Episode 3 Walk the Line

For me, trains are about getting from A to B, but there are people

of all ages who love the romance of the golden age of the railway.

When the first train left Belfast for Lisburn in 1839,

it changed our lives for ever.

Fast, dangerous and exciting, the railway sped up

the pace of industry, commerce and communication.

At one time, almost everyone in the country lived within

five miles of a station.

People who'd never been out of their home town or village could

take a trip to the city or spend a day at the seaside.

I'm much too young to remember all that, but I've spoken to people

up and down the country who can't understand why most of

our railway network was abandoned almost 50 years ago.

I want to find out what the attraction is,

to see if there's any trace left of these old lines - any hidden

history to be found in some of the places they passed through.

And that brings us to tomorrow. Temperatures will rise

to about 18 or 19 degrees for many of us.

Then, as we look ahead towards the rest of the week

and into the weekend, plenty more dry weather to come.

Well, there you are.

That was the weather. Not looking too bad at all.

Perfect for getting away from the weather desk

for a few days to walk the line.

The railway age in County Tyrone lasted for more than a century,

from 1858 to 1965. And that main line between Portadown and Derry,

via Dungannon and Omagh, became known by generations of railway users

as the Derry Road.

But it's from here, in Dungannon, that I start my walk today.

And my route around County Tyrone takes me from Dungannon

to Donaghmore, Pomeroy, Carrickmore,

Beragh, before branching off at Omagh to Fintona and Bundoran Junction.

These rolling hills once formed part of a huge estate

belonging to Lord Northland.

When the railway line from Portadown reached Dungannon in 1858,

the station was initially based outside the town.

And that's because Lord Northland

refused to allow the railway to pass over his land.

He didn't want to look out from his magnificent mansion

and see - and I quote - a monster belching smoke!

He thought the noise and smoke would damage his grounds.

So, Lord Northland insisted that a 700-metre tunnel was bored deep

within a cutting, to allow the train line to continue into Dungannon.

The mansion is gone, and so are the rails, but that tunnel

is just about accessible through 50 years of thick overgrowth.

It's mystical here, deep under the forest canopy, and hard to believe

a busy train route ever cut through this dense woodland -

but it did. And there's the proof.

I'm glad I saw the tunnel before it sinks forever

back into the landscape.

The past is recorded on this landscape in rural Tyrone.

The railway route stretches out in front of me -

the form of the trackbed still identifiable.

This track was once one of Ulster's most important railway routes,

and the little stations of Annaghmore,

Donaghmore, Pomeroy, Carrickmore, Sixmilecross and Beragh

were among the aristocracy of railway centres, daily witness to mainline

express trains, local services and evening and night goods trains.

The arrival of the railway to this part of County Tyrone allowed

local industry to flourish and export their goods to markets

around the world.

One such company was Brown's Soap and Candle Works of Donaghmore,

who were perhaps best known for their Colleen Shampoo

and McClinton soap brands.

The company was set up in 1820 by David Brown,

but it was his son, James Brown, who took over in the 1850s,

that brought the company its most success.

My next stop is shrouded by tall trees and hidden from sight.

All traces of train track and platforms long since gone,

but the station house remains.

Once, trains arrived to this station with cargo from Poland and Germany

for the soap factory, and when the trains left, they were stocked up

with exports for faraway places - America, Australia, New Zealand.

This is Donaghmore station, and it's sad to see it now.

But to my eye, it's strangely beautiful and atmospheric -

and nature is reclaiming it!

The soap factory closed in the early '50s,

and, ten years later, this once-busy station also closed its doors.

Once past Donaghmore,

the train begins its long, slow climb to Pomeroy.

Ulster's railway routes pass through some of the most beautiful scenery,

and County Tyrone is no exception.

Pomeroy has been claimed to be the highest station

on the whole Irish standard gauge network.

Just outside the town, rails reach a height of 171m above sea level,

and I know a man who can confirm or challenge that claim.

Charles Friel is a founder member

of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland.

He's been taking, collecting and archiving pictures of Irish railways,

so they will not be lost to future generations.

