VOL. 27 FEBRUARY 2017 No. 192 JOURNAL OF THE IRISH RAILWAY RECORD SOCIETY FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE: ARIGNA TO ADOON, 14 JUNE 1936 DERAILMENT AT RUSH, 5 JANUARY 1963 PHOENIX PARK TUNNEL PASSENGER SERVICES A TRIO OF SIDINGS, ST.JOHN’S, ATHY BRICK, AND SROUGHMORE CONTENTS A Tale of Three Sidings 194 St. John’s Siding, Enniscorthy Norman Campion 195 Athy Brick Yard Siding Barry Carse & Michael Walsh 200 Sroughmore Siding Michael Walsh 202 Obituaries 208 IRRS London Area Meeting at Irish Embassy in London 212 The Rush Derailment, 5 January 1963 Aidan Langley 214 Achill Branch Communications Tom Wall 222 Cover Illustration: Passenger Services through the Phoenix Park Tunnel Alan O’Rourke 227 On Tuesday 18 October 2016, the The Boyne Viaduct – Heritage Award Oliver Doyle 231 14:20 Dublin Heuston - Cork Belmond Grand Hibernian train is GSR Special Arigna to Adoon, June 14 1936 Michael Davies 232 seen passing Mallow Hospital, Co. Tramways restored – the story of a library book Tim Moriarty 234 Cork during its last tour for the 2016 season. (Photo © Finbarr O’Neill) 70th Anniversary Supper – Dublin 236 Reviews 237, 256 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be Observations and Comments 238 reproduced, stored in a retrieval Irish Railway News 239 system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the INTERESTED IN IRISH RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS? prior written permission of the JOIN THE IRISH RAILWAY RECORD SOCIETY publisher. Regular meetings in Dublin, Cork and London for presentations on historical Published by the Irish Railway and current affairs, with slides, films and DVDs. Dublin meetings are normally Record Society Limited, held on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month during the Winter Heuston Station, Dublin 8. Months at the Society Premises at Heuston Station, where the Society’s Library, ISSN 0332-4656 Archives and small exhibits displays are also located. Hon. Editor: Society Library opens on Tuesdays 19:30 - 21:45, September to June, except Position vacant Hon. Asst. Editor: Christmas and New Year. Position vacant Editorial Team: The Society Journal, published three times per year, records the history of Irish Barry Carse railway and tramway transport, along with comprehensive coverage of Ciarán Cooney Kieran Marshall current developments. Michael J. Walsh SUBSCRIPTION RATES 2015-16 Email: [email protected] ? Dublin Area 60 Authors alone are responsible for all ? opinions expressed in their Dublin Area (Under 21) 45 ? communications. Republic of Ireland (excluding Dublin) 40 Northern Ireland / Britain £30 ? Overseas 48 Full information on Society activities and membership application details are available on our website at www.irrs.ie and on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Irish-Railway-Record-Society- 885436958207406/timeline/ or by post from: Dublin Area: Alan Hyland, 48 Chalfont Road, Malahide, Co. Dublin. Email: [email protected] Cork Area: Ray Good, Railway View, Gaggin, Bandon, Co. Cork. Email: [email protected] London Area: George Porter, Old Coach House, Brimpton Road, Baughurst, TADLEY, RG26 5JJ Email: [email protected] Printed by: QPA Print Limited, www.qpa.ie Typeset by: Signal Design & Marketing JOURNAL OF THE IRISH RAILWAY RECORD SOCIETY VOL. 27 FEBRUARY 2017 No. 192 Former Tralee & Dingle locomotive No. 4T pictured with a train of cattle wagons, most likely in the mid 1950s. The location is not certain but may be near Drumshanbo, on the line towards Ballinamore. (Photo © Les Hyland - IRRS Collection) 193 A Tale of Three Sidings ST. JOHN’S, ENNISCORTHY; ATHY BRICK; SROUGHMORE Introduction provided at more numerous locations, while private In the heyday of the railways as common sidings, catering for the needs of specific industries carriers, sidings were essential elements in the or businesses, were also a feature of the rail handling of goods traffic. In Ireland, most goods network, and indeed a few still survive. sidings were features of stations handling both Barry Carse’s reference to Athy Brick Siding, passenger and goods traffic. Stations catering for Journal 191, p 175, has led to research into that goods only were relatively rare in Ireland, apart long-gone facility, the second of our ‘three sidings”. from the cities and some larger towns, e.g. Finally, Norman Campion’s article following Ballymena and Omagh, where freight was handled prompted further study of the ephemeral siding at at a location separate from the passenger station. Sroughmore. Hence the third part of of our “Tale of Public service sidings, for the delivery or Three Sidings”. reception of specific