Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway

The CB&SCR in 1906

Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway (CB&SCR), was an Irish gauge (1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)) railway in Ireland. It opened in 1851 as the Cork and Bandon Railway, changed its name to Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway in 1888 and became part of the Great Southern Railway in 1924.

The CB&SCR served the south coast of County Cork between Cork and Bantry. It had a route length of 94 miles (151 km), all of it single track. Many road car routes connected with the line, including the route from Bantry to Killarney.

The Chetwynd Viaduct

The Chetwynd Viaduct carried the line over a valley and the main Bandon road (now the N71) about 2 miles (3 km) southwest of Cork city. It was designed by Charles Nixon (a former pupil of I.K. Brunel) and built between 1849 and 1851 by Fox, Henderson and Co, which also built the Crystal Palace in London. It was in use until the line was closed in 1961.

The viaduct is 91 feet (28 m) high, has four 110 feet (34 m) spans, each span composed of four cast iron arched ribs, carried on masonry piers 20 feet (6 m) thick and 30 feet (9 m) wide. The overall span between end abutments is 500 feet (150 m).

The 100 feet (30 m) cast iron ribs were cast on site. When in situ they had transverse diagonal bracing and lattice spandrels that supported a deck of iron plates. These in turn supported the permanent way.

The structure was seriously damaged in the Irish Civil War in 1922, but was subsequently repaired. The decking was removed after closure in 1961.

Chetwynd Viaduct

Extensions to the Railway

• The Cork and Kinsale Junction Railway (C&KJR), 11 miles (18 km), opened in 1863 and was bought by the Cork and Bandon in 1879.
• The West Cork Railway (WCR) (Bandon to Dunmanway), 17.5 miles (28 km), opened June 1866 and bought by the Cork and Bandon in 1879.
• Ilen Valley Railway (IVR) (Dunmanway to Skibbereen), 16 miles (26 km), opened 1877 and bought by the Cork and Bandon in 1879. In 1886 Skibbereen became an interchange with the 914 mm (3 ft)  narrow gauge Schull and Skibbereen Railway.
  • On 1 January 1880 the Cork and Bandon Railway took over the C&KJR, the WCR and the lease of the IVR including its proposed Bantry extension. This completed the Cork and Bandon main line.
• The Bantry Extension Railway (from Drimoleague) opened for traffic 1 July 1881, 11 miles (18 km). In order to give the railway access to a deep water port, a further extension was opened which was opened in 1909 and closed in 1946. Eugene Hourihan (circa 1875–1963) from Ardra, Scart, Bantry recalled seeing the line laid as a child and removed as an old man.^{[citation needed]}
• The Clonakilty Extension Railway (from Clonalkilty Junction), 9 miles (14 km), opened 1886.
• The Baltimore Extension Railway (from Skibbereen), 8 miles (13 km), opened May 1893.
  • The Bantry, Clonalkilty and Baltimore extension railways were three nominally separate companies whose lines were worked by the CB&SCR. All three were absorbed into the Great Southern Railways in 1925.
• The Shannonvale Horse Railway. The Bennett family ran a flour mill at Shannonvale, about 2 miles (3 km) north of Clonakilty. In the early 1890s the CB&SCR agreed to provide a siding 0.5 miles (800 m) long to link the mill with the railway. Horse traction was used uphill, and trains were worked by gravity downhill.

The GSR and CIÉ years

The railway was became part of the Great Southern Railway in 1924, which became the Great Southern Railways in 1925. The GSR became part of Coras Iompair Éireann in 1945. CIÉ introduced diesel multiple units to the railway in the 1950s, which reduced operating costs.

Timetable

On the right is the Cork to Bantry passenger timetable that was operational from 1948 until the closure in 1961. A few points may be noted from it:

• Travel time was about 2 hours. In 2008, a car journey (without the nine intermittent stops) is less than 10 minutes faster, according to the AA website.
• It was not possible to make a same-day return journey from Bandon to Dublin as the Cork express train left at 9:00 am (arriving at 12:00 pm) and departed at 2:25 pm from Heuston (which would have allowed the 6:00 pm connection to Bandon to be made though).

Closure

Surviving station building and platforms at Drimoleague

Due to economic problems, competition from road traffic and falling passenger numbers, the line closed on 1 April 1961.^[1] The tracks were later sold to Nigeria and the trackbed sold to local farmers.^{[citation needed]}

Statistics

• Rolling stock: 20 locomotives, 68 coaching vehicles, 455 goods vehicles

See also

• History of rail transport in Ireland
• Durrus and District History
• Beneathesummergrowth.wordpress.com

References

1. ^ "Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Closing of Cork Railways.". Dáil Éireann. Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas. 26 October 1960. http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0184/D.0184.196010260042.html. 

Sources and further reading

• Baker, Brian (2009). "West Cork Railways (DVD)". Railway Children (charity). http://www.railwaychildren.org.uk/article.asp?id=613. 
• Creedon, Colm (1986). The Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway. 1. ^{[clarification needed]}
• Creedon, Colm (1986). The Cork Bandon & South Coast Railway. 2. ^{[clarification needed]}
• Creedon, Colm (1986). The Cork Bandon & South Coast Railway. 3. ^{[clarification needed]}
• Kelly, Sean. Steam and Steel. 2. Bantry Historical and Archaeological Society. ISSN 0791-6612. 
• Lyons, Tom (1989). The Southern Star Centenary Supplement. Skibbereen: The Southern Star (County Cork). 
• O'Donovan, Daniel, On removal of Bantry line Durrus, Bantry, (oral history)^{[clarification needed]}
• Shepherd, W. Ernest (2005). Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway. Shepperton: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1857801989.