Railtour Recap: The Dromod Diesel Daytripper—A Mini Railtour

We paid another visit to our friends at the Cavan & Leitrim Railway Museum, Dromod, on Sunday 9th August.

With IÉ still unable to hire out rolling stock for charters, we took a small group to Dromod on the regular 09:05 Dublin Connolly-Sligo service train (for the railcar enthusiasts wondering, it was set 22046). Our passengers settled in for the two-hour journey, with the sky remaining a foreboding grey as we sped along the Royal Canal as far as Mullingar and then up through the Midlands towards our destination.

1952-vintage Ruston diesel No.LM114 "Joe St Leger" was rostered for our first special of the day. Photo: Adrian Dawe.

At Dromod, we had an easy transfer from the mainline station to that of the Cavan & Leitrim Railway, the two being literally across the car park from each other. 1952 Ruston diesel No.LM114 "Joe St Leger" was already ready and waiting for us with carriage 13L to form our special train. The little diesel had been given a new coat of green paint a few days before. Photos were taken, the headboard fitted, and our passengers settled in for a trip the line to Clooncollory, with onboard host Philip giving us a talk on the history of the line.

On the return journey, our group disembarked at the workshop, where Philip took us on a tour of the museum's extensive collection of planes, trains, buses, fire engines, and more.

Recently-restored Bord na Móna Hunslet diesel LM384 makes its debut on a runpast, with its saviour, Darragh Connolly, in the driver's seat. Photo: Adrian Dawe

As a special treat, the volunteers put on a series of runpasts and demonstration moves using the line's newest locomotives, ex-Bord na Móna Hunslet locomotives Nos.LM340 and LM384. What a sight (and sound!) they made.

Passengers try out the pump trolley.

Railtour passengers also had the opportunity to try out Ireland's only working pump trolley and a railway bicycle.

While this nominally a diesel railtour, the volunteers gave us an extra surprise when the 1908 vintage tank engine "Nancy" came off the shed early, proudly carrying our headboard. Thus, our group was given an extra trip down the line behind the steam loco, a very enjoyable way to end the day.

Nancy makes its surprise appearance. Photo: Adrian Dawe.

There was time for passengers to get replenishments from the local shop before we made our way back to the mainline station to catch the 13:05 Sligo-Dublin Connolly train home, again, set No.22046.

A big thank you to the team at the Cavan & Leitrim Railway for putting on yet another great show for our visitors. They played a major part in our launch weekend back in August 2022, and we're delighted to continue to partner with them as our operation develops.

Huge thanks to all who supported this tour. With mainline tours not possible in the interim we are very grateful who continue to support our smaller-scale ventures such as this.