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<\/a><\/p>\nBord na Mona is a vast Peat Bog in\u00a0Ireland.\u00a0Peat was Ireland’s only significant indigenous fuel. Large scale extraction meant less reliance on imports and the creation of a great many jobs at a time when poverty and unemployment were still rife in parts of Ireland. As BnM expanded, briquetting plants, power stations and horticultural bagging plants were established and linked to the bogs by a growing network of 3ft (and occasionally 2ft) gauge railways. Over the years, some areas have been worked out and the more remote bogs in Kerry, Donegal and Mayo abandoned. Older power stations and briquette factories have been closed and replaced by newer, bigger plants.<\/p>\n
Developing a bog is a skilled and lengthy operation. Very detailed surveys are followed by\u00a0a complex and carefully engineered drainage system, removal of all topsoil, bushes and trees.\u00a0A new railway line is laid to connect to the nearest existing system or to a roadside\u00a0wagon tippler. Peat from small bogs can be moved by road (e.g. Derrinboy Bog near Kilcormac)\u00a0but railways remain much the most effective way of working large tonnages regardless of the weather. They don’t sink into the morass, they are very economical and they don’t clutter up\u00a0the highways or irritate the local people.<\/p>\n Most BnM bogs are worked on the ‘Peco’ principle as shown in the diagram below. Each year\u00a0about 100mm depth of peat is harvested and stored in piles running the length of the bog –\u00a0often 1 mile or more – and about 170m apart.<\/p>\n The landscapes include tall trees on the edge of the bogs and the crossing of several roads and canals providing many scenic interests.\u00a0Below is the long abandoned route of the Ballinasloe Canal and, despite many decades of disuse, the lock gates and lockkeepers’ cottages can still be seen. Bord na Mona found the canal bed made an excellent route for their Kylemore branch line.<\/p>\n Not all track is as well maintained as above. Some can be\u00a0treacherous.<\/p>\n Why not combine your hobbies and have some beer with your railway. The Guinness plant had two railways, a narrow gauge and a broad gauge. The narrow gauge ranged\u00a0throughout\u00a0the massive Guinness facility as shown on the following map.<\/p>\n In 1873 the Brewery purchased land lying between James’s Street and the River Liffey. This land provided access to the River Liffey (and from there to Dublin Port), and also to Kingsbridge Station (renamed Sean Heuston Station in 1966) – the main terminus of the Great Southern and Western Railway and link to the Irish rail network.<\/p>\n This divided the Brewery in two creating an ‘upper’ level and a ‘lower’ level separated by James’s Street. Several departments were moved to the new ‘lower level’ including the Cooperage, washing and filling sheds. However, it became more and more difficult to move materials around the much larger site with horse-power alone. The Company’s solution was to construct a railway. The Brewery’s newly appointed Engineer-in-Chief, Samuel Geoghegan, oversaw its construction.<\/p>\n In designing the railway, two difficulties had to be overcome. Firstly, the track needed to be narrow enough to navigate through the Brewery, but a connection was still needed to the broad gauge track in Kingsbridge. The solution was to lay two different types of track – a 22\u201d narrow gauge system for working within the Brewery boundaries, and a 5ft 3in broad gauge system to link to Kingsbridge. A broad gauge tramway connection along St. John’s Road was\u00a0authorized\u00a0to Great Southern & Western Railway by an Act of Parliament in 1874 to serve the Brewery from Kingsbridge station.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nGuinness Brewery Railway<\/h2>\n
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