COMMENT: The ‘Johnny Cash’ stretch of Mayo's N17 as trains look set to roll again

Million of music followers around the world have grown up with the opening lines of the Johnny Cash classic, Folsom Prison Blues: “I hear the train a’coming / It’s rolling around the bend …”. Well, it looks very much like the train will soon be rolling around the bends of the Claremorris to Athenry line inside the next three years as the Western Rail Corridor has been designated for substantial funding in that period.

The last passenger train on the line that runs through Tuam was in 1976 with one single exception. A train was ‘chartered’ from Claremorris to Tuam in June 1986 to take followers to a concert by American country singer, Boxcar Willie (a huge train enthusiast), in Tuam Stadium. Freight services operated on the line on and off until around 2001.

The reason I suggest why the stretch of road between Claremorris and Milltown could be known as the ‘Johnny Cash Highway’ is because there are four level-crossings in a seven mile stretch from the Lisduff crossing beside Hanley’s Equestrian Centre outside Claremorris to the Ilaune crossing on the Ballindine side of Milltown village. The other two are at Avenue (Barrett’s) coming into Ballindine and at Cloonrane as you exit Ballindine for Milltown.

Because of the vast increase in road traffic in the five decades since the last passenger trains serviced this line, it is fair to assume that there could be substantial short-time delays on the N17 as the crossings are so relatively close to each other. There is also a further crossing at Lower James Street in Claremorris town.

And while it is likely to inconvenience road traffic, it will be a Godsend for people trying to get from Mayo to the heart of Galway and avoiding the chaos that is choking that city in recent years.

Linking the name of Johnny Cash to the stretch of road would have international appeal and be an extra marketing opportunity in promoting this region of the western province. Johnny had a great fondness for trains and recorded various songs about them including ‘I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow’. His sixth album, Ride This Train, was originally released on August 1, 1960 and was re-issued on March 19, 2002, dedicated to his love for trains.

What an international publicity coup it would be to invite some of Johnny’s family to be on board the first train from Claremorris to Athenry!

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On Thursday night, I came across a superb feature written by the late journalist Michael Finlan, a genial son of Ballina, for his ‘Western Notebook’ in The Irish Times and published 50 years ago on April 5, 1976. It captures the sadness felt on the occasion of the closure of the service and also provides a superb education for a younger generation to get a whole new appreciation of those times. The guard on that last train, Des Kelly, was my next door neighbour here in Murneen between Claremorris and Kiltimagh and the house next to Murneen Railway Bridge. Des died in September 2004. The following is an excerpt from Michael Finlan's article:

“AFTER 80 years, the two passenger trains from Claremorris and Limerick met for the last time in Athenry Junction on Saturday, fixing a moment in time forever to be looked back on through the mists of nostalgia.

“It was the end of the old Claremorris-Limerick passenger run and from now there will be no trains to the south on the western seaboard. You can only go in the direction of Dublin, and therein lies a message of some kind.

“There was a sense of sad occasion on the last day and people who ordinarily would never go near a train got aboard the two trains that left Limerick and Claremorris at about the same time, to share the experience of utter finality. Many avid railway enthusiasts from as far away as England, loaded down with notebooks, cameras, stopwatches and technical manuals, also came along for the final jaunt. They would pass through towns such as Tuam and Gort that may never see a passenger train again.

“I got aboard just before the 3 o'clock departure time from Platform 2 in Claremorris. This town is now the only rail junction in Mayo; further north on the Ballina line, Manulla Junction was closed, along with Ballyvary and Foxford, in CIE's massive dismantling operation during the '60s. The line from Claremorris to Sligo was also neutered at that time. The five platforms at Claremorris seem awfully redundant now.

“Hugh Dawson, a veteran from the days of steam, was the driver, Des Kelly the guard, and Jimmy Reilly the ticket checker. Hugh and Des are being kept on, but Saturday was Jimmy's last day after 29 years on the job. They're letting him go at the age of 58, an awkward time for any man to be looking for work, with the sparse days that are in it.

“But Jimmy was as cheerful as the first day he ever rode the lines down to Athenry and he played with the kids and let everyone keep their tickets as souvenirs. 'I'll be taking a rest for a while now,' he said.

“Richard Wall, from Dublin, was only one of the many members of the Irish Railway Record Society on board the last train. 'I'm sad to see this line go,' he said. 'There has been a lot of protest from people since it was announced that it was to be closed, but the people didn't support it when they had a chance to, and if they had, this line would continue to live.'

“It is hard to credit, but it is true that back before the turn of the century, there were two railway stations in Claremorris. The present station originally belonged to the Midland Great Western, and just a mile south was the station of the Great Southern line, which we passed through on the way out.

“The railway buffs knew every level crossing from there on down to Athenry - Lisduff, Avenue, Cloonrane, Ilaun, Drim, Kilerneen, Liskeavy. Fartamore, Brooklawn, Kilbannon. And every dead station - Ballindine, Milltown, Castlegrove.

“When we pulled into Athenry, Richard Wall told me: 'This is history now. You will see here four trains together for the last time in this spot. We crossed the bridge to the platform where the train from Limerick was waiting to take us back to Claremorris. Then the two old warriors shunted slowly down the tracks in opposite directions, moving from the main lines to sidings, to make way for their betters; the mail train from Galway on its way to Dublin and the 1.05 heading for Galway. These two VIPs loaded and unloaded and hurried on their way, heedless of the brief moment of history. The two underlings crept back onto the main tracks, ready to finish their final journey.

“Ours was the first to head out at 4.17. The train going to Limerick would leave a few minutes later, down through the dead stations of Craughwell, Ardrahan, Kiltartan and Crusheen, and the barely living ones of Gort and Ennis.

“On the way back, we stopped briefly at Ballyglunin, which still has a faint pulse of life (they shot the train sequences for 'The Quiet Man' there in 1950). As we moved out of Ballyglunin, the iron wheels rolled over the detonators that had been set into the tracks and six loud bangs were heard, a farewell volley like shots over a grave.

“There was a big gathering of townspeople waiting on the platform in Tuam. They swarmed around the locomotive to shake the hand of driver Hugh Dawson. They wouldn't be seeing him or his train again. The train lingered longer than usual, and finally, when it began to roll away on the last leg to Claremorris, it was again saluted by a volley of detonators.

“At 5.15 we pulled into Claremorris beside the big Westport train from Dublin. The Limerick-Claremorris line was opened in 1894 and even though freight trains will still roll along it, you could say that it died last Saturday.”

Michael Finlan captured and reflected the mood of those days in his wonderful feature in The Irish Times. Now, through the unrelenting work of so many people who have worked on the restoration of this line since the 1980s, it looks as if a resurrection is close on hand. Glory, alleluia!