New NIR station in Derry

[GNRi1959]

First time through new station today in Derry, lovely interior.

Edited November 5, 2019 by GNRi1959

[airfixfan]

Despite all the money spent on the NW Transport Hub  it becomes a ghost town after 17.30 at night with passengers to/from the bus link negotiating a building site en route. The train timetable remains unchanged with no improvements to the rail service to/from Derry with the exact same journey times. There are no improvements to connections to/from Dublin services at Belfast Central and there are still no cheap web fares available to stations on the Dublin line from any station on the Derry line in 2019.  That is after trying to navigate the impossible new Translink website!

[NIR]

It's on the wrong side of the river and the railway goes to the wrong places. For all my fondness for the NCC that's kind of hard to fix. Foyle Road GNR would have been the more natural rationalisation for Derry with the NCC cut back to Coleraine or Ballymena, more reflective of the actual flows and centres of gravity.

Edited November 12, 2019 by NIR

[jhb171achill]

Is that the original train shed roof?

I agree that the GNR line would have been better - more hinterland, and Omagh could have fed in traffic from even as far as Enniskillen. While freight would have still gone, it's tempting to think that the Derry / Donegal traffic would have lasted longer and been heavier with Strabane as an interchange. The former CDR narrow gauge station, if levelled, would have provided ample ground for a container yard. Local traffic Derry - Omagh might have been a little more feasible too.

And 171, 461 or 4 with an RPSI set on the Carrickmore bank????

Strabane and Omagh would at one stage have been familiar to 071, 141 and 181 classes... maybe 121s too.....  (Idea for layout: Strabane, 1995?)

[Dhu Varren]

It certainly is the original roof JHB. See pictures below.

   

 

The building to the right of the 80 Class is the rear of the two road engine shed, which was alongside the platform. There was always at least one open door from the platform which allowed a look inside the shed from the safety of the platform.

Strabane and Omagh would not have been familiar to the 071 class, as they did not make an appearance until more than ten years after the closure of the Derry Road. 

[jhb171achill]

2 hours ago, Dhu Varren said:

It certainly is the original roof JHB. See pictures below.

   

 

The building to the right of the 80 Class is the rear of the two road engine shed, which was alongside the platform. There was always at least one open door from the platform which allowed a look inside the shed from the safety of the platform.

Strabane and Omagh would not have been familiar to the 071 class, as they did not make an appearance until more than ten years after the closure of the Derry Road. 

Superb stuff - wish it was still like this.

My point about the 071s was in relation to a layout based as Strabane would be in 1995......had it survived.

[Galteemore]

26 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Superb stuff - wish it was still like this.

My point about the 071s was in relation to a layout based as Strabane would be in 1995......had it survived.

And Dr Cox’s collection of Donegal stock would still have been there! 

Edited November 12, 2019 by Galteemore

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, Galteemore said:

And Dr Cox’s collection of Donegal stock would still have been there! 

Probably!

[airfixfan]

That is a rare photograph of Erne in Letterkenny before it was scrapped illegally in 1968.

[Noel]

Its over 20 years since I travelled to Londonderry by train. Traveling back to Dublin on the Enterprise but it broke down at Portadown on the Friday of Drumcree. Relief as I spoke in German or English mit ze german akzent vile I vas vaiting in ze paked staßion fur ze next replacement train tu Dubhlin, pretendung tu be a tourist rather than a southern fenian.   Incredibly scenic on the North coast from Belfast to Londonderry.

Edited November 15, 2019 by Noel

[Galteemore]

2 hours ago, airfixfan said:

That is a rare photograph of Erne in Letterkenny before it was scrapped illegally in 1968.

Here’s another....http://www.sct61.org.uk/zzorr333

 

look carefully - it’s behind the bus! 

Edited November 15, 2019 by Galteemore

[jhb171achill]

3 hours ago, airfixfan said:

That is a rare photograph of Erne in Letterkenny before it was scrapped illegally in 1968.

