Fenit

Fenit in Co.Kerry, is a small fishing harbour just west of Tralee on the Atlantic Coast. The village was served by a short branch line off the Great Southern & Western Railway's North Kerry line, which ran from Tralee to Limerick. Passenger services to Fenit ceased in the 1930s, but the branch remained open for regular Sunday excursions, goods and sugar beet traffic. These trains ceased in 1977, with the closure of the North Kerry line, but the Fenit branch remained intact and wasn't lifted in 1988 unlike the North Kerry line. At the same time the Great Southern Railway Preservation Society planned to reopen the Fenit branch as a preserved railway, as much of the infrastructure remained intact. Sadly their plans never came about and the Fenit branch has declined into a very derelict state in the last 20 years, and a section west of Tralee is now disconnected.

Whilst most of the line remains, the tracks at Fenit Station have been covered over, even though the line is still in CIE ownership. The station itself only boasted one platform and footbridge, the other station buildings had been demolished in the 1930s. The rails on the harbour pier however remain.
This is the site of Fenit Station, terminus of a branch line which originated in Tralee. The former single platform is on the right and the track, which does remain, is now covered over with gravel. The former station at Fenit features this neat footbridge on its northside. The footbridge as can be seen is well maintained. Today the station site is now used as a car park. A view of the end of the platform ramp at Fenit Station. Sugar beet trains still called to Fenit until June 1978, and the branch has being abandoned ever since. An original Great Southern & Western Railway style semaphore signal remains in situ on the approach to Fenit Station. The Fenit branch lost its regular passenger services in 1934, but regular specials continued to call here until the late 1970s.
A close up of the semaphore signal which remains in situ at Fenit Station. The signal cabin at Fenit closed in 1930s, afterwhich the points and signals were operated by a ground frame. A view looking along the grassy platform at Fenit Station. In the late 1980s the Great Southern Railway Preservation Group attempted to reopen the line as a preserved railway but the scheme failed. To the left can be seen the former goods loading bank. A view looking north towards Tralee from the footbridge at Fenit, showing the station's approach. The branch remains largely intact, but some sections of track have been covered over as seen here. This is the rocky cutting on the approach to Fenit Station, looking back towards Tralee. The last movements over the line was an inspection car in 1988, operated by the GSRPS.
The stone built base of the small water tower at Fenit Station, which is missing its tank. Steam locomotives on the branch were replaced in the early 1960s by CIE's G Class Deutz diesels.