RAILWAYS.INDUSTRIALHERITAGEIRELAND.INFO

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RAILWAYS IN IRELAND PART TWO

Martin Bairstow

Published by the author, 53 Kirklees Drive, Farsley, Leeds.

ISBN 978 1 871944 33 47 Stg£14.95

This publication is the second of 4 titles planned to cover the railways of the island of Ireland. The style is similar to Irish Standard Gauge Railways by Tom Middlemass, however, the author has arbitrarily divided the island into four regions. The book is a brief history of each of the public railways in the area covered, which for Part Two is the North East of the island, from Dundalk up to Coleraine and Derry.

Overall, the standard of this work is higher than that of the first book in the series, aided by the interspersal of anecdotes into the dry historical facts. The publication is let down by spelling mistakes, such as 'Dargan attemping to introduce "flex" farming in the South of Ireland' and also by the non-referencing of sources.

Other points that I noted were:

The map of railways makes no differentiation between lines covered in the book and connecting lines not included in this part (showing the latter in a different style would have been better);

The author repeats the oft mis-stated existence of a tunnel on the Ballycastle Railway at Capecastle - the structure is merely a long bridge;

Pages 74-96 are taken up with shipping, which is not of railway interest;

Whilst Belfast Tramways are covered, the subsequent retention of the overhead power lines as trolleybus routes was not mentioned.

The number of photographs in the book is substantial with many topographical images including stations and other built heritage features.