Táilte Tours of Ireland has announced that it is to fund the production of a new badge for the Cavan & Leitrim Railway as part of a fundraising drive to restore Kerr Stuart steam engine Dromod.

The investment will be worth nearly €2,000 to the Cavan and Leitrim Railway and is the second fundraising badge that has been funded by Táilte Tours after it made a similar donation to the Downpatrick & County Down Railway last month.

The badges are expected to be delivered to the the Cavan & Leitrim Railway so that they will be available ready to go on sale from late October onwards at the South Dublin Model Railway Club’s Model Railway Show. The new badges and other new products will also be available for purchase from the Táilte Tours website and at other shows. Táilte Tours plans to make similar donations to other Irish heritage railways over the coming year.

Táilte Tours is named after one of Ireland’s largest steam locomotives, the third member of Great Southern Railways’ 800 Class 4-6-0 steam locomotives, No.802 Táilte, and like other members of the class was named after a Celtic goddess. It is a voluntary-led committee that was formed in 2022 to raise funds for and awareness about Ireland’s smaller railway heritage groups, which they achieve through organising rail tours and promotional sales stands at events throughout Ireland.

Further information about Táilte Tours can be found at www.tailtetours.com

Speaking at Dromod, Michael Kennedy, CEO of the Cavan and Leitrim Railway said “This is excellent news for us. We are working hard to bring Dromod onto home turf, and the money raised will help us do just that.”