Arigna Railway Station.

In September 1883, a public meeting in Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim declared that a light railway and tramway would open up the coal and iron districts of Arigna and Lough Allen. The Cavan and Leitrim Railway opened for goods traffic on 17 October 1887 and for passengers on 24 October 1887. In the beginning Robert Stephenson and Company locomotives were used and in later years locomotives from other defunct narrow gauge lines. The tramway line was extended to Arigna in 1920. This line was unique in Ireland in using native coal. 

 

By the 1930s the Cavan and Leitrim Railway was in trouble due to road competition. It survived World War II, but the opening of a power station near Lough Allen using Arigna coal, and not needing rail services, did not help. The line finally closed on 31 March 1959, the last exclusively steam narrow gauge line in Ireland.

 

The line consisted of a main line 54 km (34 mile) long between Dromod and Belturbet and a 24 km (15 mile) branch from Ballinamore to Arigna servicing Ballyduff, Cornabrone, Annadale, Kiltubrid, Creagh and Drumshambo (in Leitrim), and finally on to Arigna, in Co. Roscommon.

 

Above: Ticket from Drumshambo to Arigna with CIE.

 

The history of this line "The Cavan & Leitrim Railway" was written by Patrick J. Flanagan in 1966 (below left). The edition illustrated below is the 1972 reprint by Pan Books, London. Beside it is a page from "The Railway Magazine" of June 1956 showing some of the Arigna locomotives.

 

Another piece on the local line is "The Arigna Valley" also by P.J. Flanagan. This essay was originally published in the "Journal of the Irish Railway Record Society". (No. 34. Spring 1964). It is a history of the valley and the various railways and ropeways for moving iron and coal, that were used there.

 

 

 

A photograph of Arigna Station (left) - no date - and a luggage label (below) for the Great Southern Railways. Destination: Arigna.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(left) "The Cavan & Leitrim Railway - The Last Decade - An Irish Railway Pictorial" by Tom Ferris & Patrick Flanagan. Midland Publishing Limited. 1997. Chapter 4 is "The Tramway to Arigna".

 

(right) Arigna: 19 April 1955. Loco 3T heading for Ballinamore.

 

Images are not to scale.

 

                                                    Three Postcards showing the Arigna Tramway.

The card on the left is captioned "June 1957: No. 4T leaving Arigna Station for Derreenavoggy, Arigna, Co. Roscommon, with special of empties. Over the centuries many forms of transport helped to move coal from where it was mined to where it was used. From the 1880's the steam engines of the Cavan-Leitrim Railway burned Arigna coal and by 1920 a line connected Arigna Station to the mines. (Copyright A.M. Davies)".

 

The centre card has the caption, "Arigna Church, Derreenavoggy, Arigna, Co. Roscommon. May 1958: No 6T arrives with empty wagons from Dromod. Coal was moved from pits to the railway siding by horse and cart. This method continued in use until the 1930's when aerial ropeways were built connecting Arigna with the mines at Rover, Rockhill and Derreenavoggy. (Copyright T.J. Edington)". These cards were on sale in Arigna in 2005.

 

The card on the right has "The Arigna Tramway, Cavan & Leitrim Railway" but is unused & undated.

- MORE INFORMATION -

In March & April 2009 various events were organised in Leitrim & Roscommon for the 50th. Anniversary of the closing of the Cavan & Leitrim Railway in 1959.

Photographs of some of these events are on this link.

If you have any further material regarding this railway we would be pleased to hear from you. Please contact us.

GO BACK TO RAILWAYS HOMEPAGE.

Disclaimer etc: This page has been designed and produced as an aid to those who are interested in researching Roscommon family history, house history and local history and for those interested in media studies and the history of art & design. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, Roscommon Historical Research or it’s agents cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions that occur on this site. Publishers and editors who do not wish to have their publication featured on this site, please contact us and we will remove the reference. Publishers and organisations who would like a link to their site please let us know and we will organise the link directly from the publication reference. Roscommon Historical Research cannot be held liable for any loss or damage that occurs from the use of information on this site by others. Unless otherwise stated and excepting material already in the public domain, the information contained here is © Copyright, either to the individual producer of the product or to Roscommon Historical Research and may not be used without written permission. Webmasters, please ensure that all links to our site are via the splash page – links directly to the database are not allowed.  If you have any queries please contact the webmaster.