-Hiya, Charles.

-Hello.

-How are you?

-Fine, thank you, how are you?

-Not too bad. Good weather for taking a few photographs.

-It is, yes.

I'm trying to record what is still here

50 years after the whole thing closed. It's amazing what's left.

-Still standing in one piece, at least.

-Still there - built to last.

Fact or fiction, Charles -

is Pomeroy the highest station on the standard Irish gauge network?

Yes, it is.

It's the highest bit of... Just west of here is

the highest bit of track on the Great Northern system.

There was a higher bit between Armagh and Castleblayney,

but that only lasted until 1923.

But after that, this can claim to be the highest standard gauge

-bit of track in Ireland.

-What kind of challenges would that have posed?

Well, the railways, they didn't mind going round curves,

but they don't like climbing hills.

You've a huge climb from Dungannon to just west of here

and then it's a fall all the way.

But for a driver driving a train, that meant that leaving Dungannon,

the engine had to be in pretty good order.

You'd a long climb to get to the summit.

And then the firemaster has to manage his fire

and water levels and all that sort of stuff,

and the driver has to make the best use of the steam

and get the train up the hill, depending on how heavy it is.

It wasn't unknown sometimes for the train to be heavier than

he thought it was. That was another trick they played on each other.

So for a driver, each day was a challenge.

The railway had an important role in connecting people,

but it also has a bigger role in the social impact, in communities.

Yes, yes. The lines were built for a mixture of the farm traffic

and agriculture produce.

We didn't have much mineral traffic in Ireland -

coal, steel, that kind of stuff - but we had a lot of people.

Sadly, a lot of people made their journey on the new railway,

which came in after the famine, on their way to the ports to emigrate

to Boston, New York, wherever. That was a bit sad.

But it also brought in a lot of holiday makers.

A lot of Scotch people would come across to Northern Ireland.

A lot of them travelled over this line heading up to Donegal.

It had a huge impact socially, and not just in...

Before the railways came, every parish priest in Ireland

had his own idea when noon was, when the bell was rung.

When the railway came, we had to have Dublin time,

which was known in this part of the world as railway time.

And every morning, the first train to Dublin took a nine o'clock signal

and that was translated watch to watch,

all the way across the system.

And it wasn't until during the First World War,

the Great War, that we standardised with Greenwich Mean Time.

Until then, Dublin time was 25 minutes behind.

So if you landed at Dun Laoghaire, or Larne, you had two clocks -

one showing London time, one showing Dublin time.

You've taken countless photographs and you've written books.

-Why do you do it all?

-It's a hobby that becomes a way of life.

It's an interest that just has so many facets to it.

The social impact, the economic impact of it arriving,

of it being there, and then after it closed.

My great joy is finding photographs from the time

that have now been unearthed after many, many years.

People unearthing photographs that haven't been seen for 50, 60 years.

Charles has photographs to take, and I have walking to do.

My route continues past Carrickmore, Sixmilecross, to Beragh.

These small stations dotted around the countryside

were witness to everyday life.

Trains passed up and down the line with exports,

imports, travellers, and even 12th of July revellers.

The straggling trackbeds have become buried in this landscape.

The odd bridge here and there, a line of trees between the drumlins,

just about marking the course once taken by the railway.

It's hard to imagine that this stretch of grass

was once a mainline railway -

a key intercity transport connector, as they'd call it today.

That is, of course, until you come across something remarkable.

Just north of Beragh station, a distant signal still stands sentinel,

its arm in the correct position as a warning for trains

to slow down for the station up ahead.

And that station up ahead is still a bit of a walk for me.

This was once Beragh station. It's now a private house.

But from the bridge, I can still see a railway connection -

the signal box.

In 1965, the Stormont government implemented the recommendation

of the infamous Benson Report

to close the rail route between Portadown and Derry,

spelling the end of the Derry Road.

Author, publisher and Omagh native Tom Ferris recalls

"the trains long departed".

How important was this line?

Well, this was a major transport link for County Tyrone.

It opened in the early 1860s

and sadly closed on Valentine's Day 1965.

