Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway, was an Irish gauge railway in Ireland. It opened in 1849 as the Cork and Bandon Railway, changed its name to Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway in 1888 and became part of the Great Southern Railway in 1924. The CB&SCR served the south coast of County Cork between Cork and Bantry. It had a route length of, all of it single track. Many road car routes connected with the line, including the route from Bantry to Killarney.
History
Extensions to the railway
The Cork and Kinsale Junction Railway,, opened in 1863 and was bought by the Cork and Bandon in 1879.
The West Cork Railway ,, opened June 1866 and bought by the Cork and Bandon in 1879.
* On 1 January 1880 the Cork and Bandon Railway took over the C&KJR, the WCR and the lease of the IVR including its proposed Bantry extension. This completed the Cork and Bandon main line.
The Bantry Extension Railway opened for traffic 1 July 1881,. In order to give the railway access to a deep water port, a further extension was opened which was opened in 1892. Eugene Hourihan from Ardra, Scart, Bantry recalled seeing the line laid as a child and removed as an old man.
The Baltimore Extension Railway,, opened May 1893.
*The Bantry, and Baltimore extension railways were three nominally separate companies whose lines were worked by the CB&SCR. All three were absorbed into the Great Southern Railways in 1925.
The Shannonvale Horse Railway. The Bennett family ran a flour mill at Shannonvale, about north of Clonakilty. In the early 1890s the CB&SCR agreed to provide a siding long to link the mill with the railway. Horse traction was used uphill, and trains were worked by gravity downhill.
On the right is the Cork to Bantry passenger timetable that was operational from 1948 until the closure in 1961. A few points may be noted from it:
Travel time was about 2 hours. In 2008, a car journey is less than 30 minutes faster, according to the AA website.
It was not possible to make a same-day return journey from Bandon to Dublin as the Cork express train left at 9:00 am and departed at 2:25 pm from Heuston.
Closure
Due to economic problems, competition from road traffic and falling passenger numbers, the line closed on 1 April 1961. The tracks were later sold to a scrap dealer and the trackbed sold to local farmers.
Rolling stock
Following the 1924 grouping the Great Western Railway inherited 20 locomotives CB&SCR. At some point the CB&SCR was recorded as having 68 coaching vehicles and 455 goods vehicles.
Livery
The locomotives and carriages were various shades of olive green ofte with yellow lining.
Notable features
Chetwynd Viaduct
The Chetwynd Viaduct carried the line over a valley and the main Bandon road between the townlands of Chetwynd and Rochfordstown about southwest of Cork city. It was designed by Charles Nixon and built between 1849 and 1851 by Fox, Henderson and Co, which also built the Crystal Palace in London. The cast iron ribs were cast on site. When in situ they had transverse diagonal bracing and lattice spandrels that supported a deck of iron plates. These in turn supported the permanent way. The viaduct is high, has four spans, each span composed of four cast iron arched ribs, carried on masonry piers thick and wide. The overall span between end abutments is. The structure was seriously damaged in the Irish Civil War in 1922, but was subsequently repaired. It was in regular use until the line was closed in 1961, though "recovery" trains continued to use it during the dismantling of the line until at least 1965. The bulk of the was in place as late as 1970, other than at the ends, but this was all subsequently removed for safety reasons.
Gogginshill Tunnel
The Gogginshill Tunnel near Ballinhassig in Co. Cork, was constructed between February 1850 and December 1851 by 300 men working day and night. There are three ventilation shafts and the tunnel is lined with brick, which was added between 1889 and 1890 after some minor collapses of the rock face. It is the longest abandoned railway tunnel within the Republic of Ireland, measuring 906 yards end to end.
Halfway Viaduct
The Viaduct is located at Halfway, between Innishannon and Ballinhassig, c.30m above the valley floor. It is a three arch viaduct of masonry construction.
Kilpatrick Tunnel
The Kilpatrick tunnel is 122 meters in length and located less than 1 km west of Inishannon, just before the Bandon river crossing.
