# Farranfore–Valentia Harbour line

The Farranfore–Valentia Harbour line was a 39.5 miles (63.6 km) long single-track broad gauge railway line that operated from 1892 to 1960 along Dingle Bay's southern shore in Ireland. It was the most westerly railway in Europe.

## History

A plan to extend the 1834 Dublin and Kingstown Railway to Valentia Harbour by that railway's engineer, Charles Blacker Vignoles, for the establishment of a transatlantic port, was to prove too ambitious and came to nothing. The Great Southern and Western Railway Company (GS&WR) had opened its Killarney to Tralee section in 1859, and in 1871 the independent Killorgan Railway company was formed to construct a line from the GS&WR Farranfore station but in the event was unable to raise the finance.
The GS&WR was to acquire that authority to build the line in 1880, and opened the 12.5-mile-long (20.1 km) rail link between Farranfore and Iveragh Road in Killorglin with the Irish gauge of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) on 15 January 1885. The line was extended by 27 miles (43 km) to Valentia Harbour commencing in 1890 and formally opened on 12 September 1893. The branch line left the Mallow–Tralee line at Farranfore and headed west through some of Ireland's most spectacular scenery as it climbed through County Kerry's mountainous countryside, along Dingle Bay's southern shore. It served as the main transport system for the Iveragh Peninsula for 75 years. The last train departed Killorglin on 30 January 1960, and the line was closed on 1 February 1960.
The Laune Viaduct in Killorglin, two tunnels, and the Gleensk Viaduct are still standing. Most of its other buildings have been demolished and their sites were used for other purposes. It was announced in June 2013 that the section of the disused and disassembled railway linking Cahirciveen to Reenard would be signed over by Irish Rail's parent company, CIÉ to Kerry County Council for building the 3.57-mile-long (5.75 km) Fertha greenway, a combined walking and cycling path which features on Lonely Planet's best things to do in time.

## Route

The station at Farranfore is orientated in an approximately north-south direction, with the down platform to Tralee to the west and the up platform to Mallow and Dublin to the east. There was a bay platform at the southern end of the down used by trains to and from Valentia Harbour which branched away to the southwest. The 12.5 miles (20.1 km) section to Killorglin was essentially flat,. It had an intermediate stations at Molahiffe, Castlemaine (GSWR) and Milltown Halt with the Laune Viaduct just before Killorglin; 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) maximum speed permitted from Molahiffe.
The 27 miles (43 km) extension ran to Valentia Harbour where a ferry was available to Valentia Island. The gradient was up to 1 in 50 on this section, and speeds were mostly restricted to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) or less for the most part. The first two halts were at Caragh Lake and Dooks, 16 miles (26 km) and 18 miles (29 km) from Farranfore respectively. Glenbeigh, at 20 miles (32 km) was a passing stage with locomotive water replenishment facilities was succeeded by a sustained climb at 1 in 50 to Mountain Stage at 23.5 miles (37.8 km). Kells at 30.5 miles (49.1 km) also had a train passing loop and was succeeded by a 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) stretch of track to Cahirciveen 6 miles (9.7 km) further on.
The terminus at Valentia Harbour was a simple arrangement with a shed and no turntable, engines working the 2.5 miles (4.0 km) back to Cahirciveen for stabling overnight.

## Rolling stock

Locomotives used had to be suitable for the low axle load, which even as of 1948 was 14.5 long tons (14.7 t). While the line was initially worked by 4-4-2T and 2-4-2T types the ubiquitous Class 101/J15 came to dominate, several of which were based at Tralee.
The first two 550 hp C Class diesels, Nos. C201 and C202, were put to work on the branch on 4 March 1957, only just having arrived in Ireland at the start of the previous month, with CIÉ 2600 Class railcars also noted as having worked excursions to the branch.
Six-wheeled passenger coaches were used throughout the life of the line, its sharp curves meaning eight-wheeled bogie coaches only being permitted past Killorglin after 1935, and only then if they had oval buffers or round buffers of not less than 18 inches (46 cm) diameter.

## Services

When the line opened there were initially three passenger trains each away to Killorglin. By 1954 the service was reduced to a daily single passenger train each way taking two and a quarter hours for the c. 40 miles (64 km) trip from Farranfore to Valentia Harbour, supplemented by two slower goods train that had passenger accommodation for all or part of the journey.

## Gallery

* Laune Viaduct of the Killorglin to Valentia Railway in Killorglin
* Tunnels of the Killorglin to Valentia Railway
* Gleensk Railway Viaduct
* Drung Hill with inspection car likely about 1893