Illegally? What was the background?

I knew it was scrapped there and in that year, but I assumed that since the CDRJC still existed, and still owned it, and it was on their land.....it must have been them that scrapped it. Is that not correct?
 

[airfixfan]

Firstly the CDR bus in the photo ORR 333 was bought in May 1965 but not added to the CDR bus fleet list until 1966. Did some checking about Erne which was cut up in January 1968 after being repainted in Swilly green a few years earlier. Suspect the CDR did not act as it was not their property and at the same time Railcar 16 and some wagons were scrapped at Stranrolar yard which was being cleared for redevelopment. Hammond Lane from Dublin carried out the scrapping in both cases. This is what prompted the formation of the NWIRS to rescue Railcars 12 and 18 from Stranrolar where they were in secure storage along with steam loco number 6..

Edited November 16, 2019 by airfixfan

[jhb171achill]

5 hours ago, airfixfan said:

Firstly the CDR bus in the photo ORR 333 was bought in May 1965 but not added to the CDR bus fleet list until 1966. Did some checking about Erne which was cut up in January 1968 after being repainted in Swilly green a few years earlier. Suspect the CDR did not act as it was not their property and at the same time Railcar 16 and some wagons were scrapped at Stranrolar yard which was being cleared for redevelopment. Hammond Lane from Dublin carried out the scrapping in both cases. This is what prompted the formation of the NWIRS to rescue Railcars 12 and 18 from Stranrolar where they were in secure storage along with steam loco number 6..

If it wasn't their property, do you know whose it was? I did think it was theirs to scrap (unfortunately).

[airfixfan]

All the ex CDR stock had been purchased by a Dentist from the USA Dr Cox who failed to raise the funds to ship it to the USA. After the retirement of Mr Curran the CDR Manager in 1965 this stock was less protected. There was also a coach and red van in covered storage at Stranrolar. All the stock that survived here ended up in the still closed Foyle Valley Railway Museum in Derry. Although railcar 18 escaped to Fintown in 2003.

[NIR]

Seems that the old 'new station' has now been knocked down. I will miss it, strangely enough.

[airfixfan]

The old 1980 station was demolished last week. However the clearance work has led to an issue with subsidence on the sea wall forcing NIR to close platform 1 in the new hub from lunchtime this Monday.

[connollystn]

There is an Oxford Die-Cast 1/76 model of the CDR bus mentioned in this thread.

[PorkyP]

On 11/15/2019 at 5:16 PM, Noel said:

Its over 20 years since I travelled to Londonderry by train. Traveling back to Dublin on the Enterprise but it broke down at Portadown on the Friday of Drumcree. Relief as I spoke in German or English mit ze german akzent vile I vas vaiting in ze paked staßion fur ze next replacement train tu Dubhlin, pretendung tu be a tourist rather than a southern fenian.   Incredibly scenic on the North coast from Belfast to Londonderry.

Reminds me of the scene in Derry Girls where the Tommy Tiernan character pretends to be an Australian tourist when the car gets stuck in an bunch of marching Orange men...

[NIR]

2 hours ago, PorkyP said:

Reminds me of the scene in Derry Girls where the Tommy Tiernan character pretends to be an Australian tourist when the car gets stuck in an bunch of marching Orange men...

Funnily enough that's one of my bittersweet memories of the old 'new' station, on our way back to England being dropped there in a Free State taxi while the Apprentice Boys were marshalling up...

Edited December 13, 2019 by NIR

[NIR]

Some photos from this morning showing track and signalling

From the Belfast direction the single line becomes a bidirectional double line

 

...then a crossover leads to a turnout to the main platform road and completes a runaround loop

 

Now back in England

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by NIR

[StevieB]

Thanks for those two photos. Let’s hope both the train service and usage justify the investment in the new station. It’s an interesting re-use of the old train shed.

Stephen