Táilte Tours makes contribution towards Cavan & Leitrim loco overhaul

It is with great pleasure that Táilte Tours can announce that it is using some of the proceeds from its various Irish railtours and merchandise items towards the production of a new badge that will in turn raise up to €2,000 for the Cavan & Leitrim Railway in Dromod, County Leitrim. The funds will be used towards the restoration of its 1916 vintage 0-4-2T locomotive No.1, appropriately named "Dromod". You can order the badge here.

David Walsh (Táilte Tours) with Micheal Kennedy and Peter Williams of the Cavan & Leitrim Railway. The locomotive is 1905 vintage Avonside tank engine "Nancy".

Michael Kennedy, CEO of the Cavan and Leitrim Railway said “This is excellent news for us. We are working hard to bring Dromod onto home turf, and the money raised will help us do just that".

"Dromod" in action at the Cavan & Leitrim Railway in May 2003. Photo: Táilte Tours Collection.

Built in 1916, "Dromod" began life as "Sir Murray Morrison" and worked on the Loch Aber Railway in Scotland for Balfour Beatty. It passed to the British Aluminium Company in 1918 who continued to use it on the Loch Aber Railway until the 1960s. It was heavily rebuilt and overhauled by Alan Keef Ltd. for the formative Cavan & Leitrim Railway preservation project in the early 1990s, and was the mainstay of their steam services until the early 2000s. In 2019 she was sent to Fowler & Co. in Cumbria for overhaul and when completed will form a key part of the Cavan & Leitrim Railway's 'Vintage Train Project' which will also include restored Tralee & Dingle carriage No.7T, which is also in Fowler & Co. for restoration. We hope our contribution can go some way towards accelerating this icon of Irish railway preservation to steam.

Currently, the Cavan & Leitrim Railway has 1905 Avonside tank engine "Nancy" in service (some of you will have travelled behind it on our "Wild Rose" railtour) and the prospect of two locos in steam on an Irish narrow gauge line for the first time since 1959 is mouthwatering indeed.

This is the second of a number of fundraising initiatives we are supporting Irish railway preservation groups with, following on from our contribution to the Downpatrick & County Down Railway. We hope to work with further groups over the coming year, stay tuned for details!

You can find out more about the Cavan & Leitrim Railway's "Vintage Train" project here.