The Ballymena, Cushendall and Red Bay Railway was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

railway between

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, making it the List of localities in Northern Ireland by population, seven ...

and Retreat, both in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

, in what is now

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It operated from 1875 to 1940.

History

The railway line was incorporated in 1872, opened in May 1875 and was the first narrow gauge railway in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

to be sanctioned by Parliament. It was essentially a mineral railway which ran for 16 miles from Ballymena to Retreat. It served iron mines in the area, which were connected to the mainline by sidings and branch lines, some of which were owned by mining companies. Initially it was financially successful, but later the market collapsed and in October 1884 it was taken over by 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 which opened ...

(BNCR), the sale having been approved by Parliament on 14 July 1884. In 1886 the first passenger trains were introduced, which terminated at Parkmore, some 2 miles from Retreat. For most of the route from Ballymena trains had to struggle against the gradient taking 50 minutes for the northbound journey and returning in 40 minutes. The summit at Essathohan siding was above sea level, the highest point reached by an Irish railway. To reach the tourist areas of

Cushendall Cushendall (), formerly known as Newtownglens, is a coastal village and townland (of 153 acres) in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located in the historic barony of Glenarm Lower and the civil parish of Layd, and is part of Causeway Coas ...

and

Glenariff Glenariff or Glenariffe ( or ) is a valley in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is one of the Glens of Antrim. Like other glens in that area, it was shaped during the Last Glacial Period, Ice Age by giant glaciers. It is sometimes called the ...

, passengers had to hire road transport from the

Parkmore Parkmore is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region B of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality () is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local go ...

terminus. At the start three Black Hawthorn 0-4-2ST engines were used, but these were replaced by the BNCR. Passengers were transported in tramway type bogie carriages. Passenger traffic ceased in 1930 and goods traffic ceased in 1940.

Route

* Ballymena railway station *

Ballygarvey railway station Ballygarvey railway station was on the Ballymena, Cushendall and Red Bay Railway which ran from Ballymena to Retreat in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. History The station was on the Ballymena, Cushendall and Red Bay Railway route and opened ...

, 2-miles, open for passenger traffic 01/10/1888 to final closure 01/10/1930. * Ballycloughan railway station, 4-miles, open for passenger traffic from 05/04/1886 to 01/10/1930, goods & final closure 03/06/1940. * Rathkenny railway station, 6-miles, open for passenger traffic from 05/04/1886 to 01/10/1930, goods closure 12/04/1937, final closure 03/06/1940. * Clough Road railway station, 6-miles, open for passenger traffic from 05/04/1886, goods, passenger & final closure 01/10/1930. * Knockanally railway station (renamed Martinstown 01/07/1920), 8-miles, open for passenger traffic from 05/04/1886 to 01/10/1930, goods & final closure 12/04/1937. * Cross Roads railway station (formerly Carrowcowan), 9-miles, open for passenger traffic from 01/08/1886. Goods, passenger & final closure 01/10/1930. * Cargan railway station, 11-miles, open for passenger traffic from 01/06/1889 to 01/10/1930, goods closure 07/1923, final closure 12/04/1937. * Parkmore railway station, 13-miles, open for passenger traffic from 01/09/1888. Goods, passenger & final closure 01/10/1930. * Retreat railway station (County Antrim), 16-miles.

References

{{coord, 54.863, -6.278, display=title, region:GB_scale:10000 Closed railways in Northern Ireland Transport in County Antrim Railway companies established in 1872 3 ft gauge railways in Ireland Defunct railway companies of Ireland

History

Route

See also

References