IRRS - Ardnacrusha Train Photos

We’re delighted to share this collection of rare photographs of the Siemens-Bauunion train which ran directly to Ardnacrusha station in the 1920s. Also featured are photographs of the first passenger train ever to operate to Ardnacrusha, organised by the Irish Railway Record Society (IRRS) on Saturday 1 September 1962.

With sincere thanks to Ciarán Cooney, volunteer archivist at the Irish Railway Record Society, for sharing this wonderful story and accompanying images and video footage with us. All images and video courtesy and © Irish Railway Record Society. For more on the IRRS, visit the Irish Railway Record Society website.

Black-and-white photograph showing a construction railway train transporting earth along a temporary track, with excavation works and workers visible in the foreground. Siemens-Bauunion train at Ardnacrusha, c1929

Black-and-white photograph showing a steam construction train hauling loaded wagons along a temporary railway through a large earthworks site, with smoke rising from the locomotive. Siemens-Bauunion train at Ardnacrusha, c1929

Black-and-white photograph showing three narrow-gauge steam locomotives standing side by side in a dockyard. Siemens-Bauunion train at Limerick docks, c1926

Black-and-white photograph showing a steam construction train hauling tipper wagons through an excavation site, with concrete foundation blocks and earthworks visible alongside the track.

Siemens-Bauunion train at Long Pavement, Limerick city, c1926

Black-and-white photograph showing a steam excursion train stopped beside the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric power station, with passenger carriages and visitors visible alongside the track. IRRS train at Ardnacrusha, 1 September 1962

Black-and-white photograph showing a steam train carrying visitors along the railway beside a waterway near Ardnacrusha power station. IRRS train approaching Ardnacrusha power station, 1 September 1962

black-and-white photograph showing a steam excursion train travelling beside the hydroelectric power station, with steam rising from the locomotive as it passes along the waterside track. IRRS train leaving Ardnacrusha power station, 1 September 1962

Black-and-white photograph showing a steam excursion train travelling along a railway line beside the river, with hydroelectric station buildings and electrical infrastructure visible in the foreground and background. IRRS train leaving Ardnacrusha power station, 1 September 1962