The Finn Valley Railway (FVR) was a gauge railway in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

History

Incorporation

The Finn Valley Railway Company was incorporated by the ( 23 & 24 Vict. c. xl) on 15 May 1860 with capital of £60,000 ().

Personnel

The Chairman of the directors was The 4th Viscount Lifford, whose

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

was Meenglass Castle, just south-east of

Ballybofey Ballybofey ( , ; ) is a town located on the south bank of the River Finn (County Donegal), River Finn, County Donegal, Ireland. Together with the smaller town of Stranorlar on the north side of the River Finn (County Donegal), River Finn, the ...

, and the Deputy-Chairman was James Thompson Macky of the

Bank of Ireland Bank of Ireland Group plc () is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history. At ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

. The other directors were: *Robert Collum, 1 Chester Place, Hyde Park Square, London *Edward Hunter, The Glebe, Blackheath,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

*Maurice Ceely Maude, Lenaghan,

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

* Sir Samuel Hercules Hayes, 4th Baronet, Leuaghan,

Stranorlar Stranorlar () is a town, townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in the River Finn (County Donegal), Finn Valley of County Donegal, in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Stranorlar and Ballybofey (located on the other side of the River F ...

*Robert Russell, Salthill,

Mountcharles Mountcharles () is a village and townland (of 650 acres) in the south of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. It lies 6 km from Donegal Town on the Killybegs road ( N56). It is situated in the civil parish of Inver ...

*Major Humphreys, Milltown House,

Strabane Strabane (; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,507 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th Open Government Li ...

The other offices of the company were: *James Alex Ledlie, Stranorlar, Secretary * Peter W. Barlow, 26 Great George Street,

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, Consulting Engineer *John Bower, Engineer

Opening

A gauge rail line between Stranorlar and Strabane was opened on 1 October 1863.

Operation

The directors entered into a contract with the Irish North Western Railway to work the line for a period of 10 years. This company became amalgamated with the

Great Northern Railway (Ireland) The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I), GNRI or simply GNR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. Th ...

The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland, William Alan McCutcheon, Northern Ireland. Dept. of the Environment, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984 in 1876.

Merger and gauge conversion

In 1892, the line merged with the West Donegal Railway into a new company, the Donegal Railway Company. The line from Stranorlar to Strabane was reconstructed to () gauge shortly afterwards.

Footnotes

{{Reflist Railway companies established in 1860 Railway companies disestablished in 1892 Irish-gauge railways Great Northern Railway (Ireland) Closed railways in Northern Ireland Defunct railway companies of Ireland Transport in County Donegal Transport in County Tyrone Railway lines opened in 1863