Dunboyne

Dunboyne Station, in the commuting town west of Dublin on the former Clonsilla to Navan line, was opened by the Dublin & Meath Railway in 1862. The Midland Great Western Railway took over the D&MR and later doubled the Navan line through Dunboyne as far as Drumree further north. Passenger services on the Navan line ceased in 1947, but the line remained open for occasional goods traffic until 1963. Dunboyne Station had a typical MGWR single storey station building on the down side, similar to others on the line to Mullingar, and retained its loop as a siding until closure in April 1963.

However, rail services were restored to Dunboyne in September 2010 when the section of line from Pace to Clonsilla reopened. The new station at Dunboyne occupies the site of the original, and has up & down platforms, modern station building and footbridge, while the old MGWR station building has since been vacated. The original stone overbridge and MGWR water tower still survive at the southern end of the station. This gallery shows Dunboyne before and after the rebuilding of the line.
This is Dunboyne Station in December 2004, looking north towards Navan from the south end of the station. On the left is the single storey station building, located on what was the former up platform. Dunboyne Station, looking north towards Navan from the road overbridge shortly after the line was cleared of vegetation in proporation for reopening. In the foreground can be seen the end ramps of the former up & down platforms. In January 2010 work was well underway in restoring the railway line to Dunboyne. The new platforms and station buildings were already taking shape. Back to Dunboyne Station as it was in 2004. The structure on the left is the former boiler room. In the foreground is the remains of the down platform.
The original 1862 station building at Dunboyne, now bricked up and unoccupied. The structure is typical of the type found on the Clonsilla to Navan line, other examples included Drumree and Bective. This is the old boiler room, located at the end of the former down platform at Dunboyne Station. It has since been demolished. The original pedestrian entrance onto the down platform at Dunboyne Station. This has also been cleared away during the rebuilding of the closed 1963 line. The station building at Dunboyne in 2004, as viewed from the station forecourt. The building was extended at the north end. Today the structure is now unoccupied.
This is the 1862 stone built road overbridge at the south end of Dunboyne Station in 2004, with the MGWR water tower just visible in the background. In the foreground can be seen the platform ramps. A February 2009 view of the overbridge, which carries the R156 road over the line. Built for the double track up & down lines, the up line at the station latterly became a loop, and then a loop siding until the line closed in 1963. The stone parapets on the road overbridge at Dunboyne Station has since been replaced by a concrete construction seen here. The trackbed in the foreground is been made ready for the relaying of the line. A view of the road overbridge, now with the double track line restored. An additional pedestrian bridge has been built in front of it.
Dunboyne Station as it was in February 2009, looking north towards Navan from beneath the road overbridge. This was the water tower and overbridge at Dunboyne in December 2004, looking north towards Navan, with the station visible in the background A more clearer view of the road overbridge, water tower, and the station building at Dunboyne in February 2009. The structures date from the lines opening in 1862. The water gauge attached to the tank indicates that it is full.
A view looking south towards Clonsilla from the road ovebridge at Dunboyne Station, with the old Midland Great Western water tower visible in this February 2009 shot. By January 2010 the trackbed had been fenced off from the adjoining housing estates, which were fortunately never constructed across the abandoned line. Some details on the MGWR water tower at Dunboyne Station; the green painted metal hook beside door entrance helped hold the one time water bag which was attached to the protruding metal pipe below the portal window. A general view of the 1862 built station at Dunboyne, looking south towards Clonsilla from the former down platform. This site is now occupied by the southern end of the new station.
By January 2010 the end of the new down platform was already installed. The former station building had been bricked up, and would later be fenced off from the restored railway. The same view but taken on the day the line reopened to Dunboyne on the 3rd of September 2010, as 29000 Class railcar No.29406 arrives with a service from Dublin City. The original station building can be seen behind the wooden fence. This was the north end of Dunboyne Station, looking towards Navan, where the new station would later be built. In MGWR days there was a signal cabin once sited here. A similar view but taken in Janurary 2010. The new up & down platforms of Dunboyne Station are more or less sited on the original 1862 built ones, though they are just short of the original southern end.
