County Donegal Railways Joint Committee

On 1 May 1906, the joint committee was set up by the '''''' (6 Edw. 7. c. clxxxiii). The lines inherited by the joint committee totalled and were: • Finn Valley Railway (FVR) from Strabane to Stranorlar • West Donegal Railway line from Stranorlar to Donegal • The Donegal Railway Company lines between Stranorlar and Glenties, Donegal Town to Killybegs, Strabane to Derry, and Donegal Town to Ballyshannon By 1912 the company owned the following assets: • Locomotives and rolling stock: 21 locomotives; 56 passenger vehicles; 304 goods vehicles • Head offices and locomotive works at Stranorlar The Strabane to Derry line was completely owned by the Midland Railway Northern Counties Committee, although it was operated by the . At its greatest extent, the County Donegal Railways Committee operated the largest narrow gauge railway system in the British Isles. The railway was affectionately known as the "Wee Donegal". The joint committee opened the Strabane and Letterkenny Railway on 1 January 1909, bringing the total mileage operated by the company to . Only were directly owned by the joint committee, as the Strabane and Letterkenny Railway accounted for , and were property of the Northern Counties Committee. ==Dieselisation==

Under the management of Henry Forbes, traffic superintendent from 1910 to 1943, the County Donegal Railways became pioneers in the use of diesel traction. The first diesel railcar was built in 1930 (the first diesel railcar anywhere in the British Isles), although a petrol-engined railcar had been built in 1926 before standardisation on diesel traction in 1934. Eight articulated diesel railcars were constructed by Walker Brothers of Wigan between 1934 and 1951, by which time virtually all passenger services were operated by diesel railcar, being much cheaper to operate than conventional steam trains. The railcars could only be driven from one end and had to be turned on a turntable to make a return journey. As well, they could not be worked in multiple, so if two railcars were working back to back, both required a driver. The railcars were incapable of hauling most freight wagons, so steam traction continued to be used on freight and excursion trains. The railcars could haul specially constructed trailers, and some lightweight freight wagons, which were painted red to distinguish them from the heavier wagons, which were grey. A diesel locomotive named Phoenix (converted from a steam locomotive) was also used, but due to its noisy operation and slow speed (top speed of ), it spent most of its career shunting, travelling during its working life. ==Closure and winding up==

The Glenties branch closed in 1947, the Strabane-Derry line closed in 1954, and the remaining passenger services ended on 31 December 1959. Much of the railway was closed on that date. Goods trains ran between Strabane and Stranorlar until 6 February 1960. During the 1930s the joint committee began operating a fleet of buses. After the closure of the railway, it continued to operate as a road freight and bus company in order to provide substitute services. It did this independently until 1966, when management of the company was taken over by CIÉ. In 1961, the two most modern diesel railcars were sold to the Isle of Man Railway. By the time the railway closed, the joint committee was entirely state owned, albeit by three actors in two countries. The Midland Railway's portion had passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923, which in turn passed to the British Transport Commission (BTC) in 1948. The Great Northern Railway's portion had been inherited by the Great Northern Railway Board (GNRB) in 1953, which itself was jointly owned by the Irish and Northern Irish governments. Although the GNRB ceased to own or operate its own railways in 1958, it continued to exist as a holding company for CDRJC. ==Tourist attraction==

in the former station building Part of the line, which runs alongside Lough Finn near Fintown, has been re-laid as a tourist railway. The Donegal Railway Heritage Centre has been established and contains historic details and artefacts of the . St. Connell's Museum, in Glenties has an extensive display of items from the railway. The Foyle Valley Railway in Derry houses numerous artefacts. It used to operate a small heritage railway along the Foyle on the original route of the Derry-Portadown railway line, which has since fallen into disrepair during the museum's period of closure. ==Rolling stock==

Wagons and carriages in preservation • Carriages: 1 (), 3 (), 5 () 14 (), 15 () , 28 (), 30 (), 352 () • Goods wagons: 12 (), 19 (), 136 (), unidentified horsebox (BHR), unidentified van () UFTM = Ulster Folk and Transport Museums; FVRM = Foyle Valley Railway Museum; BHR = Belturbet Heritage Railway; FTR = Fintown Railway; DRHC = Donegal Railway Heritage Centre; IOMR = Isle of Man Railway; C&LR = Cavan and Leitrim Railway; DG = Dunfanaghy Glamping ==See also==