Grangecon

Grangecon, Co.Wicklow, was the smallest station constructed on the Great Southern & Western Railway's long branchline from Sallins to Tullow, which opened in stages, the last of which was from Colbinstown through Grangecon to Tullow in 1889. The station, located near the village unlike many in Ireland, had a 120ft long single platform complete with small wooden & corrugated iron station building and waiting shelter. The original station buildings at Grangecon were destroyed in 1922 during the Civil War, and were replaced by a single storey concrete structure. The station had no signal cabin or goods shed, just a siding on the down side. In 1938 Grangecon became a halt under Baltinglass. The long branch was never heavily used and passenger services on the route were suspended in 1944 following coal shortages. It reopened briefly only to be closed to regular passenger and goods traffic in 1947. The line to Tullow remained open however for occasional cattle specials before finally closing completely in 1959. The station building at Grangecon remains, now extended and used as stables. The station masters house, merely two railway cottages, also remain, as does the former road overbridge at the north end of the station.
Grangecon Station, consisted of a single platform, adjacent siding, and a small concrete station building seen here. The single storey concrete station building at Grangecon replaced an earlier structure built of wood and corrugated iron, gutted in 1922 during the Irish Civil War. Some of the original window panes from railway days remain, as seen here. The earlier pre-1922 wooden and corrugated iron station building at Grangecon. Note the small waiting room on the left, and to the right the large GSWR name board. This is a view is looking north towards Sallins at the north end of Grangecon Station. The trackbed disappears into a cutting on the approach to the road overbridge near the village
Some railway archeology at the former Grangecon Station resulted in the discovery of this pre-1925 Great Southern & Western Railway office pen & ink holder, complete with stamped initials. Grangecon was the smallest built station on the Tullow branch and therefore it did not require a substantial station masters house, a stone built railway cottage was suffucient, seen here. A standard CIE lamp, complete with bell, seen attached on the station masters house at Grangecon The overgrown, and somewhat waterlogged trackbed is discernable in this view looking north towards Sallins from the road overbridge at Grangecon.
This is the rather wide road overbridge at the south end of Grangecon Station. The line runs in a cutting under this bridge and into the former station. The bridge is a newer structure than the original GSWR one, and probably dates from the 1940s or 50s judging from the materials used in its construction. The northern approach to the railway cutting located just before the road overbridge at Grangecon Station. As you move nearer to the station the trackbed becomes overgrown and waterlogged as seen in the previous photos. The trackbed just north of Grangecon Station. Beyond the cutting the former railway has been converted into a horse track seen here. The sleepy looking County Wicklow village of Grangecon, located near the former railway station, the access to which is on the right.