Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway
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The Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway was a narrow gauge railway in County Cork, Ireland. It was originally opened in 1850 as a broad gauge (5' 3" or 1600 mm) railway between Cork and Passage West, but was converted to 3' gauge (914 mm) in 1902. A extension southwards from Passage West to Crosshaven opened in 1904. The railway closed in 1932.
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[edit] Route
The railway operated along the west bank of the River Lee and Cork Harbour from Cork to Blackrock and Passage West. Thereafter the 1904 extension headed inland towards Carrigaline before running alongside the south bank of the Owenboy River to Crosshaven.
Stations were built at Cork, Blackrock, Rochestown, Passage West, Glenbrook, Monkstown, Carrigaline and Crosshaven.
[edit] Early years
The initial, northern, part of the railway (Cork to Passage West) was less than 7 miles long; it opened on 8 June 1850. The station at Cork was originally located at City Park, but relocated to Albert Park in 1873 (close to the Albert Quay station of the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway). Three steam locomotives were built. The company also operated ferries, but lost a considerable part of the traffic from Cobh following the opening of a direct railway from Cobh to Cork in 1862.
The 7 miles of track provided insufficient revenue for the company. To improve profitability, the company decided to build a 9½ mile extension to Crosshaven. To reduce construction costs, the extension line would be built to narrow gauge and the original section converted. The last broad gauge train operated in October 1900.
Four new narrow gauge locomtives were built for the line by Neilson Reid in Glasgow. Upon rebuilding to narrow gauge, the section between Cork and Blackrock was converted to double track - unique on an Irish narrow gauge railway. The CB&PR had a busy commuter traffic (to and from Cork).
The southern extension from Passage West to Monkstown opened on 1st August 1902 and the final section to Crosshaven opened in 1904; the extension included a tunnel at Passage and large lattice viaduct near Crosshaven. The cost of the extension (£200,093 or around €18M 2007/8 equivalent) was considerably more than the company had originally estimated; the works were carried out just at the time when the railway started to experience serious competition from Cork's electric trams.
[edit] War years
The company's fortunes started to seriously deteriorate in 1914 due to disruption caused by conflict. This compounded the difficulties caused by competition from the electric trams.
[edit] World War I
The line ran close to several naval installations, notably at Haulbowline. Crosshaven station was closed on security grounds, heavily curtailing revenue. In 1917 the Government took over control of all railways in Ireland for the remainder of the War.
[edit] Irish Civil War
The railway suffered extensive damage during the Irish Civil War of 1922-1923. The workshops at Passage were damaged. The viaduct at Douglas was partly destroyed, but was repaired (mainly by engineers of the Irish Army).
[edit] Final years
In 1924 the company was incorporated into the Great Southern Railways (Ireland). As an economy measure, the double track section of the railway was singled in 1927. Competition from motor buses started to become intense (and the Cork tramways were also affected, closing in 1931).
The section between Monkstown and Crosshaven closed on 31 May 1932. The rest of railway closed on 10 September 1932. Upon closure some of the line's steam locomotives were transferred to the Cavan and Leitrim Railway.
[edit] Source
- T. Ferris, The Irish Narrow Gauge (Vol. 1), Midland Publishing Ltd, 1993, ISBN 1-85780-010-9
