LISTOWEL & BALLYBUNION RAILWAY
This was a 9 mile monorail built on the Lartigue principle in County Kerry. It linked Ballybunion with the North Kerry line at Listowel. It had one intermediate station and a passing loop at Lisselton. The line ran beside the main Listowel/Ballybunion road. It officially opened on February 29th, 1888, public services beginning on March 5th.The track was prefabricated and easily erected, and the capital cost was £33,000, far lower than a conventional railway. However, the system had significant operating drawbacks.
Loads had to be evenly balanced. If a farmer wanted to send a cow to market, he would have to send two calves to balance it, which would travel back on opposite sides of the same freight wagon, thereby balancing each other.
Another problem with using the Lartigue system in populated areas was that, due to the track's design, it was not possible to build conventional level crossings. In order for a road to cross the track, a kind of double-sided drawbridge had to be constructed, which required an attendant to operate it. Where farmers' tracks crossed the line there were level crossings based on the principle of a turntable. These were locked and the farmer in question provided with a key. Once unlocked, the track could be swivelled to one side to allow the crossing to be used. Both the swivelling and drawbridge type crossings were automatically linked to signals, which stopped any approaching trains; road traffic was always given priority under this system.
Passengers could not pass from one side of a carriage to another while in motion. A kind of footbridge was built into one end of some of the passenger coaches, while at least one such bridge was carried on a separate wagon. This allowed passengers to cross from one side of the train to the other when stopped at a station.
Conventional railway points could not be used, so a similar function was fulfilled by a large number of curved movable pieces of track which, when rotated one way, would connect the main and one other track. When turned end-for-end, the curve went in the opposite direction, and so connected the main and a different track. The devices could not be called turntables because they could only be moved when there was no rolling stock on them. There was, however, a turntable at each terminus.
The three locomotives were of the 0-3-0 type, constructed by the Hunslet Engine Company. They were specially built with two boilers to balance on the track, and consequently two fireboxes, one of which had to be stoked by the driver. They were also fitted with powered tenders for auxiliary use on hills. The tender wheels were driven by two cylinders via spur gears. Two small chimneys were fitted to each tender to discharge the exhaust steam from these cylinders. A smaller engine, nicknamed the "coffee pot", was used in the construction of the railway, having been used previously on a demonstration line at Tothill Fields in London.
The track, installations and rolling stock were damaged during the Irish Civil War of 1922/23, but services continued. However, the failure to include the railway in the Great Southern Railways, the company created by the Irish Government to run the railways in the Irish Free State, left the financially struggling operation no choice but to close. The last train ran on October 14th, 1924 and everything was scrapped, except a short section of the track.
These pictures are published for pleasure/information/research purposes only and are not for sale or copy under any circumstances. Information in captions has been researched as thoroughly as possible but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed
Read MoreLoads had to be evenly balanced. If a farmer wanted to send a cow to market, he would have to send two calves to balance it, which would travel back on opposite sides of the same freight wagon, thereby balancing each other.
Another problem with using the Lartigue system in populated areas was that, due to the track's design, it was not possible to build conventional level crossings. In order for a road to cross the track, a kind of double-sided drawbridge had to be constructed, which required an attendant to operate it. Where farmers' tracks crossed the line there were level crossings based on the principle of a turntable. These were locked and the farmer in question provided with a key. Once unlocked, the track could be swivelled to one side to allow the crossing to be used. Both the swivelling and drawbridge type crossings were automatically linked to signals, which stopped any approaching trains; road traffic was always given priority under this system.
Passengers could not pass from one side of a carriage to another while in motion. A kind of footbridge was built into one end of some of the passenger coaches, while at least one such bridge was carried on a separate wagon. This allowed passengers to cross from one side of the train to the other when stopped at a station.
Conventional railway points could not be used, so a similar function was fulfilled by a large number of curved movable pieces of track which, when rotated one way, would connect the main and one other track. When turned end-for-end, the curve went in the opposite direction, and so connected the main and a different track. The devices could not be called turntables because they could only be moved when there was no rolling stock on them. There was, however, a turntable at each terminus.
The three locomotives were of the 0-3-0 type, constructed by the Hunslet Engine Company. They were specially built with two boilers to balance on the track, and consequently two fireboxes, one of which had to be stoked by the driver. They were also fitted with powered tenders for auxiliary use on hills. The tender wheels were driven by two cylinders via spur gears. Two small chimneys were fitted to each tender to discharge the exhaust steam from these cylinders. A smaller engine, nicknamed the "coffee pot", was used in the construction of the railway, having been used previously on a demonstration line at Tothill Fields in London.
The track, installations and rolling stock were damaged during the Irish Civil War of 1922/23, but services continued. However, the failure to include the railway in the Great Southern Railways, the company created by the Irish Government to run the railways in the Irish Free State, left the financially struggling operation no choice but to close. The last train ran on October 14th, 1924 and everything was scrapped, except a short section of the track.
These pictures are published for pleasure/information/research purposes only and are not for sale or copy under any circumstances. Information in captions has been researched as thoroughly as possible but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed
A train en route. The operating speed was only 18mph but speed of 30mph could be and were attained, a fairly alarming experience I should imagine. Odd though the wagons may appear, they could carry 12 cattle each as long as there were an even number each side. Note behind the train, how the track follows the lie of the land.
