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Not really a station, but
Ballinacourty was once the originating point of one of the least
photographed freight trains of the late CIE era. CIE built a short
branch to Ballinacourty just outside Dungarvan in 1969/70 to serve
Quigley's magnesite plant. The branch left the former Mallow to
Waterford line just outside Dungarvan, this line had been closed as of
1967 but lifting hadn't reached beyond Dungarvan so the Waterford end of
the line was retained for this magnesite traffic. The magnesite trains
ceased in 1982 along with sporadic dolomite traffic, after this only the
weed spraying trains of 1986 and 1988 visited the line which by then was
in a derelict state.
The final movements over the
line were in May 1990, when 141 Class loco, 146, ran light to
Ballinacourty on the 9th May for clearance trails, which was followed by
inspection car EM50. The branch was officially closed as of 1993/4 and
the line was lifted some years later. Part of the track bed around
Dungarvan is now a public footpath. Today, only an old redundant buffer
stop remains, that being the former headshunt of the loop just outside
the plant. |
_2.jpg "A 001 Class loco shunts a rake of magnesite wagons into the Ballinacourty plant sometime in the late 1970s.")
_2.jpg "001 Class is seen shunting empty magnesite wagons into the loading plant at Ballinacourty.")
.jpg "Magnesite wagons are seen been propelled into the loading plant at Ballinacourty, these wagons were built in 1969 by CIE for this traffic.")
_2.jpg "Another shot of a 001 Class loco shunting the magnesite wagons at Ballinacourty.")
_2.jpg "Magnesite is seen been loading into the wagons from a conveyer belt at Ballinacourty. This ore was then taken by rail to Tivolli in Cork Harbour.")
.jpg "J15 0-6-0 No.186 is seen running round an RPSI train at Ballinacourty in 1973.(C)Graham Stacey")
.jpg "No.186 was built by the GSWR in 1879 at Inchicore Works, Dublin.(C)Graham Stacey")
.JPG "No.186 is seen shunting the rake of CIE coaches at Ballincourty prior to departure back to Waterford.(C)Graham Stacey")
.jpg "141 Class loco 177 arrives at Ballinacourty on a weed spraying train in June 1986.(C)David Hegarty")
.jpg "June 1986 was the first time the CIE weed spraying train had traversed the Ballinacourty line since its disuse in 1982, 177 encountered frequent wheel slipping on the overgrown sections of the line, note the follidge on the loco's catwalks!(C)David Hegarty")
.jpg "177 is seen running round the CIE weed spraying train at Ballinacourty in June 1986, the line on the left is the headshunt.(C)David Hegarty")
.jpg "177 is seen beside the level crossing and gate entrance that led into the Ballinacourty magnesite plant, which had been disused since 1982.(C)David Hegarty")
.jpg "Having run round its train at Ballinacourty, 177 prepares to head back to Waterford with the CIE weed spraying train, June 1986.(C)David Hegarty")
.JPG "Today, the Ballinacourty line has finally been lifted, and this section of the line is now a public walk way.")
.JPG "Looking the opposite way into what was the sidings and yard of the former magnesite plant at Ballinacourty.")
.JPG "View towards Waterford at the former level crossing at Ballinacourty, compare this view to that of 177 running round in 1986.")
.JPG "The former level crossing gates and entrance into the former magnesite have been removed, and is now the drive way into a new golf course.")
.JPG "The battered looking buffer stop of the former headshunt at Ballinacourty remains.")
.JPG "Another shot of what was the former headshunt and run round loop outside the Ballinacourty magnesite plant.")
.JPG "Similiar view at Clonea Level Crossing No.2 but in 2006, showing how the Ballinacourty line has become part of a public walkway from Dungarvan town.")