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WORK has begun this week on the construction of a section of trackway as part of a new memorial marking the 75th anniversary of the 1950 Omagh Rail Disaster.
The project is taking place at the site of the former Station House in the town. (Video below by Michael Cullen)
Members of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI), based in Whitehead, Co Antrim, have been using traditional tools to lay a stretch of track bearing the crest of the Great Northern Railway. The rails were once part of the old ‘Derry Road’ line.
A special ceremony will be held later this month to remember the five men who were killed when a train from Derry struck them as they worked on the line near Omagh railway station on the morning of November 24, 1950.
Those who lost their lives were Charlie Flanagan, Dan McCrory, John Cassidy, John Cleary and John McCrory.
The men had not seen an oncoming train come around the curved track as there was a heavy fog.
The noise of another train which was sitting in the station also meant they did not hear it until it was too late.
Between them, the five railwaymen left 19 children without a father.
The new section of track has been installed beside the existing memorial, which was first erected to mark the 50th anniversary of the tragedy that deeply shocked the town.
Dermot Mackie of the RPSI said it was an ‘honour and privilege’ to be invited by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council to assist with the project.
“We’ve laid about six metres of original GNR track as a fitting tribute to the men who lost their lives that day,” he said. “We’ve used traditional techniques similar to those they would have used in 1950, which feels particularly appropriate.”
Seven RPSI volunteers travelled to Omagh to carry out the work, which took around two hours to complete. The site will now be prepared for the forthcoming 75th anniversary ceremony.
