The Finn Valley Railway Company was incorporated on 15 May 1860 with capital of £60,000 (equivalent to £7,120,000 in 2023).

[1] The Chairman of the directors was The 4th Viscount Lifford, whose seat was Meenglass Castle, just south-east of Ballybofey, and the Deputy-Chairman was James Thompson Macky of the Bank of Ireland in Derry.

[2] The other directors were: The other offices of the company were: A 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) gauge rail line between Stranorlar and Strabane was opened on 1 October 1863.

The directors entered into a contract with the Irish North Western Railway to work the line for a period of 10 years.

The line from Stranorlar to Strabane was reconstructed to (3 ft (914 mm)) gauge shortly afterwards.