Castlerea Railway Museum facts for kids
The Castlerea Railway Museum is a special place in Castlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland. It used to be called the Hells Kitchen Railway Museum. This museum is privately owned and shows off a cool collection of railway items.
Contents
Discovering the Museum's Past
How the Collection Started
This small museum holds a fantastic collection of railway items. It was put together by a railway fan named Sean Browne. He started gathering these pieces way back in the 1950s. You can see all sorts of things there, like old railway signals, lamps, bells, and special tokens. There are also warning signs, posters, train timetables, and station signs.
The Big Train Arrives
A very important part of the museum is a large train engine called a Metropolitan-Vickers A Class locomotive. A locomotive is the part of a train that pulls the carriages. This particular engine was first used in 1955 by a company called Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). CIÉ was working on a plan to switch from steam trains to diesel trains. This "dieselisation" plan helped get rid of steam engines on Irish railways by April 1963. Sean Browne got this special engine for the museum in 1994.
Sean Browne also bought another diesel engine, the CIE 001 Class locomotive number 055. This engine was taken out of service when newer Iarnród Éireann 201 Class locomotives were introduced. This train engine is very big! It is about 15.5 meters (51 feet) long and 4.25 meters (14 feet) high. It also weighs 61 tonnes, which is like 61 small cars!
Bringing such a huge engine into the museum building was a massive job. This locomotive would have cost a lot of money to build, around £100,000 back then. But Sean Browne bought it from CIÉ for a much smaller price, just £1,600, because it was being sold for scrap. On July 7, 1998, the locomotive made its very last journey from Dublin to Castlerea. After that, it was carefully placed inside the Hell's Kitchen bar, which was part of the museum. At that time, it was the only place in Ireland with a full-sized train inside a bar!
Special Railway Items
One of the interesting things you can see at the museum is a "junction staff." This was a special tool used on the railway line that went from Ballaghaderreen to Kilfree Junction. This particular track was the last one in Ireland where steam locomotives were used before it closed in 1963.
A Moment in History
On January 10, 1992, a politician named Seán Doherty, who was a Teachta Dála (a member of the Irish Parliament), gave a television interview in the pub next to the museum. This interview led to the resignation of the Taoiseach (the head of the Irish government) at the time, Charles Haughey.
As of 2012, the pub and bar area at the museum site was reported to be closed.
