Wikipedia

Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway

The 26 miles (42 km) Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway (DNGR, DN&GR) was an Irish gauge (1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)) railway in Ireland. It was conceived as the Dundalk and Greenore Railway in the 1860s to provide a link between the towns in its title and the London and North Western Railway port at Greenore, from where a ferry service operated to Holyhead. It was opened between Greenore and Dundalk in 1873 and extended to Newry in 1876. The company operated a hotel at Greenore.

Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway
Overview
Dates of operation1873 (1873)–1951 (1951)
Technical
Track gauge5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway
Legend
 Belfast–Dublin line
To Armagh
Newry
Newry Bridge Street
(Bessbrook)
Newry Dublin Bridge
To Warrenpoint
Co. Armagh/Co. Louth border
 Omeath
Carlingford
Greenore
Greenore to Holyhead Ferry
Bush
Bellurgan
Dundalk
Dundalk Quay Street
To Inniskeen
Dublin–Belfast line
Former railway station at Carlingford, County Louth. This is now the Cooley Peninsula Tourist Office
Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway sign at the National Railway Museum, York

Ownership

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Dundalk and Greenore Railway Act 1863
Act of Parliament
 
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act for making a Railway from the Irish North-western Railway at Dundalk to Greenore in the County of Louth; and for other Purposes.
Citation26 & 27 Vict. c. ccxxxiii
Dates
Royal assent28 July 1863
Text of statute as originally enacted
Dundalk and Greenore Railway Act 1867
Act of Parliament
 
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Citation30 & 31 Vict. c. clxxxiii
Dates
Royal assent12 August 1867
Text of statute as originally enacted
Dundalk and Greenore Railway Act 1869
Act of Parliament
 
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Citation32 & 33 Vict. c. cxxxii
Dates
Royal assent26 July 1869
Text of statute as originally enacted
Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway Act 1873
Act of Parliament
 
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Citation36 & 37 Vict. c. clxxiv
Dates
Royal assent21 July 1873
Text of statute as originally enacted

The London and North Western Railway owned the railway and at first provided its locomotives and rolling stock, with the locomotives coming from its Crewe Works. The railway passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923 but an agreement was reached in 1933 for the line to be worked by the Great Northern Railway. Because the partition of Ireland placed an international frontier across the DN&G's Greenore – Newry line, it was not absorbed into either the Great Southern Railways in 1925 or the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948.

Closure

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The line was closed on 31 December 1951 and was dissolved in 1957 by the British Transport Commission Act 1957 (5 & 6 Eliz. 2. c. xxxiii). In recent years, much of the line has been restored as part of the Carlingford to Omeath Greenway between Newry and Carlingford.[1][2]

Preservation

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DNGR No. 1

One six-wheeled coach, DNGR No. 1 built in 1909, a composite with a coupé compartment, has been preserved at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra.[3]

Consideration was given to the preservation of locomotive No.1 Macrory but, in the end, no locomotives were preserved. It is believed that this was because of an ill-informed belief among those in charge of its fate that the locomotive was of a different track gauge to the rest of Ireland, due to the fact that it was built and owned by a British company, although this was not the case. All of the locomotive nameplates have been preserved.

However, a GNR 2-4-2T JT class locomotive, No. 93, which worked on the DNGR line under GNR operation, has also been preserved and is displayed with the DNGR coach in Cultra.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Carlingford - Omeath Greenway Greenway". The Argus. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2015 – via Independent.ie.
  2. ^ "The Carlingford Lough Greenway - Phase 1 Completed". newrymournedown.org. Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. Retrieved 29 May 2020. Louth County Council has already constructed 6.2km of Greenway from Omeath to Carlingford Marina and this [..] opened in 2014
  3. ^ "Dundalk Newry Greenore 1 First/Second Composite built 1909". www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org. Retrieved 26 July 2016.

Further reading

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  • Barrie, D.S.M. (1980) [1957]. The Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway. Oakwood Library of Railway History. Lingfield: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-260-9.
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