Dalkey Atmospheric

Located between the present Dalkey and Glenageary stations in south Dublin, on the Dublin to Rosslare line was the terminus of the uniquely operated Atmospheric Railway, which ran from Dalkey to Dun Laoghaire. The atmospheric railway was built on the trackbed of an earlier tram route, built in 1817, which carried stone from Dalkey Quarry to the harbour in Dun Laoghaire. The complex atmospheric railway operated from 1844 until 1854, when the Dublin & Wicklow Railway converted it to conventional railway use, who then established a new station of their own in Dalkey. The atmospheric system employed engineless trains, powered by air pressure generated from stationary steam engines, one of which was located at the southern end of the terminus in Dalkey at Barnhill Rd, long since demolished.

When the system closed in 1854, the D&WR re-routed the railway to avoid the old atmospheric terminus, which can still be traced today. The trackbed through the former terminus remains, the southern section of which was used as siding until the 1960s for storing redundant wagons. Though the terminus, located in the cutting is overgrown, an original road overbridge survives at the northern end at Castlepark Rd, and is one of the few remnants left of this one time revolutionary system. For more info on this railway see the Dalkey Home Page.
Between the present Dalkey and Glenageary Stations was the former terminus of the Atmospheric Railway, which operated from Dun Laoghaire to Dalkey until 1854. This view looking north towards Dun Laoghaire shows the overgrown atmospheric trackbed diverging to the right of the present Dublin to Rosslare line. This is the same view as the previous photo, but taken in the early 1970s. For many years a derelict siding was all that remained of the one time atmospheric terminus. The siding and former cutting are visible diverging to the right. ©Barry Carse A narrow laneway runs parellel to the former atmospheric railway trackbed on its down side at Dalkey. This view is looking north towards the old terminus, with the main Dublin to Rosslare line behind the wall on the right. The laneway is one of the few reminders of this uniquely operated railway in Ireland. The atmospheric trains ran for ten years, between 1844 to 1854. This laneway can be accessed just off Barnhill Road.
This is the northen end of the atmospheric railway trackbed at Dalkey, again viewed from the laneway. The line would have terminated here in the cutting, now heavily overgrown. At the northern end of the atmospheric terminus in Dalkey was a road overbridge on Castlepark Rd, which remains remarkably intact despite its disuse since 1854. The stone parapets can be seen here either side of the road, while the taller parapets in the distance belong to the bridge over the Dublin to Rosslare line. This is the intact southern portal of the road overbridge at the north end of the atmospheric railway terminus. A train has not passed beneath this bridge since 1854. The portal on the northern side of the atmospheric railway bridge has been filled by the garden and house, which has been built on the former trackbed towards Dun Laoghaire.
This is the parapet of the bridge on the southern side of the atmospheric terminus, which is heavily overgrown, as seen here. Adjacent to the former atmospheric road overbridge is this hexagonal shape structure, which dates from the time of the Dalkey Quarry tramway - a reminder that the atmospheric railway was built on the trackbed of this former horse drawn tram route to Dun Laoghaire.