Dance Trains

Those Showband Days
© Munster Express (O'Keeffe, Dower and Commerford)

From the 1940s right up until 1960, special late night trains ran from Waterford to the Tramore dance halls. The combined train and dance ticket entitled the holder to take one of the trains out to Tramore (running between 8:15 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.) as well as admitting one to the Atlantic Ballroom where dancing went on until 2:00 a.m. in the morning with the last train home at 3:00 a.m.

These so-called 'Dance Trains' have been described as "a right romantic affair" by those who remember them. Many exhausted dancers took the last train back to Waterford, where the station staff added a touch of romance by leaving the carriages in darkness. The last dance train ran on August 23rd 1960.

After the dance was finished a few revellers preferred to take a romantic walk on the beach in Tramore, taking the 7:30 a.m. train home the next morning and telling their parents they missed the last train home and were too tired to walk!

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