Finn Valley Railway Explained

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

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 was Meenglass Castle, just south-east of Ballybofey, and the Deputy-Chairman was James Thompson Macky of the Bank of Ireland in Derry.^[1]

The other directors were:

• Robert Collum, 1 Chester Place, Hyde Park Square, London
• Edward Hunter, The Glebe, Blackheath, Kent
• Maurice Ceely Maude, Lenaghan, Enniskillen
• Sir Samuel Hercules Hayes, 4th Baronet, Leuaghan, Stranorlar
• Robert Russell, Salthill, Mountcharles
• Major Humphreys, Milltown House, Strabane

The other offices of the company were:

• James Alex Ledlie, Stranorlar, Secretary
• Peter W. Barlow, 26 Great George Street, Westminster, 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 to work the line for a period of 10 years. This company became amalgamated with the Great Northern Railway (Ireland)^[2] in 1876.

Merger and gauge conversion

In 1892, the line merged with the West Donegal Railway into a new company, the Donegal Railway Company. The line from Stranorlar to Strabane was reconstructed to gauge shortly afterwards.

Notes and References

1. Bradshaw's railway manual, shareholders' guide, and official directory. W. J. Adams, 1864
2. The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland, William Alan McCutcheon, Northern Ireland. Dept. of the Environment, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984