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| Coolaney Train Station with Washing |
I visited Coolaney Train Station in 2007. It has been closed since 1963 and also used to be known as Leyny Station. Coolaney Station is on the Collooney to Claremorris Line.
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| The Platform |
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| Train Station with Grass |
When I visited the Station there was washing drying on the platform; it was nice to see that the Station still had some use. I called into the house next door and asked if the Station belonged to their family. It did indeed and the people in the house were very kind and let me in to take some photographs.
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| Platform |
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| Waiting |
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| Ticket Office Bathroom |
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When Coolaney Station closed it was used as a home for a number of years. The ticket office was converted into a bathroom, but the ticket hatch was never removed from the wall.
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| View from the Ledge |
After visiting the Station I spent several weeks walking the line from Coolaney to Tubbercurry. I had planned to walk the whole North Western Rail Corridor but I stopped the journey because I felt like I was trespassing. Since the line has closed people have incorporated it into their gardens and farms; as I followed the line it seemed that I was on people's land. A walk along an abandoned rail line is also a pleasant experience.
These spaces have become wonderful nature reserves.
Click here to view more about abandoned railways.
Your blog is wonderful; please keep it going (I notice you haven't written anything in a couple of months). What you are doing here is very necessary and important.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Robert O'Byrne
Hi Robert. Thanks for the compliments. My blog is being bombarded by spammers and their comments. So nice to see a real comment as I go through deleting the rubbish. It's difficult to find time at the moment to get out exploring, I miss it. I have been out to a few places though and I promise to put something up now, with more coming later.
DeleteKind Regards
Sarah Stevens
Hi there
ReplyDeleteWow, what a find! I'm new to blogger but I stumbled over yours searching for information on disused railways. Your work is beautiful and I love your photos, your subject matter has an interesting dialectic where the newly decaying contrasts with the older decay. I'm working on an sculpture brief in college at the moment and I'm planning to explore a section of track nearby in Wexford. I look forward to seeing your future posts.
Regards,
Lar O'Toole
Hi Lar. Thanks for the nice comments. I will re-blog a post made From the Studio of... blog. It explains my work better than I ever could and is also an excellent art blog.
DeleteI'm working on a body of work called The Vanishing Present (showing in Tinahely Art Centre, Wicklow in Sept). These abandoned places are from the past (even the new ones) but they lie in the here and now.
Good luck photographing the rail line. I always planned to walk the Western Rail Corridor, but I didn't get far. Take good shoes, the line can be very slippy, and a camera of course. I look forward to seeing the photos. Good luck with your studies.