This article is from page 6 of the 2011-08-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
THE remaining obstacles to the transformation of the West Clare Railway into one of the county’s new flagship tourism products are set to be removed by the end of the year as the project’s promoter presses ahead with ambitious plans to extend the line and build a state-of-the-art museum that will be the only one of its kind in Ireland.
Ennis-based businessman and lifelong railway enthusiast, Jackie Whelan has told The Clare People this week that the National Roads Authority and Clare County Council are finally poised to pave the way for the narrow gauge line to cross the main Kilrush to Kilkee Road at Moyasta Junction for the first time since it was closed half a century ago.
“It’s going to happen,” said Whelan. “It’s something I have been campaigning for over the last number of years and we have been promised that the big breakthrough will happen by October 20.
“It involves the NRA putting a designated speed limit on the road, making it a 40-mile-per-hour road, which will then allow Clare County Council make the decision to allow the railway cross the road. I have been told that it is more or less approved, it just has to be done officially,” added Whelan.
The impending NRA move comes in the same year that the Clare County Development Plan 2011-2017 gave the West Clare Railway the same designated status as the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren.
“The NRA stopped us from crossing the road, but now that obstacle is being removed,” continued Whelan. “And once it is, the next thing will be to lay more track towards Kilkee and Kilrush and put a museum in place.
“We have to submit a new set of drawings and plans for the museum. We are putting up a big one. The one at the other side will house all the engines. We have a whole lot of historical engines, while upstairs in the museum will be a film area.
“I have a lot of old rolling stock – the biggest collection in Ireland – that has been preserved and there’s an awful lot more of it to be got,” Whelan added.