By 
Seventy-five years after the Omagh rail tragedy, the memories of that dreadful morning still echo through the Flanagan family… one of five households left devastated when the permanent-way men working on the line were struck by the Derry–Belfast train on November 24, 1950.
Charlie Flanagan was 50 when he left his home on the Dromore Road for what should have been an ordinary shift. His daughter Angela, then seven, remembers sitting on the stairs as he said goodbye. Hours later he was among the injured rushed to Tyrone County Hospital. He died the next day.
For his youngest son Leo, just nine months old at the time, the tragedy is something he grew up feeling more than remembering.
“I was only nine months old at the time. Dad was a quiet man who lived for his work and family,” he said.
“Being so young, I didn’t understand what had happened. Over the years the accident wasn’t mentioned much in our house. It was only on the 50th anniversary in 2000 that people started remembering again.”
Charlie had spent 25 years on the railway and had recently been made a ganger-man. His death left his wife to raise four children alone.
“People always asked me was it my father who was killed,” Leo said. “We grew up and did our own thing. But it was very tough for my mother. She was left to raise four children and my granny used to help when things were needed. Thank God she got us reared. Fair play to my mother. She lived for 38 years after my father.”
Leo went on to work for decades in Scott’s Mills in Omagh, and although he never knew his father, he often wonders what life might have looked like had that morning unfolded differently.
“I often wonder to myself what things would have been like if he’d lived. I didn’t know what missing him meant,” he said.
As the 75th anniversary approaches, Leo says the coming commemoration matters deeply.
“The Commemoration next week is very important to keep their memory alive. That was the worst rail tragedy ever here.”
Local historian Tony McGartland has spent years studying the rise and fall of the railway in Omagh and believes remembering what happened is vital.
“There were hazardous fog conditions that morning of November 24, 1950.
“The train basically ran over the five men,” he said.
He explained that the stretch of line where the tragedy occurred – near what is now the Great Northern Retail Park – was close to the old North Cabin, normally staffed by multiple signalmen. In heavy fog, a fogman would also have been assigned to protect workers on the track.
“Normally in heavy fog, a fogman would have been appointed to alert people on the ground,” he said.
“But the fog descended so quickly that morning and it meant no one knew what was happening.”
Visibility was clear when the Derry train departed, but conditions changed rapidly.
“The weather was clear when the train left Derry. As the train reached Newtownstewart the heavy fog descended, and it became almost impossible to see,” he said.
The driver crawled towards Omagh station at a ‘snail’s pace’, unaware that the track ahead was not clear.
“The signals on Brookmount Road giving them clearance to enter the station were not visible,” Tony said.
“So, really and truly, the engine was moving along at a snail’s pace unaware of anything in front of them until a face appeared at the front of the engine and the driver put on the brakes. By then it was too late.”
Omagh station was always busiest between 10am and 10.30am, and with trains converging from Enniskillen, Belfast and Derry, Tony said it had been ‘a multiple disaster waiting to happen’.
As we approach the 75th anniversary, Leo says the day still carries deep meaning for his family:
“Looking back now, it’s just hard to believe that something like this could happen…
“The commemoration next week is very important to keep their memory alive.”
A community-led memorial event will take place this Monday at 2pm to mark the 75th anniversary of the Omagh Rail Tragedy, honouring the five railway workers who lost their lives in 1950.
In preparation for the anniversary, improvements have been made to the memorial site, including the installation of an authentic section of the former ‘Derry Road’ railway line and new interpretive panels developed by the local community.
