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Welcome to the Web Site of The Belfast & County Down Railway Museum Trust
An Associate Member of the Northern Ireland Museums Council Index History of the B.& C.D.R. Locomotives of the B.& C.D.R. Trust's Plans Ballynahinch Branch An
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Publications All photographs on this web site are copyright, and are not to be copied for re-sale.
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======================================================================================================== The Line to BALLYNAHINCH
On 10th September 2008 we celebrated the 150th Anniversary of the opening of the railway from
Comber to Ballynahinch, and 2009 was marked as the 150th anniversary of
the section from Ballynahinch Junction to Ballynahinch becoming a working
branch. Now in 2010 we are commemorating the 60th anniversary of the closure of the major portion of the Belfast & County Down Railway by the Ulster Transport Authority.
We
would invite all railway enthusiasts to join with us to help us to achieve our
objective of restoring the branch line, and a portion of the main line, and indeed, even if you are not an enthusiast, there is much that you
can do to help make this a very successful year.
The Trust has purchased all the tools necessary for the
construction of the line, and has been offered the use of specialized equipment
for the laying of track. Whatever
your particular expertise therefore, there will certainly be something that you
will be able to do. You will
find the full story about the line, and the proposals for its future, on the
pages of this Web Site.
We now need to secure the remainder of the route, and
to raise the funds necessary to purchase the track materials that will enable us
to put the old ‘County Down Railway back on track, so come along and join us,
and participate in the restoration of a very special railway.
You will be made most welcome. ==================================================================================== Opening
of the Line to Ballynahinch Reprinted
from: The
Belfast Newsletter of 11th September 1858 The
extension line of this company from Comber to Ballynahinch is now open for
passenger and goods traffic. The
time of departure and arrival of the several trains appears to have been
carefully fixed, so as to accommodate parties resorting to the various markets
and fairs, as well as passengers to Dublin, and by the several steamboats to
Liverpool, Fleetwood, Glasgow, &c. The first passenger train left Ballynahinch yesterday, at forty-five minutes past 7 o’clock, with a good number of the inhabitants of the locality, who availed themselves of the railway for the purpose of attending Belfast market. W. R. Anketell, Esq., Chairman of the County Down Railway Company, came up to Belfast by this train, in order to see that all the arrangements were properly carried out. At the junction at Comber it was met by the train which left Newtownards at ten minutes past eight o’clock, and the carriages from both places were then attached in the usual way, and the train arrived in Belfast at forty-eight minutes past 8 o’clock, the time advertised. All the arrangements were well carried out, and gave entire satisfaction. The
train left Belfast again at 9 o’clock, for Ballynahinch and Newtownards, when
Mr. Ward, secretary to the company, and Mr. Carlisle, traffic manager, proceeded
by it to see that everything was properly carried out.
Three trains left Ballynahinch during the day, the first, as we have
stated, at forty-five minutes past 7 o’clock, the second at twenty-five
minutes past 10 o’clock, and the third at forty-five minutes past 5 o’clock
in the evening. The trains
from Belfast were at 9 o’clock, twenty minutes past 4 o’clock, and fifteen
minutes past 7 o’clock. Coaches
to Downpatrick, from Saintfield, ran very regularly yesterday, in connexion with
the trains, and so did those from Ballynahinch to Newcastle. We have no doubt that this will prove a highly remunerative project to the company, and there can be no question of its importance to the fertile and thickly-populated district through which it passes, as well as to the inhabitants of Castlewellan, Newcastle, Kilkeel, &c. Photo: Beyer, Peacock & Co.
– Courtesy Museum of Science and Industry 2-4-0 tank engine of the type built for the B.& C.D.R. by Beyer, Peacock & Co. of Manchester in 1858, and probably used on the Ballynahinch branch. =========================================================================================================
Copy of Time Table for the opening of the Ballynahinch line in 1858. The original is in the Trust's collection
The train on the right is the main line train to Newcastle. To the left the engine of the Ballynahinch Branch train has just run round its carriages and is backing up to them for the journey to Ballynahinch. ========================================================================================================== The Ballynahinch Branch
The
Trials and Tribulations of
the Ballynahinch
Branch – 1943/44 The
three-mile long branch line from Ballynahinch Junction to Ballynahinch did not
have its sorrows to seek during 1943 and 1944.
The story of the branch line during that period has been extracted from
the General Manager’s Reports for the period, which are now safely in the
possession of the Trust. Our
story begins on 5th January, 1943 when an up Military train stopped
at the water tank at the Belfast end of the Ballynahinch Junction platform at
some time after 8.00am. The
driver, having replenished the engines water supply, failed to properly secure
the water column leaving it foul of the branch platform road, with the result
that on arrival of the branch train, the Diesel engine No. 2, when going forward
to run round its train, came into contact with the swan neck of the water
column, smashing it and also breaking two columns.
Damage was caused to the bottom of the tank and to the casing of the
Diesel locomotive. The cost
of repairs was estimated to be about £160. The
next incident appears to have been on 30th March, 1943 when 4-4-2T.
No. 18, in charge of the 8.05a.m train from Newcastle to Belfast, failed at
Ballynahinch Junction because of a broken side block. As a result of this failure there was a fifty-eight
minute delay to the early morning train to Belfast. On
Saturday 24th April, Diesel engine No. 2 failed at Creevyargon Halt
when working the 2.15p.m. train from Ballynahinch to the ‘Junction.
This failure was due to the mechanism driving No. 3 exhaust piston
fracturing, causing serious damage to the internal parts of the engine.
As a result the engine had to go to Harland & Wolff in Belfast for
the power unit to be lifted out, the work being estimated to take between four
and six weeks. Problems
continued when, on the morning of 12th June, the Station Master’s
house at Ballynahinch Junction went on fire.
