The Dingle Train...
The very name of the Tralee and Dingle Railway is enough to evoke
considerable emotions whether stemming from the immensely beautiful
Dingle Peninsula itself or the wonderfully friendly Kerry folk or the
raw courage of those who built the Railway through some of the wildest
Irish countryside and then struggled for half a century to keep the line
running..
Thirty one miles of narrow gauge railway left Tralee - the county town
of Co Kerry - striking westwards into the Dingle peninsula, crossing the
Slieve Mish mountains at Glenagalt and on past Annascaul to Dingle
itself. A short extension dropped down to Dingle Pier - almost the most
westerly railhead in Europe but for a few yards.
Much of the material found within these pages has been contributed by
correspondents or has been summarised from various Tralee & Dingle
Railway publications. The foremost source has been "The Dingle Train" by
David Rowlands, Walter McGrath and Tom Francis, which is an essential
companion for any student of the Tralee & Dingle Railway. No attempt
has been made here to mimic the vast amount of information found within
this and other excellent T&DR books.
Copyright. We have not been able to obtain permission to use several
images and would be very keen to hear from anyone who can help with
copyright of this material.
Images on this website are licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.
Please read the Licence before re-using any of the images found on this
website. Images remain the property of the copyright owner as stated.
Email us at contact@tdlr.info
© 2003 -
2015
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Please note this website has no connection with the current operators
of the Tralee & Blennerville Railway, although, of course, we wish
the Railway every success.
For those looking for information about the
Tralee & Blennerville Railway, we advise folks to contact the Tralee
Tourist Office on 066 7121288.
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| Latest news...
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Kerry County Council bid for funding
Under the large capital grants scheme, the Council submitted a unsuccessful proposal to Fáilte Ireland in 2016 to restore
the Tralee & Blennerville Railway and also the Windmill at Blennerville.According to Radio Kerry, "The council has been invited to make a revised application when the second phase of funding opens in the Autumn."Watch this space...
Posted Jun 20, 2018, 3:49 AM by Steve Edge
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Enthusiasm for re-opening from the Tralee Chamber Alliance
Eddie Barrett of the Tralee & Blennerville Steam Railway Group, attended the AGM of the Tralee Chamber Alliance held on 31 March 2015. Eddie reports "At the
Meeting, I was asked to report on the progress of our ambitions to
relaunch the the Tralee & Blennerville Steam Railway Project." "To say that there was great enthusiasm for our plans , would be an understatement. There was obvious joy in the room of about 50/60 people, that there was
a ray of light at last, in the plan to restart the line." "After
the Meeting , I was interviewed by a Reporter from local Kerry
Newspaper - Kerry's Eye - who are anxious to do a major story on it this
Thursday."(details from a ...
Posted Apr 1, 2015, 1:53 AM by Steve Edge
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Group featured in Irish Vintage Scene magazine
A nice piece by Darragh Connolly in the "Irish Vintage Scene" magazine April 2015.
Posted Mar 19, 2015, 2:14 PM by Steve Edge
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Membership landmark achieved
John Huxley writes: At the start of March, the embryonic Tralee and Blennerville Steam Railway Group achieved a notable landmark, when they recruited their 555th member to their 'Facebook' page.The attaining of 555 members for the group had a particular resonance as the sole surviving Tralee and Dingle locomotive No.5T currently awaiting restoration in Tralee was works number 555 when it was constructed by Hunslet of Leeds in 1892. Number 5T has another place in railway history as it was the first inside-framed 2-6-2 tank engine to operate in these Islands!The route that 5T worked from Tralee to the Atlantic port of Dingle, included the steepest grades on any Irish railway being 1 in ...
Posted Mar 19, 2015, 2:06 PM by Steve Edge
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Interest in re-opening is very evident...
Darragh Connolly writes on the Facebook page:"So folks it seems we have reached our target of 555 members!
The target 555 was set, as this was the works number of the unique and
last surviving Tralee and Dingle locomotive, number 5 built in 1892 by Hunslet of Leeds (works number 555). It was the first inside
framed 2-6-2 tank engine designed for use in these islands, and worked
over the steep 1 in 29 grades over the Slieve Mish mountain range to Dingle hauling anything from cattle and fish to emigrants in search of
better lives and even scholars heading to the Blasket Islands!
This locomotive had had a colourful history moving to the Cavan and ...
Posted Mar 1, 2015, 9:27 AM by Steve Edge
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