It’s not all about trains. It never was.
Over the weekend, Ken Fox, Donncha Cronin and I made an exploration of abandoned Irish railways in counties Carlow and Wexford.
We began at Bagenalstown and worked our toward Wexford.
I find long abandoned railways inherently compelling, but sometimes difficult to convey in pictures.
This is a selection of images from my FujiFilm XT1 on the Bagenalstown to Palace East route, a line shut to traffic in the 1960s. In some places structures, bridges and rights-of-way remain, in others the line has been reclaimed and there’s virtually nothing left to see.
These photos are to convey the aura of the closed line, I’ve made no effort to place them in geographical order.
![](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Old_line_to_Palace_East_at_Goresbrige_DSCF4811.jpg?resize=474%2C316)
![](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Old_line_near_Bagenalstown_DSCF4792.jpg?resize=474%2C316)
![](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Palace_East_on_line_to_Macmine_Jct_DSCF4865.jpg?resize=474%2C316)
![](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Palace_East_on_line_to_Macmine_Jct_DSCF4864.jpg?resize=474%2C316)
![](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Old_line_to_Palace_East_at_Goresbrige_DSCF4818.jpg?resize=474%2C316)
![](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Old_line_to_Palace_East_at_Goresbrige_DSCF4816.jpg?resize=474%2C316)
![](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Old_line_to_Palace_East_near_Bagenalstown_DSCF4807.jpg?resize=474%2C316)
![](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Old_line_to_Palace_East_near_Bagenalstown_DSCF4797.jpg?resize=474%2C711)
![](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Old_line_near_Bagenalstown_DSCF4794.jpg?resize=474%2C316)
In tomorrow’s post, I’ll cover the visual highlight of the line.