The fire, which is believed to have started in the roof in the vicinity
of the chimney, was extinguished by Ballynahinch Fire Brigade, but not before
two bedrooms and a portion of the roof were destroyed.
Apparently the Station Master succeeded in saving all his furniture. At
the next Board Meeting on 30th June, following the fire, the
Directors agreed to make a contribution of £10 to the National Fire Service in
Ballynahinch as an acknowledgement of their speedy response, which prevented the
building from being totally destroyed. Diesel
engine No. 2 was in trouble again on Sunday 27th June, when it failed
due to the eccentric drive of No. 7 piston running hot.
As a result the engine had to be hauled back to Belfast for repair. Regular
reports to the Directors show that Mr. Louden McCoubrey, the Station Master at
Ballynahinch, was off ill from 30th June, 1943, and frequent reports
to the Board chronicled his condition.
On 3rd November it was reported that there had been no
improvement in his condition and that he had again been confined to bed.
A further report on 30th November advised that he had returned
to his home in Ballynahinch, and although he was confined to bed he was making
progress and the doctor expected that he would be able to resume duty towards
the end of December. On
9th February, 1944 the Board were told that Mr. McCoubrey was
examined by Dr. Turkington, and was transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital,
where he had all his teeth extracted, and was brought back home to Ballynahinch.
Dr. Hamilton advised the Company on 4th February that if Mr.
McCoubrey could rest for a further week, and then go about things quietly, he
should be able to resume duty by the end of the month. On
8th March the General Manager reported to the Board that, “Mr.
McCoubrey had now been off sick for eight months.
He is now moving about for a short time each day and there is every
possibility that he may be able to resume duty in another fortnight”. We also learn that Mr. McCoubrey received full
salary for the first four months of his illness, whilst for the rest of the time
he was granted an allowance of £3 per week until he resumed work. Whilst
Mr. McCoubrey was off sick the Ballynahinch Branch continued to struggle from
one problem to the next. At
about 9.0pm on 12th October, 1943, a fire broke out in the Signal
Cabin at Ballynahinch Junction. The
services of Ballynahinch National Fire Service and Saintfield National Fire
Service were requested and the fire was extinguished at 10.10pm. The interior of the cabin was badly damaged, as well as
the signalling arrangements and the tablet instruments. Most of the signaling arrangements had been restored
within a week of the fire, and other fittings of the cabin were renewed as time
permitted. Signalman
Hawthorne was on duty in the cabin when the fire broke out, and it was concluded
that the fire had started where three tins of petrol were stored in the pit at
the bottom of the cabin, but what started the fire was not clear. The following day, 13th October, the Diesel engine No. 2 was in trouble on the branch line yet again when it failed at 12.50p.m. A steam locomotive had to be sent from Belfast to work the branch whilst a fitter from Belfast attended to the disabled Diesel. It was repaired and returned to service the following day.
Diesel Locomotive No. 2 at Ballynahinch Junction just before the line closed. No.
2 failed yet again when a fan belt broke as it was due to work the 5.50pm train
from Ballynahinch on Christmas Eve, 1943.
A bus was requisitioned to operate the service, following which a steam
engine was sent from Belfast to resume services on the branch.
The Diesel was attended to by a fitter sent from Belfast, and resumed
work at 2.00pm on Boxing Day. In
the General Manager’s report of 29th December, we learn that Mr. Rice, the
Station Master at Ballynahinch Junction had attained the age of 65, and that the
question of his retirement be considered by the Board.
In fact Mr. Rice did not retire until 1949, just before the line closed. As
we entered 1944 the fortunes of the branch seemed to show little improvement.
On the morning of 7th January, a rake of empty Great Northern
coaches, which was on its way from Belfast to Ballynahinch to form an Up
Military Special, became derailed on the branch line just beyond the end of the
Ballynahinch Junction platforms. The
last two coaches of the train (Nos. 379 and 441) became derailed, resulting in
the Branch Road being blocked until the coaches were re-railed.
This necessitated the branch services being maintained by the engine
pushing the carriages of the branch train in one direction during the earlier
part of the day. A subsequent
investigation by the company’s Engineer concluded that the derailment was
probably caused by some defective sleepers on this part of the branch line. There
appear to have been no further major incidents involving the branch, but the
Diesel engine No. 2 continued its regular sequence of failures, firstly on 8th
March, when the rear portion of the blower gave trouble and it was unable to
work the 3.15pm branch connection from the ‘Junction to Ballynahinch.
It was taken to Belfast for repair, and a steam loco sent to the branch
to maintain the service. Again
on the evening of 6th April a leading spring link broke at
Ballynahinch, and a steam substitution was required until the engine was
repaired the following day. Finally,
No. 2 disgraced itself again on 17th July when working the 6.45pm
train from Ballynahinch to Ballynahinch Junction.
This time it failed at the 18¼ Mile Post due to part of the engine going
on fire. The cause of the
problem was traced to some welding that had come away on an exhaust flange,
causing the hot exhaust gasses to ignite the vapour which is inherent in this
type of engine. The train was
hauled to Ballynahinch Junction by a steam locomotive, resulting in a delay of
22 minutes, which was confined to the one branch train.
Yet again, No. 2 was replaced by a steam locomotive until repairs were
carried out.
And
so ends the saga of eighteen months of turmoil on the branch.
We don’t have the General Manager’s reports for the rest of the year,
but one can only hope that the next year or so were not to see a continuing of
the problems and misfortunes that were experienced during 1943 and 1944.
Great Southern Railways 2-4-2T No. 430 at Ballynahinch Junction during the Second World War.
Ballynahinch Station, with Diesel Loco No. D1, in the early 1930s.
========================================================================================================== All photographs on this web site are copyright, and are not to be copied for re-sale.
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