Old West Clare railway line.

johnam · 19-12-2015 11:10am

godfrey wrote: »

Thanks for taking the time to do that johnam.

G

Not a problem. It is actually pretty easy to follow the tracks from Ennis out as far as Lahinch. Unfortunately the picture on google maps is cloudy for a while after Lahinch, but by picking up the line at Moyasta and following it backwards, you can make a fairly good guess of where the line goes through the clouds. I have finished the route as far as Kilrush and Kilkee on the map. I presume the link in my last post is still valid, but if not here it is again.

There are quite a few houses / sheds built on the line, but for a cycle route, this would not be an issue. The route does not have to follow the tracks exactly, as long as the majority of the route is not mixed with main road traffic, I think it could be a huge success for tourism in the area.

Edit: looking at the map on my phone, it appears like google doesn't keep the line exactly where I placed it. But you can see where the tracks ran by looking for the lines in the hedgerows, or bridges over rivers etc close to my line is on the map.

Deagol · 19-12-2015 3:18pm

imabitthick wrote: »

i have a yard smack bang in the middle of it and a hundred yard away is a garage of a house on it. Going to make it very difficult

One thing I've wondered is how did the track route become private property after the railway was decommissioned? Did people have to purchase the land from CIE?

irish coldplayer · 19-12-2015 4:56pm

Deagol wrote: »

One thing I've wondered is how did the track route become private property after the railway was decommissioned? Did people have to purchase the land from CIE?

From here
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/heritage/pdfs/west_clare_railway_line_feasibility_study_2006.pdf

After its closure the railwayline was sold off during the 1960’s to adjoining landowners
for a nominal sum. Search of the records at the railway offices reveal that the land was
distributed into approximately 336 different holdings, varying in length size of between
20 metres and 800 metres with the average line-length of holding between 100-150
metres. Less than 10% of the line is now owned by C.I.E.s successor Iarnrod Eireann.
The fragmentation of the ownership is a significant barrier to be oversome and should not
be underestimated. International experience and experience in West Limerick has shown
that where the land has remained in the ownership of the railway company there are still
problems of encroachment and objections by adjoining land owners. In this case the land
has been sold off for nearly 40 years and this will present a significant problem requiring
lengthy negotiations with both legal owners and illegal occupiers.

dr.fuzzenstein · 19-12-2015 6:02pm

^^^
You can be sure that some pieces of fetid swamp-land suddenly become very valuable pieces of prime land that the owner has extremely close and sentimental bonds with and it would rend his heart in two parting with it and he couldn't possibly ever consider it, though at the right price...
And of course others might just not sell for no particular reason other than to be generally obstinate and of course in some cases it might really not be practically feasible.
My guess is, the line cannot and will not ever be resurrected in it's original form. Some detours will be in there, in the end it's all about compromise. And on the other hand, the government is always very quick to trumpet big, shiny and ambitious plans (how many broadband schemes have there been going back to the 90's?), but following through, spending the money and (this is the biggest problem IMO) doing the actual work (Lord bless us and save us!) are the biggest issues surrounding any exciting new idea (or brainfart) of well-meaning, but ultimately weak-willed officials.

elastico · 19-12-2015 7:17pm

irish coldplayer wrote: »

From here
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/heritage/pdfs/west_clare_railway_line_feasibility_study_2006.pdf

After its closure the railwayline was sold off during the 1960’s to adjoining landowners
for a nominal sum. Search of the records at the railway offices reveal that the land was
distributed into approximately 336 different holdings, varying in length size of between
20 metres and 800 metres with the average line-length of holding between 100-150
metres. Less than 10% of the line is now owned by C.I.E.s successor Iarnrod Eireann.
The fragmentation of the ownership is a significant barrier to be oversome and should not
be underestimated. International experience and experience in West Limerick has shown
that where the land has remained in the ownership of the railway company there are still
problems of encroachment and objections by adjoining land owners. In this case the land
has been sold off for nearly 40 years and this will present a significant problem requiring
lengthy negotiations with both legal owners and illegal occupiers.

A fair challenge ahead but in the case of the cliffs of moher the landowners get a payment each year for allowing use of their land.

The kilkee moyasta kilrush section looks reasonably free of houses and best opportunity given large population each end, railway related tourism project in the middle, and said railway project already having access to sections of the line.

whisky_galore · 20-12-2015 2:11pm

Unless a significant portion of the locals are behind any greenway, or at least well disposed to it including landowners and business interests, all it will be is a pipe dream promoted by a few busybodies and outsiders.

ger664 · 20-12-2015 2:59pm

Council have already done the bit from Ennis to Lees road amenity park. None of it is on the original line.

johnam · 21-12-2015 2:33am

ger664 wrote: »

Council have already done the bit from Ennis to Lees road amenity park. None of it is on the original line.

Ya, that bit doesn't make sense to me. Why build a cycle lane and then ask cyclist to dismount when crossing roads on 5 occasions over the space of 3 or 4km. I think they should have tried use the track bed and done some work on the river bridge to bring the route from Lees rd. in the Gort road, at least then would have only been one road crossing, and a cycle lane could have been placed on the Gort rd. as against sharing a footpath with pedestrians in an area where people already use the footpath as a parking space.

Red Clover · 28-12-2015 8:29pm

This discussion is like Hamlet with the Prince. Jackie Whelan owns Moyasta Junction and is doing his best to get the trains running again. He has a short bit of track open through Shragh bog on which he has a train running for tourist rides. He even got permission to lay tracks across the N67 Kilkee-Kilrush road. He has a large amount of engines and rolling stock and has planning permission to build a Railway Museum. As all this is on his own property he doesn't have any impediments. One farmer I spoke to says that his land is very soft (it is a corcass) and he uses the old line which is raised to get his tractor from field to field. Hard to see a man like him giving up this. A walking route and cycling route would work out well.Tourist interests in Kilkee have met Jackie Whelan and as far as I know discussions are progressing.

elastico · 29-12-2015 11:17am

Red Clover wrote: »

Hard to see a man like him giving up this.

He wouldn't have to though. He would be paid to allow access to his land. The raised bed could be widened to enable use by train, tractor, cyclists and pedestrians.

Old West Clare railway line.

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