Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway
| Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway | |
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.jpg) Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway
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| Route length: | 9 km |
| Gauge : | 914 mm ( English 3-foot track ) |
The Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway or Shannonbridge Bog Railway or Blackwater Railway is a 9 km long narrow gauge railway with a gauge of 914 mm (3 feet ) in the Midlands of Ireland . It is used by the company Bord na Móna, which specializes in peat cutting, to transport freshly cut peat to the peat-heated West Offaly power station near Shannonbridge , County Offaly .
Former passenger traffic
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Until 2008 there was also passenger transport for tourists with a 53-seat wagon pulled by a diesel locomotive. It was used to show visitors how the peat is cut in the nearby Blackwater Bog .
power plant
The West Offaly power station is one of the largest peat-fired power stations in Ireland and can produce up to 153 MW of electricity. It was built to replace the former 125 MW Shannonbridge power station.
The ESB group, which emerged from the Irish Electricity Supply Board ( Irish : Bord Soláthair an Leictreachais) and which is 95% owned by the Irish state, operates the power plant. Based on a government resolution under the Troika commitments, non-strategic assets are to be privatized, and ESB therefore put the power plant up for sale in 2013.
literature
- Nicki Griffin: Bog Train Newsletter of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, Volume 30, No. 4. Winter 2003. Downloaded April 17, 2016.
- Brian Haworth: Irish Bog Railways. Version dated December 18, 2015. Downloaded April 17, 2016.
- Bernd Biege: Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway (Shannonbridge, County Offaly)
