West Clare Railway

About

The West Clare Railway (WCR) originally operated in County Clare, Ireland, between 1887 and 1961. This 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge railway ran from the county town of Ennis, via numerous stopping-points along the West Clare coast to two termini, at Kilrush and Kilkee, with the routes diverging at Moyasta Junction. The system was the last operating narrow gauge passenger system in Ireland and connected with the mainline rail system at Ennis, where a station still stands today for bus and train services to Limerick and Galway. Intermediate stops included Ennistymon, Lahinch and Milltown Malbay. A preservation society maintains a railway museum at Moyasta Junction station, and successfully re-opened a section of the railway as a passenger-carrying heritage line with diesel traction in the 1990s, and with steam motive power from 2009. The railway was notorious for poor timekeeping, resulting in litigation and a celebrated comic song.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.