A 59 year-old bus is returning home to Donegal bringing the days of the County Donegal Railways Road Passenger Services back to life.
E152’s return to its old depot at Donegal Bus Garage on Saturday week, August 12th.
The bus will be parked beside the award-winning Donegal Railway Museum to coincide with the launch of Hugh Dougherty’s new book, County Donegal Railways Bus Services.
Hugh is giving an illustrated talk on the book and the CDR’s unique bus services, which replaced the company’s, famous narrow gauge railways in 1960, before being taken over by CIE in 1971.
The talk, which is part of National Heritage Week, takes place at 1.30 pm in the heritage centre, and the bus will not only be on display that afternoon, but will take part in the Museum’s famous Vintage Rally on the following day, Sunday 13th August.
The red-and-cream , single-deck, Leyland Leopard, built in 1964 by CIE at its Spa Road Works in Dublin, was the regular bus for many years on the joint CDR and CIE Donegal,- Killybegs-Glenties-Portnoo service which replaced the trains between Donegal and Killybegs and covered the CDR’s first bus route of 1929, between Glenties and Portnoo.
The bus, which faithfully carried thousands of passengers, locals, tourists, emigrants and returning exiles, and school children, as well as parcels and newspapers, over the route, features in three pictures and two anecdotes in Hugh’s book, and was driven for its whole time in Donegal by the late Mike Meehan of Portnoo. It is now, the last, surviving working bus which ran in County Donegal Railways service.
E152 was saved from the scrapman by Dublin-based, expert, bus restorer, Ian Molloy, who bought the single decker from Bus Eireann in 20001.
Ian has since returned the vehicle to as new condition and it has appeared and been much admired at vintage vehicle rallies in Ireland and England.
Complete with period adverts and Strabane via Convoy and Raphoe, and Ballyshannon slip boards, the bus will be bringing the past to life at the railway heritage centre.
