committee of management to run the line. In 1893 a short extension to Schull Pier was built.

Ownership by the GSR and CIÉ

In 1925 the company was incorporated into the new Great Southern Railways. During to a shortage of coal during World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 (known as The Emergency in neutral Ireland), services had to be suspended between April 1944 and December 1945. In 1945 the GSR was incorporated into Coras Iompair Éireann
Córas Iompair Éireann

C?ras Iompair ?ireann is a statutory corporation of the Republic of Ireland, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for the provision of most public transport services in the Republic of Ireland and, jointly with its Northern Ireland counterpart, the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, between the Republic and Northern I...
 (CIÉ). A further shortage of coal resulted in a further suspension of services on 27 January 1947. The line never reopened; CIÉ formally abandoned the railway in September 1952.

The line was operated by steam locomotives throughout its existence, including the SSR Class DN4
SSR Class DN4

The first member of this class, which was built for the Schull and Skibbereen Railway by Peckett and Sons of Bristol, appeared from the works in 1905 and was delivered to the railway the following year....
 and SSR Class DN5
SSR Class DN5

This class, with just one example, was designated DN5 by the Great Southern Railways . Following the GSR classification by wheel arrangement, "D" meaning a locomotive with a 4-4-0 arrangement, "N" meaning Narrow Gauge....
.

Source

T. Ferris, The Irish Narrow Gauge (Vol. 1), Midland Publishing Ltd., 1993, ISBN 1-85780-010-9

See also

  • List of narrow gauge railways in Ireland
    List of narrow gauge railways in Ireland

    Ireland formerly had several narrow gauge railways, almost all built to a gauge of 914 mm . The last line to close was the West Clare Railway in 1961....
  • West Cork
    West Cork

    West Cork in south-west Ireland, lies in Ireland's largest county, County Cork. The area is actively promoted as distinct from other areas of the county, such as the more populated northern or eastern parts of the county, as well as the more urban area of Metropolitan Cork....

Other narrow gauge railways in Co. Cork
  • Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway
    Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway

    The Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway was a narrow gauge railway in County Cork, Ireland. It was originally opened in 1850 as a broad gauge railway between Cork and Passage West, but was converted to 3' gauge in 1902....
  • Cork and Muskerry Light Railway
    Cork and Muskerry Light Railway

    The Cork and Muskerry Light Railway was a narrow gauge railway in County Cork, Ireland. The first part of the railway opened in 1887 and closed in 1934....


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