This was an economically important line to many people, wasn't it?

Very much, vital to many people who lived along the course of the line.

It provided the only realistic form of transportation for both

goods and passengers for the best part of 100 years.

For example, in terms of agriculture,

farmers could export their cattle to markets in England using the trains.

Omagh, for example, was a garrison town,

so when the battalions were being changed at the camp,

they would come and go by train. And people going to schools, colleges,

the only realistic way of going about that was using the trains.

WHISTLE BLASTS

And for factories in the area, it really opened up the market.

That's right. Right up to the end.

Two of the big factories in Omagh - Scotts Mills,

who produced both oats for human consumption and animal feeds,

and what we called the "Nestles" factory, we should say Nestle.

They used to produce lots of condensed milk and, as a kid,

I remember seeing the scrap tin, which was being recycled,

sent in wagons up to Belfast and glinting in the sun

at Omagh station - a memory I have 50 years on.

The closure was proposed by Henry Benson in his infamous report.

His brief was simply to say, how do you make the railways pay?

And the logic of the 1960s, you close a bit more down

and get towards the Holy Grail - railways making money.

What Benson didn't take into account was the collateral damage

to the lives of the people and economy of Tyrone.

You must remember, even in the '50s and '60s, cars were common,

but still, very few people owned cars.

And all these people

and their goods were being thrown onto inadequate roads.

So the railway imposed on very many aspects of social and economic life

in places like Tyrone.

Kid who were interested in railways were way ahead of the game

when it came to Omagh's entertainment world,

because, of course, all the films

from the two local cinemas came by train.

If you were roaming around the station,

you might find a burrow that contained these shiny cans of films.

A quick glance at the side of those

would tell you what programmes were in the local flea pits

the week after, long before it was published in the local papers.

I leave Tom reminiscing about happy railway times.

The line may have long gone, but its memory and presence linger.

But after the railway route was closed, a train did pass down

this line again - the irony being,

it was to pick up a cargo of dismantled railway track.

This line did continue past Omagh to Derry, but I'm taking this route

to my next stop to find out more about a unique form of transport.

I'm heading towards the small village of Fintona,

and one of the most charming of railway oddities.

Rail services began to run to this part of Tyrone in 1853,

but the rail link stopped about three quarters of a mile short

of the required distance.

As early as 1854, a horse-tram was introduced to connect

the town of Fintona with Fintona Junction.

The tram - known locally as "the van" - resembled a Wild West stagecoach,

with crude ladders up the side for access to the top deck.

First- and second-class passengers travelled inside,

while third class stayed on top, exposed to the elements.

For the next 104 years, passengers were ferried by horses

who sedately plodded up and down the branch line,

providing a connection with the station and village.

Ash was thrown between the sleepers to provide a soft path

for the horse to walk easily along the track.

And all the horses - whatever their gender - had the same name!

-When did this tramway come into existence?

-70 years ago.

-And how long have you been on it?

-41 years, sir

How many horses would you have had in that time, about?

Five or six, I'm not too sure.

I know this one is called Dick, have you pet names for the others?

-They are all Dick, sir.

-All Dick?

-Yes.

Then you can't make any mistakes.

The equine locomotive remained in use until the rail system closed

and tram and Dick went into retirement.

And moving on from Fintona Junction to the last stage of my journey -

Bundoran Junction.

This is the end of the line for me -

Bundoran Junction in Kilskeery, County Tyrone.

This was once a major junction for the Great Northern Railway

They closed on 1st October 1957.

But I'm glad to see the station house still survives.

It's quiet and peaceful today, but this wasn't always the case.

Historian Alan Devers is here to tell me about this once-busy junction.

-Alan, how are you?

-Hello, you're very welcome here to Bundoran Junction.

-It's certainly changed, hasn't it?

-Oh, it has.

But it's still much the same as it was in railway times

with the rhododendrons and the peace and quiet and the birdsong.

BIRDSONG

Up to 1957, there could be moments of frantic activity here

when up to three trains could be in the station at one time,

because you would have had a train from Enniskillen arriving,

going to Omagh, a train arriving from Omagh, heading for Enniskillen,

and at the same time, a train heading off for Bundoran.

