In the early 1850s, a group of local Quaker entrepreneurs got tired of waiting for a railway to Tramore so they decided to build it themselves. After securing the £77,000 from local business owners, they hired thefather of the Irish railways William Dargan and things got rolling fast. Construction began in February of 1853 and was completed in record time with the final stakes hammered on September 2nd that same year. The 7 ¼ mile track was laid entirely through manual labor and crossed a bog where they had to fell trees to act as trestles. But would people use it?
The businessmen hoped that during the week, people would commute from Tramore to Waterford for work and on weekends the city folk would consider Tramore “a pleasant retreat for the citizens of Waterford and others who assembled there for the benefit of the salt water”. They were right. On opening day, 15th September 1853 over 10,000 townspeople came out to watch the iron horse make its first run. The first real run had actually been the day before – but just for the directors and guests. Like kids on a roller coaster, they insisted on making a second trip before retiring for a banquet. Demand was so great that during the first few weeks the guard had to be called out to prevent riots for the last train leaving Tramore every night.
Not content with overnight success, the directors arranged discounts with Tramore hotels and offered free passes to anyone who would build a new house in Tramore ensuring a steady and long-term ridership. To ensure full trains at all times they offered passage to many local charities. The company continued this into the new century. From 1930 through 1944 they organized special trains to take the poor families to Tramore. On one day alone in 1936 over 2000 kids were transported back and forth to Tramore. They were also given a free meal and on that day enjoyed over 7,000 sandwiches, 600 pounds of sweets, 400 pounds of cooked meat, 350 pans of bread, 180 gallons of milk, 10 boxes of apples, 19 cases of oranges and 400 dozen small bottles of lemonade.
The railway had many unique features. It had no connections to any other rail line in the country, had only one crossing (Bath Street right outside the Waterford station) and all of the original cars were open to the air on the left side. For a time in the 1860s it was also the fastest line in the country clicking along at over 30mph. With no stops and nothing but countryside once they were beyond Poleberry the powerful steam locomotives would routinely make the run in less than 15 minutes.
By the 1920s the Tramore Road had been greatly improved and a bus line had sprung up in direct competition to the rails. The bus charged only 7 pence so the trains cut their fee to 4 pence. As the bus line struggled, the railway company bought it outright and then shut it down completely. Alas, others would eventually take their place and by the mid 1950s with more and more competition from cars and busses the railway was unable to come up with the money to upgrade all of their steam engines to new diesel engines. The railway began to slide into irrelevance despite still doing crisp business. Rail traffic actually peaked in 1952 with trains running hourly 14 times a day. However, by 1960 the CIE, which had purchased the line just 10 years earlier, announced the line would close for good at the end of the year. On the 31st of December with protesters lining the route the final run left Waterford at 1:25 and the final train departed Tramore at 2:10. To avoid demonstrations the last train was never run. Within a few months the tracks were pulled up and shipped off. The only remains of the line are the names of a few streets and the old station in Tramore now used as a visitor’s center.
This cache is placed across the street from the original northern terminus of the line. You are looking for a small black cylinder hiding on the lamppost on the south west corner of the bridge. You’ll find it nestled just into the ivy and easily reachable from the walk. It should even be handicachable! Be sure to set the cache with the opening facing up to keep it dry inside. Enjoy the hunt and history of the area!
All images courtesy of Jack O'Neill, Historian - © Waterford City Library