County Donegal Railways Joint Committee
The County Donegal Railways Joint Committee (CDRJC) ran a 3-foot (914 mm) narrow-gauge railway network in County Donegal, Ireland, from 1906 to 1960. It was set up by an Act of Parliament to take over the Donegal Railway Company and run the lines jointly owned by the Great Northern Railway of Ireland (GNR(I)) and the Midland Railway Northern Counties Committee (NC) groups.
The system started with about 106 miles (171 km) of lines. By 1912, the Strabane to Derry line was owned by the NC but operated by the CDRJC. The Strabane and Letterkenny Railway opened on 1 January 1909, bringing total mileage to 124.5 miles (200.4 km). Of this, 91 miles were directly owned by the CDRJC; the rest came from joint owners or other companies. At its greatest extent, it was the largest narrow-gauge railway in the British Isles and was affectionately known as the “Wee Donegal.”
Henry Forbes served as traffic superintendent from 1910 to 1943. The CDRJC pioneered diesel traction in the area. The first diesel railcar in the British Isles appeared in 1930, following an earlier petrol railcar in 1926. Between 1934 and 1951, eight articulated diesel railcars were built by Walker Brothers of Wigan. The railcars were single-ended and had to be turned on a turntable for return trips; they could not work in multiple with another railcar. They were mainly for passenger service and could pull lightweight trailers and some light freight wagons, but steam traction continued to haul most freight. A diesel locomotive named Phoenix, converted from steam, was also used but was noisy and slow and mostly shunted.
Several lines were closed in the mid-20th century: the Glenties branch in 1947, the Strabane–Derry line in 1954, and the remaining passenger services ended on 31 December 1959. Goods trains between Strabane and Stranorlar continued until 6 February 1960. In the 1930s the committee began operating buses as well. After the railway closed, the company continued as a road freight and bus operator to substitute rail services, remaining independent until 1966 when management was taken over by CIÉ (Córas Iompair Éireann).
Ownership of the company changed several times. The Midland Railway part passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923, then to the British Transport Commission (BTC) in 1948. The GNRB (Great Northern Railway Board) held the GNR(I) portion from 1953, and it existed as a holding company for CDRJC until 1958. In 1967 the BTC and CIÉ reached an agreement under which CIÉ would receive the British share; CIÉ ended up owning most of the company after 1969, with full transfer confirmed in 1971. The company was effectively dissolved in 1981 due to pension fund issues, even though some parts of the line were later reused as a tourist railroad.
Today, remnants of the line survive as a tourist route near Lough Finn at Fintown, and heritage centers preserve the railway’s history. The Donegal Railway Heritage Centre and St Connell’s Museum in Glenties display artifacts, while the Foyle Valley Railway houses many CDRJC items. A number of locomotives were preserved in museums, such as No. 4 Meenglas, No. 5 Drumboe, No. 6 Columbkille, No. 1 Alice, No. 2 Blanche, and No. 11 Phœnix; several others were scrapped over the years.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 23:46 (CET).