Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway is a narrow gauge railway in Ireland. Primarily built as an industrial line for hauling newly-cut peat, this 3 ft (or 914 mm) gauge railway is operated by Bord na Móna and conveys visitors over a 9 km rail journey through Blackwater Bog, near Shannonbridge, County Offaly. A small diesel locomotive hauls a single 53-seat passenger coach.
The railway is an important tourist attraction in County Offaly. Somewhat confusingly, the railway is also sometimes known as (and described on roadsigns as) the Blackwater Railway, the Shannonbridge Bog Railway or the Bog Railway.
Given the historic importance of peat as an indigenous Irish fuel, the railway and associated visitor services also aims to show visitors how milled peat is produced and transported to the Electricity Supply Board's West Offaly Power Generation Station.
