Distress at Bushmills Station

[Goldwyn Valley]

No Vandal Attacks but on my last visit there Bushmills station was falling into a terrible state.

There was:

Bent Fences

Unstable Signs

The black background on the station sign had almost turned back to wood.

Either Oil or Coal Dust Given to understand that Tyrone and Shane haven't worked in a while

 

Sorry no pictures due to file limits

This is very serious as the railway seem to have an evitable closure just as every other narrow gauge railway (preserved or not) has in Northern Ireland except the bog railways.

Examples are:

Dr Cox's Donegal Railway Preservation scheme (Stock lay at Strabane)

The NIWRS first museum (Victoria Road)

The NIWRS second museum (Foyle Road)

Shanes Castle

The 2ft line at Cultra (No actual passenger rides occurred)

Don't Ignore This:mad:

[jhb171achill]

This is the same as what happened in Tralee, and may do so again; when you get an outfit like this which is not run by enthusiasts, but as a "business"...

[Garfield]

No Vandal Attacks but on my last visit there Bushmills station was falling into a terrible state.

There was:

Bent Fences

Unstable Signs

The black background on the station sign had almost turned back to wood.

Either Oil or Coal Dust Given to understand that Tyrone and Shane haven't worked in a while

 

Sorry no pictures due to file limits

This is very serious as the railway seem to have an evitable closure just as every other narrow gauge railway (preserved or not) has in Northern Ireland except the bog railways.

Examples are:

Dr Cox's Donegal Railway Preservation scheme (Stock lay at Strabane)

The NIWRS first museum (Victoria Road)

The NIWRS second museum (Foyle Road)

Shanes Castle

The 2ft line at Cultra (No actual passenger rides occurred)

Don't Ignore This:mad:

 

Hi Goldwyn Valley, and welcome to the forum.

 

Have you tried contacting the Giant's Causeway & Bushmills Railway directly for an explanation?

 

Mod note: I'd prefer if we could stay away from pure speculation while the concern is operational and has representatives who can answer queries through normal channels.

[Goldwyn Valley]

Don't know since not much since the new tram arrived expect the model layout was destroyed that winter and I last saw Shane in April 2013. But preserved narrow lines here don't last very long and I think we should save lines instead of build new ones.

[jhb171achill]

I'd love to see that loco in steam again.

 

Does anyone know if they actually do steam it ever these days? I don't think so but would be delighted to be corrected.

[Goldwyn Valley]

A YouTube Video in September 2014 Shows No2 Rory (SCR No4) working a service

[Garfield]

Don't know since not much since the new tram arrived expect the model layout was destroyed that winter and I last saw Shane in April 2013. But preserved narrow lines here don't last very long and I think we should save lines instead of build new ones.

 

Hi Goldwyn,

 

I draw your attention to my moderator's note above, where I ask you to contact the Bushmills team directly to see if you can get clarification from them over the railway's status. Unfounded allegations over the its viability and speculation over possible destruction of items such as model railways, etc. benefits no one.

 

By all means let us know how you get on when you contact them.

[airfixfan]

Museum at Foyle Road in Derry has been left unmanned and abandoned since the end of March 2015 and is surrounded by an air of untidiness and a group of anti-social young people and other dubious groups when I was there a few weeks ago. Also visited the railway at the Giants Causeway at the end of July and was not impressed and the horrible replica tram was in operation that day. The 2 steam engines were in storage and had not been used for a while was the response to a few basic questions from myself.

[jhb171achill]

I'm not keen on that tram either.

 

It's painted in a livery and style reminiscent of the old Causeway tram, therefore some lip service has been paid to the old. But structurally, it resembles a CAF railcar more than a Causeway tram!

 

Both stations are now quite unkempt and especially at Bushmills the whole place needs a serious facelift.

 

I'm not sure these days whether it's partly volunteer operated or not - anyone know? It's website appeals for volunteers, though I was unaware whether they ever had any.