[2] The SL&NCR Company was incorporated in 1875, and its construction started at a junction with the Great Northern Railway (GNR) at Enniskillen and proceeded westwards.

The E&BR accepted defeat and in 1878 Parliament passed an Act allowing it to abandon its commitment to extend to Sligo from Bundoran.

[5] In 1895 the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway (WL&WR) was extended to Collooney, forming junctions with the MGWR and SL&NCR.

[4] This gave access to a larger area of western Ireland, whose cattle exports formed a significant part of the SL&NCR's traffic.

The company had the use of only two turntables: its own at Enniskillen and the Midland Great Western Railway one at Sligo, and so tank engines were the preferred option.

Its first two main line locomotives were a pair with an 0-6-2T wheel arrangement, Pioneer and Sligo, built by the Avonside Engine Company of Bristol, England and delivered in 1877.

In 1879 Beyer, Peacock & Company of Manchester, England had supplied the South Australian Railways K class, which was built to the Irish gauge and designed to run on lightweight track.