Finn Valley Railway
| Industry | railway |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1860 |
| Defunct | 1892 |
| Fate | taken over |
| Successor | Donegal Railway Company |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Donegal, Tyrone |
|}
The Finn Valley Railway (FVR) was an Irish gauge (5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)) railway in Ireland.
History
Incorporation
The Finn Valley Railway Company was incorporated on 15 May 1860 with capital of £60,000 (equivalent to £7,120,000 in 2023).[1]
Personnel
The chairman of the directors was James Hewitt, 4th Viscount Lifford of Meen Glas, Stranorlar, and the deputy-chairman was James Thompson Macky of the Bank of Ireland in Londonderry.[2]
The other directors were:
- Robert Collum, 1 Chester Place, Hyde Park Square, London
- Edward Hunter, The Glebe, Blackheath, Kent
- Maurice Ceely Maude, Lenaghan, Enniskillen
- Sir Samuel Hercules Hayes, 4th Baronet, Leuaghan, Stranorlar
- Robert Russell, Salthill, Mountcharles
- Major Humphreys, Milltown House, Strabane
The other offices of the company were:
- James Alex Ledlie, Stranorlar, Secretary
- Peter W. Barlow, 26 Great George Street, Westminster, Consulting Engineer
- John Bower, Engineer
Opening
They built a railway line to Irish gauge (5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)) between Stranorlar and Strabane which opened on 1 October 1863.
Operation
The directors entered into a contract with the Irish North Western Railway to work the line for a period of 10 years. This company became amalgamated with the Great Northern Railway (Ireland)[3] in 1876.
Merger and gauge conversion
In 1892 it merged with the West Donegal Railway into a new company, the Donegal Railway Company. The line from Stranorlar to Strabane was reconstructed to (3 ft (914 mm)) gauge shortly afterwards.
Footnotes
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
- ^ Bradshaw's railway manual, shareholders' guide, and official directory. W. J. Adams, 1864
- ^ The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland, William Alan McCutcheon, Northern Ireland. Dept. of the Environment, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984