Restored railway trolley inspires calls for museum

THE recent restoration of a Great Northern Railway (GNR) trolley has inspired calls for a special museum to be built in Tyrone to capture and preserve interesting artefacts of local history.

The trolley, cleared out of a council storage shed at Gortrush Industrial Estate, Omagh, had been destined for auction before being rescued and restored by workers of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.

Delighted that the trolley was restored to its former glory, Paddy Hunter, who is a self-confessed ‘GNR enthusiast’, hopes that the artefact will be locally displayed.

“Myself and Mark McGrath are working on projects pertaining to the Great Northern Railway heritage in the town,” Paddy said.

“We recently organised the 70th anniversary memorial for the rail tragedy, and we would like to see this trolley on show at the Strule Arts Centre for now until we have a proper collection of railway memorabilia on show locally.

“My own great grandfather William was a porter/carter with the GNR at Omagh in the late 1800s, while his brother, Charles, was a train driver in Belfast. Therefore, it was quite apt that I got to see the trolley that was once used at Omagh,” he added.

“I do believe that there is a great need for the town to recapture its railway heritage: Let’s not forget just how important a hub it was for the town.”

Cllr Barry McElduff has proposed that all available artefacts of the Great Northern Railway are proudly held in an accessible place in Tyrone to honour the county’s rich history.

“Ultimately, we need a ‘Tyrone County Museum’,” Barry said. “There is a strong interest and such a huge appetite in this part of Tyrone for a GNR Heritage Trail going forward, because of so many people’s historic family and community connections to the railway in Omagh, Carrickmore, Sixmilecross, Beragh, Fintona, Trillick and Newtownstewart.

“My proposal is that we audit all the artefacts and landscape features which remain as part of the Great Northern Railway, and that we hold all available artefacts and smaller items in an accessible place for everyone to see and reminisce.

“We know that the Fintona horse drawn tram is in Cultra, and I personally would love to see it housed more locally again.”