Derry Central Railway

Derry Central Railway Act 1877
Derry Central Railway Act 1877
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for conferring further powers upon the Derry Central Railway Company, and for authorising the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway Company to raise additional capital and to subscribe towards the undertaking of the Derry Central Railway Company; and for other purposes.
Citation	40 & 41 Vict. c. cxii
Dates
Royal assent	23 July 1877
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Derry Central Railway was an Irish gauge (1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)) railway in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

Main Line
← to Londonderry│to Belfast→

Coleraine│Macfin

River Bann

Curragh Bridge Halt

Macosquin River Rhee

Aghadowey River Wee Agivey

Inveroe Burn

Draperstown

Railway

Belfast & Ballymena Rly

Magherafelt

History

The line was authorised by the Derry Central Railway Act 1877 (40 & 41 Vict. c. cxii), and constructed from Macfin Junction (between Coleraine and Ballymoney) to Magherafelt, serving Maghera, Upperlands, Kilrea, Garvagh and Aghadowey. Although nominally independent, the line was funded by the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway.

It opened in 1880, was 29.25 miles (47.07 km) long, but was never a financial success.

In September 1901 it was taken over by the Northern Counties Committee for the sum of £85,000.[1]

In 1936 there were two trains a day from Belfast to Coleraine via this line and one other train from Magherafelt to Coleraine, consisting of two coaches and a 2-4-0 compound engine. The track had flat bottomed rails, followed the contour of the land and the only large structure was a lattice girder bridge over the River Bann near Macfin.

Nowadays long after the railways closure and the tracks lifted there are still stations at every town and 8 bridges that once spanned the line still intact.[2]

References

The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland. William Alan McCutcheon, Northern Ireland. Dept. of the Environment. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984
Railway Magazine June 1936 p. 414

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[1] The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland. William Alan McCutcheon, Northern Ireland. Dept. of the Environment. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984

[2] Railway Magazine June 1936 p. 414