Rail Preservation for Peace - did it work in Ireland?

[70014IronDuke]

Cooking my mushrooms for lunch just now, I was pondering a trip I made to Ulster long ago, and I suddenly realised it was almost exactly 54 years to the day when this occured. A small gang of us met up in Belfast to chase a Railway Preservation Society of Ireland special for a day, possibly two, which went to places around Lough Erne and Ballymena. We might have gone up towards Larne as well, it was a long time ago and i didn't plan the trip myself. This, plus the hazy brain resulting from the overnight trip on the boat from Heysham (via the Belfast Boat Express from Man Vic) and chatting on the boat to one particularly pretty Irish student from Leeds teacher training college to long left me rather shell shocked much of the day.

I think it was double headed at times with the wonderful blue 4-4-0 and an 0-6-0. It's also quite possible one of the LMS-esque 2-6-4Ts took the train for some of the way. It must have been late March or very early April 1970 - possibly Easter weekend. I have no idea what happened to my photos of the trip - they were probably pretty poor in any case.

Anyway, it's not the train details that made me think to post, but rather the fact that - to the best of my knowledge - the Railway Society of Ireland was a joint Republic - Northern affair that ignored the political differences on the island and just got on with their core business - railway preservation.

(At this time, there was little or no terrorist activity. The British Army had not been on the streets long, and - from later reading - since they had largely gone to protect the Catholics from the misdeeds of Protestant militants, their presence was welcomed by the former population.)

I'm sure there were differences of opinion on policy etc, but, at least from a distance (I have absolutely no knowledge of the inner workings of the group whatsoever), The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland could be said to be an instution showing peaceful co-operation across the political divide.

Now I'm sure there were other successful cross=border associations in Ireland, and I'm certainly not holding out much hope for the existence, let alone palpable success, of a possible Railway Preservation Society of Palestine or anything like that, but, for all the ridicule and general abuse that is dished out - or at least used to be dished out - to railway enthusiasts, and especially the spotting community, about being spotty nerds in need of a life etc, it's a wonder I've never heard about 'peace making' via railways.

Just thinking.

 

[Belfastmarty]

As an NI based transport enthusiast of 50 years, I have never seen any 'political' or 'sectarian' element in any of the societies I have been involved in. (Un)surprisingly most people on both sides of the divide can just get on with things where they have a common interest.

Incidentally I think @70014IronDuke would have travelled round Lough Neagh, rather than Lough Erne in 1970s. The railways around Enniskillen and Lough Erne closed in the late 1950s.

 

[WAO]

The mention of the Palestine Railways is very timely. It was IIRC built the army (ours) as a standard gauge widening of the previous Turkish 1.0/1.05m gauge system and was state owned from 1920, well before BR! It connected Haifa through Gaza to El Kantara in Egypt and had the benefit of Sir Felix Pole's advice. When I was last in Haifa, the quayside canopies by the station looked suspiciously GWR!

Like much British Imperial infrastructure work it would have stimulated economic growth, aiding community cohesion. Sadly in the civil war from c1935 onwards it was attacked by both sides and now only the north part exists, in Israel.

The Irish, of both communities, are to be commended for (mostly) keeping their railways, both public and heritage, working.

WAO

 

[Iskra]

I haven’t looked at this topic for some time, but when I did I remember thinking that the Irish railways got off lightly, so I think it worked well in keeping the railway itself from being attacked.

 

[Elwyn]

The railways in NI were attacked by the IRA all the time during the Troubles, particularly on the cross-border line. Often bombs and bomb scares would have lines closed for significant periods of time with the usual RRBs instead. I don’t think all that inconvenience and damage changed anyone’s opinions at all, and we all just got on with it.

 

[Calthrop]

As an NI based transport enthusiast of 50 years, I have never seen any 'political' or 'sectarian' element in any of the societies I have been involved in. (Un)surprisingly most people on both sides of the divide can just get on with things where they have a common interest.

I get the feeling that overall, very many people are -- in anything short of direly extreme circumstances -- more sensible and benign, than might be imagined from accounts of humankind's less attractive tendencies. One's perceptions can be distorted by the phenomenon (not a new one) of news media's focusing heavily on turmoil and evils -- "if it bleeds, it leads" -- folk behaving well and quietly getting on with doing non-harmful stuff, is not reckoned interesting as news.

Pardon asked, for a bit of facetiousness here -- an item about which I have previously posted on the Forums. Have seen a photograph, in I forget which book, of a scene at Ballycastle station in N.I., taken in the last years of the 3ft. gauge line which terminated there (closed 1950). The picture showed station staff at Ballycastle, releasing racing pigeons which were to fly home to County Cork. A pleasant and reassuring thing to see, as of that date: per some widespread perceptions of that "scene", the thing wouldn't have happened -- folk would have refused to comply: "No damned Papist pigeons here, thank you very much !" (and similar corresponding sentiments and behaviour from the other side of the politico-religious divide).

 

[BUTRailcar]

Internally there can be a bit of division between Whitehead and Dublin, some get on (current locomotive teams for example, mostly) but a lot of politics too. There were even slogans painted in the Whitehead mess way back in the day (not in recent times of course).

The 0-6-0 you travelled was probably 186, and the blue 4-4-0 171. The latter is being overhauled and recently did a steam test successfulyy

 

[70014IronDuke]

As an NI based transport enthusiast of 50 years, I have never seen any 'political' or 'sectarian' element in any of the societies I have been involved in. (Un)surprisingly most people on both sides of the divide can just get on with things where they have a common interest.

Well, thanks - that rather backs up my point.

Internally there can be a bit of division between Whitehead and Dublin, some get on (current locomotive teams for example, mostly) but a lot of politics too. There were even slogans painted in the Whitehead mess way back in the day (not in recent times of course).

Whitehead is the HQ of NI Railways, is it? (HAdn't realised that. We did go back to Whitehead to photograph the last weekend of the steam-hauled soil trains a few weeks later.

Having said terrorist activity was minimal, I had a narrow escape on the DMU (I think) back to Belfast when a brick or some such was heaved through the window in the seating bay in front of me. Could have been very nasty had it been heaved just 0.25 seconds later. But it was probably wanton vandalism rather than terrorism.

The 0-6-0 you travelled was probably 186, and the blue 4-4-0 171. The latter is being overhauled and recently did a steam test successfulyy

Now you mention the numbers, yes, I'm fairly sure that is correct.

Incidentally I think @70014IronDuke would have travelled round Lough Neagh, rather than Lough Erne in 1970s. The railways around Enniskillen and Lough Erne closed in the late 1950s.

I think you are correct. Sorry - I mean the bloody big one, west of Belfast - which, annoyingly - I can't see named on the maps I've looked at. I think we probably went to (or close to) Portadown, Lurgan, Lisburn and Antrim - and Ballymena.