Railway Photos

St Johnston Station 5.35 pm G.N.R. train from Derry to Strabane September 1960

It depicts the railway cabin at St Johnston.  Until recently the remains of the cabin could still be seen.  The house next the train in the picture still exists and was the original station.  The photograph depicts the 5.35 pm train at St Johnston Railway Station.  This train was coming from Derry and headed for Strabane.  This Railway line known as the Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway opened on 19th April 1847.  It was originally a single line with loops until 1904 when it became a double line all the way to Derry.  To cut costs it returned to being a single line in 1932.  From then only a loop connected it to the village of St Johnston.

The Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway opened in 1847.  St Johnston was along the route.  If you wanted to travel from St Johnston to Derry you paid 4d for third class travel.  7d for second class travel.  8d for first class travel.  The Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway later became G.N.R. (Great Northern Railway (Ireland).  The G.N.R. closed on 15th February 1965.  The burgeoning of road transport was a factor in this closure but nevertheless the closure aversely affected the economy of the towns of St Johnston and Carrigans leading to a huge diminishing in the number of local shops and businesses.

The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) Train comes into Carrigans, 1965

Station House 2008

Tickets for the rail were given out from this window

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