
The Ballycastle Railway
Second Edition containing additional material from Norman Johnston
It is true to say that County Antrim cradled the Irish narrow gauge railways, and in those early days its colourful north coast was soon linked to the hinterland by the Ballycastle Railway.
For over forty years the Ballycastle Railway Company struggled for existence and, but for the benevolence of the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway and its successors, the Ballycastle Company would have succumbed long before it did.
This updated edition of Dr Patterson's 1965 book, with additional material by local railway historian Norman Johnston, provides an opportunity to retell the story of the crowds on Lammas Fair Days, a runaway train, snowbound carriages and the men who worked this 16-mile railway. New information and many additional photographs help to tell the story of what, despite its many trials and tribulations, became the last UTA-operated, passenger- carrying narrow gauge route.
A description of what remains of the railway in 2006 provides a useful and interesting addition to the 1965 book; you'll be surprised what can still be seen, fifty-six years after closure.
Softback, 21x26cm, 158 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Good/Very Good
ISBN: 9781904242499
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