traffics, were however GS&WR J15 Class No. 105 and J9 Class No. 251, both 0-6-0, as seen northbound on the No. 2 ballast train at the junction for the St. John’s siding, Enniscorthy, about 1961. (Photo © Drew Donaldson) 194 St. John’s Siding Enniscorthy S. & A.G. Davis Ltd. NORMAN CAMPION with additional material from MICHAEL WALSH, GERALD BEESLEY, DAVID HOUSTON and ERNIE SHEPHERD The former grain mill at St. John’s, on the south 17 August 1872, the same as that for the whole bank of the River Urrin immediately south of extension to Wexford (Carcur), half a mile short of Enniscorthy town, is understood to date from 1885, the present-day Wexford station, which opened in and to have replaced or incorporated features from 1874. However, it is just possible that some wagon an earlier water mill of 1858 on the same site.1 A movements may have occurred between weir on the Urrin upstream of the mill site provided Enniscorthy and St. John’s once the Enniscorthy the required flow of water for this water mill. The tunnel had been completed. Urrin also provided access to the mills from the The siding trailed in by a crossover from the Up larger River Slaney for small vessels. side. A ground frame, released by a key on the St. John’s Siding, section train staff, not only serving the mill of the operated the connecting same name of Messrs points to St. John’s siding but Samuel and Abraham G also controlled Up and Down Davis, was located at MP signals interlocked with the 1 78 ⁄2 on the Enniscorthy to points. At least in GSR days, Wexford line, on the the headshunt of the siding, banks of the river Slaney alongside the main line, was approximately 1 mile used by a Mr Kavanagh for south of Enniscorthy. handling cement, tiles and The siding was general traffic, for which a constructed as part of a loading bank was provided.5 ‘barter deal’ proposed in This bank does not however November 1869 for the appear in the earlier maps DW&WR extension south from the 1900s. of Enniscorthy. Messrs S The Kavanaghs were a & AG Davis offered to successful local business forego a claim for family, who lived in St. John’s 1 compensation for the House, approximately ⁄2 mile railway to traverse their south of the Mill. In recent lands at St John’s in years, the house became a exchange for the hotel, under the name St. provision of a siding to John’s Manor, but this their mill.2 Thomas subsequently went out of Edwards, the contractor business. Military training in for the Wexford extension, “Kavanagh’s field” at St. would undoubtedly have John’s is recalled in material constructed the sidings as from the Bureau of Military part of his contract with History.6 the DW&WR. The rails Extract from one-inch Ordnance Survey sheet 158 Also on the St. John’s site used for the siding at St. published 1902, based on a survey of 1898, showing was a foundry, established by John’s were those from a the Enniscorthy area. The St. John’s Mills Siding spur Thomas Jessop Davis, which short branch that had been is to be seen where the River Urrin enters the Slaney. is believed to have remained installed at Sroughmore (between Rathdrum and 1 http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.js Avoca) in 1865 to serve the Connorree Mining p?type=record&county=WX&regno=15604026 Company, but which had ceased to be used in 2 Ernie Shepherd and Gerry Beesley, Dublin & South 3 1869. Eastern Railway (Midland Publishing Limited, 1998), 21. The opening date for the St. John’s Siding has 3 Ibid, 21, 67. generally been given as 18734, but Gerald Beesley 4 Ibid, 21, believes it to be pretty certain that the ‘official’ 5 Ibid, 72, 117. opening date of St John’s siding would have been 6 http://cultura-project.eu/1916/?=artefact/WS1198 195 A TALE OF THREE SIDINGS: ST. JOHN’S SIDING ENNISCORTHY - S. & A.G. DAVIS LTD. Legend Railway, 5’ 3” gauge Public roads To Enniscorthy St. John’s Bridge R iv e r U rr in y ne la St. John’s Mills r S ve Ri MP951/2 G Hut Ground Frame Kavanagh’s Siding To Wexford A map derived from the 25” inch surveys available on the OSI Public Viewer, showing a diagrammatic representation of the track layout of the St. John’s Mills siding and in the yard at the St. John’s Mills, for the period 1900-1910 approximately, 196 A TALE OF THREE SIDINGS: ST. JOHN’S SIDING ENNISCORTHY - S. & A.G. DAVIS LTD. in operation until the early 1960s. Local manhole fuel oil. Dispatch of finished goods in the early days covers and other cast iron items are understood to was by rail, later replaced by road transport, first by still bear the Jessop Davis or St. John’s Foundry steam lorry and then by diesel lorries. Most of the mark.7 trade was to local and county areas.