On the down platform at Dunboyne Station, looking south towards Clonsilla, with the new single storey station building on the left, and road overbridge in the distance. A view of the new lift shafts while under construction at Dunboyne Station. The footbridge is located half way down the platforms. This view is looking north towards Navan. At this was the final product; 2800 Class railcar No.2804 stands at Dunboyne Station with an afternoon service to the Docklands Station in Dublin City. This was an earlier view taken on the same day as the previous photo, as 2800 Class railcar No.2812 arrives at Dunboyne with a midday service from Dublin. Most of the commuter services on the restored Dunboyne line are handled by the 29000 Class railcars, which also operate to Maynooth.
This was the misty view looking north towards Navan from the down platform at Dunboyne Station, while under construction and before the track was fully relaid. Now the down platform is seen in much bright conditions on the day the passenger trains were restored to Dunboyne in September 2010. 2800 Class railcar No.2804 departs on the last leg of its journey to the new terminus at the M3 Parkway station. CAF Spanish built 29000 Class railcar No.29105 is seen on the rear of a M3 Parkway bound service at Dunboyne Station. Most services on the line are formed by 4-car railcar sets. Another 290000 Class railcar, No.29404 departs Dunboyne past the new single storey booking office, located on the up platform. The station is certainly very different to the first one established here in 1862 by the Dublin & Meath Railway, at a time when Dunboyne was a merely a rural village on the line to Navan.
This is the rather elaborate modern footbridge at Dunboyne Station, built to handle the large volume of commuters travelling to and from Dublin. This view is looking south towards Dublin from the up platform. A view looking south towards Dublin from the footbridge at Dunboyne Station. The former Midland Great Western Railway station building can be seen behind the wooden fence. The end ramps of the platforms mark the site of the original MGWR footbridge, but this had long since been removed before the line closed first in April 1963. A view of the new Dunboyne Station, quite a contrast to the original Midland Great Western Railway building. The structure is seen under construction in January 2010. Dunboyne Station building, finally complete nine months later. The building is similar to that built at the terminus of the line at the M3 Parkway station. Whether the remaining section of the 1862 built line to Navan is to be restored remains to be seen.
A view of one of Irish Rail's most modern stations, seen at Dunboyne, complete with a large adjacent car park. Looking back to the original photographs taken of Dunboyne Station in December 2004, this modern Irish Rail name board seemed an impossibility. 71 years had passed until Dunboyne was once again served by a regular passnger service. This small river bridge carries the railway line across a tributary of the River Tolka south of Dunboyne. This was the bridge as it was in 2009, before the line was relaid the following year. North of Dunboyne the railway crosses another tributary of the River Tolka, this time on a much smaller culvert style stone bridge.
Another view of this small stone built culvert bridge, located just north of Dunboyne. As can be seen in this 2009 view, the trackbed of the former line was gradually been cleared of vegetation. In the very distance the R167 road overbridge can just be seen, which was subsequently demolished during the rebuilding of the line. This is actually the River Tolka itself, which the line crosses on yet another low culvert style bridge. This bridge, as with the others, have since been rebuilt in concrete following the line's restoration. Some of the recovered sleepers from the track lifting in 1964 were used as fence posts north of Dunboyne, as seen here on the former trackbed in February 2009. Ex Great Southern & Western Railway's J15 Class 0-6-0 No.186 heads through Dunboyne Station on the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland's 'Province of Leinster' tour from Dublin. Before 186, the last steam special through Dunboyne was in June 1961.
In constast to the Victorian era No.186, 1976 built 071 Class loco No.081 approaches Dunboyne light engine on its way to Pace, where it will haul the RPSI special back to Dublin. To the right of the loco can be seen the 10¼ mile post, measured from the former MGWR Broadstone terminus in Dublin City. Another view of loco No.081 at Dunboyne, seen following the RPSI steam special just visible in the distance, while a 29000 Class railcar approaches the station from Pace with a morning Docklands service.