Triumphant Donegal homecoming for Drumboe
COUNTY Donegal Railways 2-6-4T
No. 5 Drumboe, which hauled the last passenger train on the CDR in 1959, will be returning to Donegal in triumph on Saturday, October 9, following a £100,000 restoration by Heritage Engineering Ireland at the RPSI workshops at Whitehead.
The locomotive, built in 1907 by Nasmyth Wilson, has been restored to a standard where it will be capable of running order, with the exception of the boiler which has been inspected and marked for future full repair and renewal for steaming.
Drumboe, which lay at the site of Strabane station for nearly 30 years after the railway closed, was initially bought by Dr Ralph Cox for use in the USA, but was rescued in 1989 by the North West of Ireland Railway Society, which still owns it.
Carried on an articulated low loader belonging to Donegal Railway Heritage Centre supporter Edwin Kirk, who has already transported several items of CDR rolling stock for the museum, the engine – resplendent in its newly-applied red paint – will leave Whitehead around 10am.
Photographic stops
The cavalcade will halt at the site of Strabane station for photographs around noon, before crossing into Donegal, and proceeding to Donegal Town, with stops at Castlefin station and Stranorlar, where a Bus Eireann station occupies the site of the former CDR headquarters. The locomotive will stop there for photographs beside a public memorial to the railway which includes a Stranorlar station sign and the clock from the station clock tower.
After following the route of the railway through the scenic Barnesmore Gap, Drumboe will be given a Gardai escort into Donegal Town, where the locomotive will be on public display in the Diamond main square, where DRHC staff are providing a pop-up museum to tell the story of what is a remarkable survivor.
Drumboe will then be moved to the museum, with craning onto prepared track, beside a platform and canopy, taking place the following day.
Donegal Railway Heritage Centre manager Niall McCaughan said: “We have dubbed the whole event The Homecoming, and it will be a great day for Donegal, with extensive national and local media coverage as the return of the locomotive which pulled the last passenger train in Donegal has caught the public's imagination.
“We are delighted, that just two years after kicking off our appeal to bring Drumboe home, we have succeeded in achieving our objective.
“Heritage Engineering Ireland has done a superb job and all work has been carried out to allow the engine to operate in future. I'd like to thank all those who supported our appeal which has made all of this possible.”
Railway restoration?
Construction industry supply issues have meant that the platform and canopy at Donegal Town are not yet complete, but are expected to be by November, when an official opening and welcome home will be held, involving politicians, funders and enthusiasts.
Niall also said that the museum is looking closely at restoring a length of track on which to operate Drumboe, and the society has made representations proposing restoration of the CDR main line through the Barnesmore Gap to the BallybofeyDonegal leisure corridor project.