Once upon a time, in the top left hand corner of Ireland; there was a little roadside tramway.......*
Welcome to the website of the Trawbreaga Bay Light Railway.
* with a nod to Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin
Welcome to the website of the Trawbreaga Bay Light Railway.
* with a nod to Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin
The last passenger train at Malin Station 11 August 2018
Trawbreaga Bay lies on the west side of the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal in the north of the Republic of Ireland. The Trawbreaga Bay Light Railway was a model railway, set in a suburban garden, in a seaside town on the south coast of England.
The TBLR was a fictional line, a tramway that might have been, linking the market town of Carndonagh with Culdaff and the port at Bunagee (assuming the harbour was larger and busier than it is in reality).
My original intention was to recreate the atmosphere of an Irish narrow gauge railway as it might have appeared in the 1930s. In recent years however, the management - that's me - have relaxed a bit regarding historical accuracy; the line gradually became home to a collection of model locomotives and rolling stock from across the water, principally Wales and the Isle of Man, but there was also a tram loco from Germany! In its last days therefore, the line had more the atmosphere of a preserved or 'heritage' railway: perhaps a wealthy landowner or industrialist's hobby line?
The model railway was to a scale of 1/20th or more precisely 1:20.3 and the track gauge was 45mm, which represents three-foot narrow gauge in full size. The original reasons for building the line in 2007, were to renovate an overgrown rockery and to make use of some garden railway equipment that had been gathering dust in the attic for thirteen years.
The TBLR was a fictional line, a tramway that might have been, linking the market town of Carndonagh with Culdaff and the port at Bunagee (assuming the harbour was larger and busier than it is in reality).
My original intention was to recreate the atmosphere of an Irish narrow gauge railway as it might have appeared in the 1930s. In recent years however, the management - that's me - have relaxed a bit regarding historical accuracy; the line gradually became home to a collection of model locomotives and rolling stock from across the water, principally Wales and the Isle of Man, but there was also a tram loco from Germany! In its last days therefore, the line had more the atmosphere of a preserved or 'heritage' railway: perhaps a wealthy landowner or industrialist's hobby line?
The model railway was to a scale of 1/20th or more precisely 1:20.3 and the track gauge was 45mm, which represents three-foot narrow gauge in full size. The original reasons for building the line in 2007, were to renovate an overgrown rockery and to make use of some garden railway equipment that had been gathering dust in the attic for thirteen years.
Work started in late 2013 on building a larger version of the railway; the new line ran the length of the back garden, and included an indoor section running through a workshop. The simple railway that was planned originally, grew over the years into something that developed its own unique identity.
The railway took its main influences - 'foreign' rolling stock notwithstanding - from the smaller Irish roadside tramways such as the Schull and Skibbereen Railway and the Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway, with a dash of Tralee and Dingle thrown in for good measure.
Track power was used in the early days of the railway, until July 2010, when the changeover was made to battery power for all electric locos. A return to steam power was made in December 2010, with the arrival of a generic steam loco.
Photographs of the line's construction and its locomotives, railcars, coaches and wagons can be seen on their respective pages.
Due to an impending house move, the railway was dismantled in the late summer of 2018 - progress of the line's demolition is outlined in the workshop blog.
A new line, the Two Hills Light Railway (THLR) was built at my new home in 2019/2020. The new railway has a heritage theme with mainly Irish and Isle of Man rolling stock on the 3 ft. gauge line; there is also a small 2 ft. gauge quarry line with a Welsh flavour. The THLR has its own Facebook page, but no website.
Thank you for visiting my site, I hope you enjoy your visit, Dirk.
The railway took its main influences - 'foreign' rolling stock notwithstanding - from the smaller Irish roadside tramways such as the Schull and Skibbereen Railway and the Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway, with a dash of Tralee and Dingle thrown in for good measure.
Track power was used in the early days of the railway, until July 2010, when the changeover was made to battery power for all electric locos. A return to steam power was made in December 2010, with the arrival of a generic steam loco.
Photographs of the line's construction and its locomotives, railcars, coaches and wagons can be seen on their respective pages.
Due to an impending house move, the railway was dismantled in the late summer of 2018 - progress of the line's demolition is outlined in the workshop blog.
A new line, the Two Hills Light Railway (THLR) was built at my new home in 2019/2020. The new railway has a heritage theme with mainly Irish and Isle of Man rolling stock on the 3 ft. gauge line; there is also a small 2 ft. gauge quarry line with a Welsh flavour. The THLR has its own Facebook page, but no website.
Thank you for visiting my site, I hope you enjoy your visit, Dirk.