This station really was an interchange point.

The local traffic would have been extremely light,

because Kilskeery is just a small village,

so there would have been very few locals to use the train.

Most people simply arrived by train and left by train.

You'd be very disappointed

if you were using the train for the first time.

You arrive at Bundoran Junction, but Bundoran is 30 miles away.

I know, it seems a misleading term, doesn't it? Very much.

The problem was that this was the nearest point from the mainline,

so the branch ran off from here, but it went through Irvinestown,

Kesh, Pettigo, Belleek, Ballyshannon, and finally Bundoran.

So it was the gateway, if you like, to Donegal.

So many trains ran to Bundoran, particularly during the summer.

Trains would have run, not just from Enniskillen, but from Omagh,

from Londonderry, even from Belfast.

So you'd a constant procession of excursions

and the famous Bundoran express ran on this route.

It wasn't an express in terms of speed,

because it took about five hours,

so it was actually a reasonably slow train,

but nonstop through Northern Ireland.

The line was still surprisingly busy when it closed.

In fact, here at Bundoran Junction,

work was being done as late as July and August 1957

on re-laying track and sidings just under the bridge here.

So it's unbelievable.

You could get off the train here, go in and get yourself a drink.

But there were some quirky requirements when it came to alcohol.

Yes, the Railway Licensing law was very strict on this one.

There had to be at least two trains in the station

at the time for them to be able to sell you alcohol.

Otherwise, they had broken the law.

Now, the police force in the '50s were much more strict

than they would be nowadays,

because the last refreshment-room lady who was here

was told by the local police sergeant

that his two constables could watch

from the bridge here above us, and if she was caught selling alcohol

when there wasn't two trains in the station, there would be trouble.

Ivor Spence's father worked as local traffic manager

on the Great Northern Line, and, as a young boy,

he often came with him to this station,

but he hasn't been back in over 50 years.

Back in 1945 - and that's a long time ago - my father was promoted

as a district traffic inspector on the old Great Northern Railway.

It was number four district, known as the Old Irish Northwest.

And it ran from Enniskillen Junction outside Dundalk,

right through Enniskillen,

Omagh and up to Derry, and as well as the branch line down to Bundoran.

How does it feel to be back here after all this time?

Well, it's mixed emotions, because there are ghosts around here

of times past, but still exciting because you can still feel

the vibration of trains passing, can't you?

Smell the steam and the hot oil.

But, having said that, it is quite changed

with the overgrowth of the trees and everything.

It was a much more expansive place, as I remember it,

but then I was a smaller person, as well, in those days.

But it is lovely to be back.

I always thought that Bundoran Junction was a magical place.

You had the excitement of the Bundoran branch

heading down to the Atlantic Ocean that side.

You had Enniskillen on this, Omagh there, and on up to Derry.

So there's a lot of good things going on.

What are your favourite memories?

Well, I suppose one of the most favourite memories

that I have involves the station master, Mr Moore.

I was hanging about on the station platform here one day,

and Mr Moore asked me if I'd be interested in going

into the house to see him making the violin.

He very kindly brought me into his kitchen

and explained how he set out the templates,

how he steamed the wood.

He must have had an instrument there already completed, because he played

a couple of tunes and obviously he was a very good fiddler.

Something that I'd forgotten, actually, completely,

until a month ago, when I was in Enniskillen and I called into

Headhunters to look at the artefacts there pertaining to the railway.

And here I was shown a violin

that somebody had brought in and said that it had been

made by a former employee of the Great Northern Railway.

-That was the original violin?

-As far as we can tell, that was the violin.

So, as everything in life goes in a circle, so I'm back in

Bundoran Junction again, the violin is here, and this is where it had

been made by a gentleman and his wife who I knew so many years ago.

VIOLIN PLAYING

All the railway routes I've travelled -

from Retreat in County Antrim to Bundoran Junction in County Tyrone -

have their own personalities,

their own story to tell.

I hope you've enjoyed walking the line as much as I have.

Until next time, bye-bye.