Midland Great Western Railway
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The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) main line extended from Broadstone in Dublin to the Midlands (Athlone) and onwards to Galway and Clifden in what is now the Republic of Ireland. At its peak there were a number of branch lines
- Clonsilla to Navan, (opened by Dublin and Meath Railway 1862, purchased by MGWR 1888)
- Navan to Kingscourt, (opened by Navan and Kingscourt Railway 1865, purchased by MGWR 1888) Another branch off this line went from Kilmessan Junction (now a hotel) to Athboy. This was finally closed in 1963.
- Nesbitt Junction (near Enfield) to Edenderry
- Sligo
- branches to Cavan Town via Inny Junction (opened 1856) and Ballaghaderreen
- Athlone to Westport A further branch off the Cavan line ran from Crossdoney to Killeshandra (closed 1947).
- branches to Ballinrobe, Achill and Killala via Ballina in County Mayo
- Athlone to Galway (opened 1851)
- branch from Attymon Junction to Loughrea
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[edit] Inception
The Midland Great Western Railway Act of 1845 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the first route, to Enfield, opened in 1847. At its peak the MGWR extended over a network of 538 miles (861 km), making it the third-largest network, after the GS&WR and the Great Northern Railway of Ireland, or GNR(I).
[edit] Dublin to Galway
Rivalry existed between the MGWR and GS&WR, which came to a head over the building of a line to Galway, which the MGWR started constructing from their line at Mullingar and the GS&WR from theirs at Portarlington. The MGWR got to Athlone first, in 1851, and thus the GS&WR was forced to operate its service over MGWR track from Athlone to Galway after it reached Athlone in 1859, paying the MGWR 65% of passenger and 55% of good receipts. The GS&WR retained a separate station, which is now the sole operating station, the last service to the MGWR running on January 13, 1985.
[edit] Galway to Clifden
The MGWR received a grant of 264,000 pounds sterling to construct a railway to Clifden, with stations at Moycullen, Oughterard, Maam Cross, Recess and Ballynahinch. The railway opened on July 1, 1895 but due to the inland route chosen it did not serve the bulk of the area's population. It closed in 1935. A very similar branch line was built at the same time from Westport to Achill, via Newport and Mulrany. This line was closed in 1937.
[edit] Consolidation
In 1924 the Railways Act passed by the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State merged the MGWR with the other railway operators, the Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) and the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway, to form the Great Southern Railway, and in 1925 these were joined by the Dublin and South Eastern Railway to form the Great Southern Railways.
[edit] Present day
The former MGWR lines operational at October 2005 are owned by Iarnród Éireann. Routes from Dublin to Sligo, Athlone to Galway, Athlone to Westport and the Ballina branch remain open to passenger traffic. Meath on Track campaign is campaigning to have the Navan Clonsilla line (not to be confused with the with the former GNR Navan Drogheda line) reopened earlier than the 2015 date announced under Transport 21. The Edenderry, Clifden, Achill, Cavan, Killeshandra, Ballaghaderreen, Ballinrobe, Killala and Loughrea branches/sections are all closed.
Two former MGWR stations are now hotels, both coincidentally called the "Station House Hotel", but unconnected by ownership. One is the much-expanded former Clifden station in Co Galway, and the other is Kilmessan Junction in Co Meath.
The MGWR painted its locomotives a bright green colour until 1905, when an experimental, but short lived dark blue was tried on some engines. This did not wear well, and the company reverted to green. About 1918, locos were painted gloss black until the GSR took over the company, when it introduced its dull dark grey livery which was to last until the end of steam traction in the 1960s. Passenger coaches were finished in varnish or brown paint until the advent of the blue livery - as on the locomotives, this was so short lived that few vehicles were painted thus. The company reverted to brown, though after 1910 this was not as well adorned with lining. In 1918 a very dark crimson was used, and this persisted until GSR days, and beyond, as it was similar to the GSR's own livery.
No MGWR locomotives have survived into preservation, regrettably. However, several examples of its standard six wheeled carriages exist. One lies derelict at the Station House Hotel in Clifden, and another three are on Ireland's only full size heritage railway at Downpatrick, Co Down. Downrail. Another, owned by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, is undergoing refurbishment for public use on the Downpatrick line. Finally, William Dargan's personal saloon is in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra, Co Down.
Platform 11 has proposed running some Galway to Dublin services via the MGWR station in Athlone and the disused route via Moate to Mullingar, reinstating the route of the first MGWR service via the former GS&WR line - the current Galway service runs from Heuston Station.
[edit] External links
- MGWR at Irishrailwayana.com
- Galway-Clifden and Westport-Achill at the Institution of Engineers of Ireland
