Cabin rebuild signals progress at Maam Cross as lost time is made up
THE rebuild of Maam Cross signal cabin is nearing completion – signalling significant progress for the Connemara Railway Project, which aims to restore the station as the centrepiece of a working Irish rural railway station.
Chairman Jim Deegan said that progress on all fronts has been rapid and that ground lost during the Covid shutdown has been largely regained, and plans to run 3ft gauge diesel trains later this summer, with broad gauge trains taking to the tracks in 2023.
Jim said: “We are delighted with progress on the signal cabin, which has been funded by tourism body Failte Ireland. It’s being built on its original brick base; the second time it has been rebuilt as it was damaged during the Civil War exactly 100 years ago. We are installing a 13-lever frame from Ennis to control the points and signals, and we plan to build a second cabin, Maam Cross West, at the opposite end of the station loop.”
The railway has been turning the clock back to the days of contractors using narrow gauge tracks to build standard gauge lines, with the temporary 3ft gauge track being used to transport 5ft 3in gauge track panels to allow the Irish broad gauge track to be laid on site. Work involves moving track panels on narrow gauge wagons, with one of the line’s Bord na Mona diesels providing the motive power.
On the Midland Great Western Railway’s Galway-Clifden line, opened in 1895 and closed in 1935, the Connemara Railway Project was founded in 2017 by Jim. Work began in earnest on the surprisingly intact station site in 2019; 3ft gauge track has been laid to allow trains to run as a statement of intent, and permission is being sought from the Commission for Rail Regulation to operate trains.