Bring Drumboe home

Bring Drumboe Home!



It's current condition!


Drumboe was Donegal's most famous steam engine and in this year 2020, just after last year the 60th anniversary year that Donegal Station and the Railway lines closed (1959), we want to leave a lasting legacy by restoring the engine and "bringing Drumboe home" to Donegal Town. 

Donegal Railway Heritage Centre is a registered charity. Our overall vision is to develop and promote a robust and dynamic railway heritage facility, which will be of interest across a wide section of society but particularly to the local community. We wish to keep the history and heritage of the County Donegal Railways alive through the running of the Museum and the economic restoration of rolling stock and traction.

We aim through Crowd Funding and grant applications (as well as direct donations) to raise much-needed funding to cover the cost of restoring the engine, transporting her back to Donegal Town, site preparation, building a canopy cover, mounting and lighting her.  The total project costs came to €86,600, but thankfully we have now raised just over €81,000 through a generous grant for Donegal Local Development CLG through their Leader funds, as well as many donations including a single donation of €20,000!

We have just over €5,000 to raise, which is still a lot to us (particularly in this challenging year with two Covid lockdowns) but we are nearly there!

Any help towards bringing this iconic engine back to Donegal would be greatly appreciated!


The top photograph shown was taken kindly by Fred Dean some time ago; sadly the engine looks very different and needs major restoration.  The bottom photograph is of Drumboe in 1958 at Strabane just a year before the lines closed. There are no original Donegal steam engines left in the County, and this is even more tragic when you consider that County Donegal had the largest narrow-gauge network in the British Isles! 

Drumboe will become the centrepiece to our museum, and not only make it a more attractive draw for locals and visitors alike, thus making it more sustainable but it will have a 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"

For more information check us out on our Facebook Page or at  www.donegalrailway.com  or contact  [email redacted] directly. 

Thank you!