J3979 : Railway signal, Holywood

taken 10 years ago, near to Holywood, Co Down, Northern Ireland

This is 1 of 2 images, with title Railway signal, Holywood in this square
Railway signal, Holywood
Railway signal, Holywood
Signal CL408 on the line to Belfast at Holywood Railway Station.
The Belfast – Bangor railway line

The Belfast & County Down Railway (BCDR) opened its railway line from Belfast (Queen’s Quay) to Holywood on 2 August 1845. This line was extended to the seaside resort of Bangor by the Belfast Holywood & Bangor Railway (BHBR), which opened on 18 May 1865. The BCDR absorbed the BHBR in 1884.

While double-track throughout, the BCDR always regarded its Bangor line as a branch off the main line to Newcastle. However, creation of the nationalised Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) in 1948 changed matters somewhat as only the Belfast – Bangor line survived the mass closures implemented by the UTA in 1950. The old BCDR Bangor line received a further blow in 1965 when it was isolated from the rest of the Irish railway system by closure of the Belfast Central Railway line from Ballymacarrett Junction (east of Queen’s Quay station) to Central Junction, just west of the former GNR(I) Great Victoria Street station (see: LinkExternal link ). However, on a positive note, introduction of UTA built MED railcars gave Belfast – Bangor the distinction of being the first main railway line in the British Isles to be operated solely by diesel traction.

In 1976, the Belfast Central Railway reopened as part of a project to replace both the GNR(I) Great Victoria Street station and the BCDR Queen’s Quay with a “central” station situated in east Belfast. Today (2013), Belfast – Bangor is an important part of the Northern Ireland Railways’ system, with services to Bangor originating from Portadown or the reinstated Great Victoria Street station. While diesel locomotives may occasionally visit with engineer’s trains, all passenger services are in the hands of Spanish built 3000 or 4000 class railcars.

For photographs of the former line to Newcastle, please see: LinkExternal link . For photographs at Queen's Quay station and Central Services Depot, please go to: LinkExternal link

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Rossographer and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Loading map... (JavaScript required)
Grid Square
J3979, 343 images   (more nearby search)
Photographer
Date Taken
Tuesday, 15 April, 2014   (more nearby)
Submitted
Thursday, 17 April, 2014
Geographical Context
Coastal  City, Town centre  Railways 
Place (from Tags)
Holywood 
Subject Location
Irish: geotagged! J 394 790 [100m precision]
WGS84: 54:38.4247N 5:50.4308W
Camera Location
Irish: geotagged! J 394 790
View Direction
SOUTH (about 180 degrees)
Clickable map
+

Other Tags
Railway  Railway Signal  Holywood Station 

Click a tag, to view other nearby images.

Image classification(about): Supplemental image
This page has been viewed about 58 times.
View this location: KML (Google Earth) · Google MapsExternal link · Bing MapsExternal link · Geograph Coverage Map · geotagged! More Links for this image
Background for photo viewing: White / /
NW N NE
W Go E
SW S SE
thumbs up icon
[Mark
You are not logged in login | register