Exciting plans are afoot to bring Donegal’s most famous steam engine, ‘Drumboe’, back to its home county.
The iconic red engine ceased operation in 1959 when Donegal Station and the Railway lines closed. Now, on the 60th anniversary, the Donegal Railway Heritage Centre is hoping to bring Drumboe home through a crowd funding initiative.
The campaign was launched on St Valentine’s Day to encourage people to show their love for Donegal and support the fund.
Niall McCaughan, Manager of the Donegal Railway Heritage Centre stated: “Having recently started in my new position as Manager in this cultural gem, one of the most frequent asked questions is when is Drumboe coming back to Donegal?
“We feel that we can mark this anniversary by raising the funding to take this engine back to Donegal Town. We have also made it easy for people to make a contribution, whether it’s €5 or €5,000 with a dedicated Crowd Funding site; any donation is greatly appreciated!”
Drumboe
The campaign launch took place at Harvey’s Point, where a large model of Drumboe built by the Heritage Centre is located.
The centre aims to raise €60,000 in total to cover the cost of restoring the engine, transporting Drumboe back to Donegal Town, site preparation, building a canopy cover, mounting and lighting. Much of the engine is in poor condition, but there are plans to make Drumboe into a jewel of Donegal Town again.
Drumboe in its current state
Mr McCaughan said: “Drumboe will become the centrepiece to the museum, and will make it not only a more attractive draw for locals and visitors alike, thus making it more sustainable, but it also will have a much wider positive impact on the local community and County, for the economic regeneration of the region, tourism, heritage and pride! Be part of Donegal’s story, and help us bring Drumboe home.”
Contributions can be made to the GoFundMe page here: www.gofundme.com/bring-drumboe-home