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 7 May 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