THE TRALEE & DINGLE LIGHT RAILWAY

The Tralee and Dingle Light Railway was 32 miles long and built to 3 foot narrow gauge running between Tralee and Dingle, with a 6.2 mi le branch from Castlegregory Junction to Castlegregory, in County Kerry. It operated between 1891 and 1953; the Castlegregory branch closed shortly prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. It was one of the most westerly railway lines in Europe. The railway was built as cheaply as possible, largely following adjacent roads, resulting in some very tight curves and severe gradients. The railway opened in March 1891, but from the start income failed to cover operating expenses. The railway continued to require public subsidies from local ratepayers; these were able to be reduced in 1898 after a grant from the Treasury (although the line continued to require subsidies throughout its existence). In 1907, a further grant of £23,000 was made to allow the scene of the accident at Curraduff to be bypassed, and other improvements made. The railway was taken over by the Great Southern Railways on January 1st, 1925, and passed to the CIE in 1945. By 1938 there were two round trips daily on the main line. The Castlegregory branch train ran through to Tralee and back in the morning but in the afternoon made a shuttle to the junction. Despite the rundown in the line's usage over time, all the timetables required three locomotives to operate the passenger services each day. The goods services, normally a round trip each day with general freight, plus extra services on market days to move cattle between Tralee and Dingle, which were the last trains to use the line. The cattle trains to the end were of sufficient size to require two locomotives. The road between Tralee and Dingle was improved in the 1930s, allowing buses and lorries to effectively compete with the railway. The infrastructure of the railway becoming increasingly dilapidated and, in parts, unsafe. In April 1939, all passenger services were withdrawn; the Castlegregory branch was closed completely. A single daily goods train continued to run until 1947, when coal shortages forced its temporary withdrawal. Thereafter, a special train (for cattle) was operated once per month in connection with the fair at Dingle. These trains finally ended in June 1953.
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