About Eliza Doyle
Today is my cousin Katie's birthday and we are going to visit her at her home in Bagenalstown.
Mother says she was born in 1891, so she is ten today.
I am very excited because it is my first time to travel on the train. My mother and my little brother, Jimmy, are coming too.
Bagenalstown (Muinebheag) Railway Station, 1901
Bagenalstown is Eliza's destination. She wants to get off here to visit her cousin Katie, who lives in there. Bagenalstown Station is not as big as Carlow Station.
Image courtesy of Carlow County Library, 2005.
I am very excited because it is my first time to travel on the train. My mother and my little brother, Jimmy, are coming too.
Eliza's Train Journey Begins
Map by James Burke
Map by James Burke.
Map by James Burke.Map by James Burke
Map by James Burke.
Map by James Burke.
Map by James Burke
Map by James Burke.
Map by James Burke.We start our journey at Maganey Station. It is only a few miles from Carlow and is in Co. Kildare.
We buy our tickets at the ticket hatch and wait on the platform. Then we hear the noise of the train coming in the distance and soon we see a lot of steam.
The train pulls in with a hissing sound and comes to a stop. A few people get out. Mother sees our neighbour, Mr Murphy, but we cannot stop to talk because we must board the train. Just two other people get on the train but they are strangers with large trunks.
Preparing the Train for its Journey
The engine driver and the guard get out of the train for a few minutes. They hurry back because more coal must be shovelled in to keep the steam rising and the engine going.
Steam Train
Photo by Rex Murphy 1924, printed in The Railways of Ireland 1975.
Photo by Rex Murphy 1924, printed in The Railways of Ireland 1975.
We have second class tickets and we get into a carriage with a long, leather seat on either side of the big window. There is another passenger in the carriage. It is a man who worked at Carlow Railway Station for many years.
My little brother, Jimmy, wants to sit by the window in order to look out. The window is open and all the smoke and steam is blowing in. It makes us cough.