Cookstown railway station (NCC)

Cookstown railway station was one of two stations serving Cookstown in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland.

Cookstown
General information
LocationCookstown
County Tyrone
Northern Ireland
Coordinates54°38′47″N 6°44′27″W / 54.646311°N 6.740879°W / 54.646311; -6.740879
Platforms1
History
Original companyBelfast and Ballymena Railway
Post-groupingNorthern Counties Committee
Key dates
10 November 1856station opened
28 August 1950station closed to passengers
2 May 1955station closed to goods

The Belfast and Ballymena Railway (BBR) opened the station on 10 November 1856[1] as the terminus of an extension to their existing Randalstown branch line. In 1860 the BBR became the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway, which would go on to be absorbed by the Midland Railway in 1903, becoming the Northern Counties Committee (NCC).

In 1879, the Great Northern Railway (GNR) reached Cookstown by way of Dungannon and Stewartstown. Though located next door to the BBR station on Molesworth Street, the GNR station was completely separate. A rail connection between the two stations existed, but for transfer of goods wagons only. There were no through passenger workings.

It was closed to passengers by the Ulster Transport Authority on 28 August 1950 and to goods on 2 May 1955.

The Italianate station building, designed by Charles Lanyon, is made of sandstone. After closure it lay derelict until 1977, having been listed the year before. Today, it is used as a Chinese restaurant. Two further NCC railway buildings survive in Cookstown, with the red-brick Stationmaster's house built in 1910 and 1897-built lamp shed also being listed.[2]

Routes edit

 
A 1904 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (top left) railways in the vicinity of Cookstown
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Moneymore   Belfast and Ballymena Railway
Cookstown Junction-Cookstown
  Terminus
Cookstown   Great Northern Railway
Goods Wagons Only
  Terminus

References edit

  1. ^ "Cookstown (NCC) station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  2. ^ "Historic Building Details". Retrieved 20 June 2018.