Drumboe attracts record crowds on its way home to Donegal
COUNTY Donegal Railways 2-6-4T No. 5 Drumboe returned to Donegal in triumph on Saturday, October 9, following the completion of its cosmetic overhaul by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland's engineering arm, Heritage Engineering Ireland, at Whitehead.
People lined the route from Whitehead to Donegal, and when the restored 1907-built Nasmyth Wilson locomotive – which headed the last passenger train on the CDR in 1959 – stopped on its low loader at the site of Strabane station, more than 200 local people turned out to cheer it on its way.
In scenes reminiscent of a Flying Scotsman appearance, crowds lined the route into Donegal and through Stranorlar, while several drones caught Drumboe travelling through the spectacular Barnesmore Gap alongside the CDR main line trackbed – the section of the railway on which Drumboe is most likely to operate in future once returned to steam.
Arrival at Donegal Town, which now houses the Donegal Railway Heritage Centre, was delayed until 5.31pm, because of heavy traffic and crowds, but a Garda escort cleared the way to the Diamond where Drumboe went on show, again attracting record attention.
New interest
Moved to Donegal station in the evening, the locomotive was craned into position on a section of 3ft gauge track beside a new platform on the Sunday.
Work will continue on a canopy to protect No. 5 from the elements, and lighting and interpretation boards, including sound archive material – some of which was sourced from people watching the move and who remembered the railway in action.
Heritage centre manager Niall McCaughan said: “The attention we attracted far surpassed our expectations and it was wonderful to see the sheer excitement generated by our steam locomotive. The return of Drumboe has generated a great deal of new interest in and support for our project, and we will be working hard to capitalise on that.”
Drumboe’s homecoming generated extensive coverage in local and national Irish media.
Its cosmetic restoration is the culmination of a €100,000 project, which was partly funded by a €65,000 grant from Donegal Local Development CLG.