New book will celebrate Strabane’s rich railway history

RAILWAY enthusiasts and those who remember a bygone era of train travel in the north west will be enthralled when a new book remembering those halcyon days is launched at Strabane’s Alley Theatre next week.

‘Strabane’s Railways Remembered’ by local author Jim McBride and published by the Donegal Railway Museum will take readers through a 142-year history of train travel, spanning from the opening of the Strabane station in 1847 until its eventual closure and demolition in 1989.

On the night, Jim will give a talk and copies of the book will be available for purchase.

Strabane has always boasted a rich history with the railways.

As a border town, Strabane was a hugely busy station which ran 24 hours a day, six days a week and, at one time, employed over 400 people as trains came through Strabane to all over Ireland, north and south.

The book unveils the history of the station through a wonderful collection of photographs that capture different periods in the stations history, the lines which operated from it and the people who worked on it and travelled through the town.

Recently-appointed manager at Donegal Railway Museum Marty Gilroy has called it ‘an honour’ to be involved with the project.

He stated: “Strabane is particularly significant for us as the station that first connected Donegal with the opening of the Finn Valley Railway’s Stranorlar line in 1863, and that from which the final passenger journey of the County Donegal Railway ran on the 31st of December 1959.

“The photographs in this volume are beautifully evocative of both the era of the railways’ operation and, in places, the state of abandonment and disrepair that was the fate of the buildings and stock after their closure.

“Moreover, the steam locomotive Drumboe that led that final journey and that now takes pride of place in our museum lay isolated in Strabane alongside other Donegal stock for many years until its eventual rescue in 1987.

Mr Gilroy also pointed to the role played by the railway in cross-border matters.

“One of many themes that seem to emerge from this publication is the cross-border connectivity and socio-economic interrelationship that the railways both represent and contributed to in their time; indeed, Strabane Station is fundamental to the story of the Donegal Railways and, in that respect, to the story of the county itself.

“By the same token, however, the book serves to remind us of the sad loss of this infrastructure in the North-West, a loss whose effects we continue to reckon with to this day.”

Although the event is free, booking is essential and can be done so at https://donegalrailway.com/events/strabanes-railways-remembered-the-alley-theatre/ or by calling +353 (0) 74 9722655