Ballycastle Railway was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railway line which ran from Ballycastle to

Ballymoney Ballymoney ( ga, Baile Monaidh , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a small town and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated in ...

, both in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

History

Ballycastle Railway opened in October 1880 and ran from Ballymoney, on the

Belfast and Northern Counties Railway The Northern Counties Committee (NCC) was a railway that served the north-east of Ireland. It was built to Irish gauge () but later acquired a number of narrow gauge lines. It had its origins in the Belfast and Ballymena Railway that opened t ...

(BNCR), later

Northern Counties Committee The Northern Counties Committee (NCC) was a railway that served the north-east of Ireland. It was built to Irish gauge () but later acquired a number of narrow gauge lines. It had its origins in the Belfast and Ballymena Railway that opened to ...

(NCC), main line to

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, to Ballycastle. It was never a very profitable enterprise and closed down for a period in 1924, until rescued by the NCC, which took it over completely. Services mainly consisted of three return journeys each day, taking between 50 minutes and an hour. At the start there were three Black Hawthorn 0-6-0ST engines and two Kitson 4-4-2T engines arrived in 1908. Initially carriages were of the compartment type painted two shades of brown, until largely displaced by LMS-designed corridor carriages transferred from the Ballymena and Larne Railway in 1933. The Ballycastle Railway closed in July 1950.

Nationalisation and closure

Under the terms of the

Transport Act 1947 The Transport Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6 c. 49) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Under the terms of the Act, the railway network, long-distance road haulage and various other types of transport were nationalised and came under ...

the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

, the NCC's parent company, was nationalised by the British Government on 1 January 1948. The NCC (and the Ballycastle Railway) was thus briefly owned by the

British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...

. This was only a temporary measure and in 1949 the NCC was transferred to the

Ulster Transport Authority The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland from 1948 until 1966. Formation and consolidation The UTA was formed by the Transport Act 1948, which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board (NIRTB ...

(UTA) – owned by the Government of Northern Ireland. The UTA soon embarked on a major programme of railway closures, notably including much of the

Belfast and County Down Railway The Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland (later Northern Ireland) linking Belfast with County Down. It was built in the 19th century and absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948. All but th ...

. The Ballycastle Railway was one of the casualties; the UTA closed the line to all services on 3 July 1950.

Route

Ballymoney railway station Ballymoney railway station serves the town of Ballymoney in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. History Ballymoney station was opened by the Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Portrush Junction Railway on 4 December 1855. The station was rebui ...

Dervock railway station Dervock railway station was on the Ballycastle Railway which ran from Ballymoney to Ballycastle in Northern Ireland. History The station was opened by the Ballycastle Railway on 18 October 1880. It was taken over by the Northern Counties Commi ...

, *

Stranocum railway station Stranocum railway station was on the Ballycastle Railway which ran from Ballymoney to Ballycastle in Northern Ireland. History The station was opened by the Ballycastle Railway on 18 October 1880. It was taken over by the Northern Counties ...

, *

Gracehill railway station Gracehill railway station was on the Ballycastle Railway which ran from Ballymoney to Ballycastle in Northern Ireland. History The station was opened by the Ballycastle Railway on 1 December 1890. It was taken over by the Northern Counties ...

, , opened 1 December 1890 *

Armoy railway station Armoy was a station which served Armoy in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was located on the Ballycastle Railway, a narrow gauge railway line which ran from Ballycastle to Ballymoney, entirely in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The track g ...

, *Balleeny Siding, *

Capecastle railway station Capecastle or Cape Castle is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, between Armoy and Ballycastle. It is part of the Causeway Coast and Glens district. Transport Capecastle railway station opened on 1 February 1882, cl ...

, , opened 1 February 1882 *Ballast Pit, *Tow Viaduct, *

Ballycastle railway station Ballycastle railway station was on the Ballycastle Railway which ran from Ballymoney to Ballycastle in Northern Ireland. History The station was opened by the Ballycastle Railway on 18 October 1880. It was taken over by the Northern Countie ...

, ''Route MPs, trainweb''
/ref>

History

Nationalisation and closure

Route

See also

Other narrow gauge railways in Ulster

References

Further reading