RAILWAYS.INDUSTRIALHERITAGEIRELAND.INFO

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RAILWAYS IN IRELAND PART ONE

Martin Bairstow

Published by the author, 53 Kirklees Drive, Farsley, Leeds.

ISBN 1 871944 31 7 Stg£13.95

This publication is the first of 4 titles planned to cover the railways of the island of Ireland. The style is similar to Irish Standard Gauge Railways by Tom Middlemass, however, the author has arbitrarily divided the island into four regions. The book is a brief history of each of the public railways in the area covered.

Points that I noted were:

The map of railways only shows lines covered in book (showing connecting lines in a different style would have been better);

Details of the GNR(I) amalgamation imply one fell swoop in 1876 (there were actually multiple amalgamations, eventually arriving at the GNR(I));

The 1846 Act setting out railway gauges is the Gauge of Railways Act (the author refers to the Regulation of Railways Act 1846);

The author has a tendency to refer to the "British Isles" and to the Irish standard gauge as "broad gauge".

The number of photographs in the book is impressive as is the selection and quantity of non train photos. Although not connected to railway company operations, the Arranmore Ferry in Co. Donegal gets a mention (of particular interest to your reviewer as my father is a native of Arranmore Island).