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Cork Bandon & South Coast Railway
Midland Publishing

Cork Bandon & South Coast Railway

Regular price £25.00 Unit price per

The Cork Bandon & South Coast Railway was the fourth largest constituent of the Great Southern Railways, when that company was formed in 1925 to run the railways which were wholly located within the newly independent Irish Free State.

The CB&SCR, itself the product of the earlier amalgamations of a number of smaller railway companies, operated the network of lines which once served the south and west of County Cork. This is the story of those lines from their promotion and construction in the 19th century, often in the face of severe financial difficulties, through to their eventual closure in the 20th century.

In this comprehensive and thoroughly researched history, Ernie Shepherd, whose earlier books on the Midland Great Western and Dublin & South Eastern companies have been published with critical success by Midland Publishing, traces the complex history of the companies which sought to bring the benefits of railway communication to this part of County Cork.

The book covers in detail all the aspects needed to bring this story to life. Among its chapters are those on locomotives (this was the only company in Ireland ever to use engines built in the USA), rolling stock, staff, train services, accidents, and steamer services. It deals with the CB&SCR's relations with other companies operating in the area such as the Cork & Macroom line and the narrow gauge Schull & Skibbereen Tramway. It will appeal to railway historians and to those interested in this part of Ireland and railway modellers will find the many photographs and station layout drawings, of particular interest.

However, this book also provides a broader insight into the social and economic history of the area served by the CB&SCR and its successors, the GSR and Coras Iompair Eireann. It examines how the British government, through financial incentives, belatedly tried to bring a measure of prosperity to the poorer parts of the south and west in the wake of the Great Famine and later efforts to develop tourism in the area served by the CB&SCR. The book brings to life the era, when the `Bandon' played a major part in the economic life of the county it served.

Hardback, 160 pages, black & white photographs

Condition: Very Good with small bump to corner of one board

ISBN: 9781857801989