The Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Railway was a long

light railway A light railway is a Rail transport, railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more Grade (slope), steep gradients and Minimum railway curve radius, tight curves to ...

connecting Timoleague station and Courtmacsherry station. It was the last roadside railway operating 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

The railway was incorporated in October 1888 and opened on 21 April 1891. It was originally considered to be built as a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

track but then executed as a

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

light railway, partly running along a road. There were two companies, the ''Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Light Railway'' and the ''Ballinascarthy and Timoleague Junction Light Railway'' which were both worked by the ''Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Extension Light Railway''. It became a constituent of

Great Southern Railways The Great Southern Railways Company (often Great Southern Railways, or GSR) was an Ireland, Irish company that from 1925 until 1945 owned and operated all railways that lay wholly within the Irish Free State (the present-day Republic of Irelan ...

in 1925. or according to other sources on 23 February 1891<--> It was originally operated by two locomotives, both from the

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

works of the

Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures Diesel engine, diesel Switcher, shunting locomotives. The company ...

, named ''

Slaney Slaney is a surname. Notable people with this surname include: * Geoffrey Slaney (1922–2016), British surgeon and academic * Ivor Slaney (1921–1998), England musical composer and conductor * John Slaney (born 1972), Canadian ice hockey player ...

'' and '' St. Molaga''. These two were joined in 1894 by a third locomotive, again from Hunslet, with the name '' Argadeen''. Passenger services were withdrawn on 24 February 1947 due to the coal shortages. Thereafter it operated only for summer excursions and the winter beet harvest. Summer passenger excursions operated every Sunday from Cork Albert Quay railway station and they were well supported from the small stations on route. The pace at which the trains rounded the sharp curves of the roadside track contributed to the atmosphere for which these excursions were renowned. The entire West Cork Railway terminated without warning in the autumn of 1960.Plaque near the signal post on the causeway.
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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Railway Defunct railway companies of Ireland Transport in County Cork Railway companies disestablished in 1960 Closed railways in Ireland Railway lines opened in 1891 Railway lines closed in 1960