SLOW, LAZY AND NEVER COMFORTABLE: THE OLD RAIL LINE THAT’S GETTING A GREENWAY
Tenders have been invited for design work on the proposed new cross-border walking and cycling greenway on the route of the former Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway, the SLNCR. John Bromley looks at the history of the railway which connected Sligo with Enniskillen and further afield
IT was known locally as the ‘Slow, Lazy and Never Comfortable Railway’ but the SLNCR (Sligo Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway) provided a vital railway link for this region for almost 80 years, transporting passengers and freight between Sligo and Enniskillen and linking with other railways to bring them further afield. It transported all sorts of goods, including butter to Belfast, flagstones from Glenfarne mountain to the Harland and Wolff Shipyard and at one time around 65,000 to 70,000 head of cattle a year (many of those mustered at Collooney which was a vital hub for the livestock trade).
It had a colourful, if not very profitable history and had the distinction of being the last independent, standard-gauge railway in Ireland and remained privately owned throughout its history, from its opening in 1879 until its closure in 1957.
Because it crossed the border it could not be nationalised by the government here, when almost all the railways on the island were brought under government ownership in the 1940s and 1950s.
Indeed, it was the creation of the border which was to play a major part in its demise. While after partition the new Free State government favoured the continuation of railways, the new Northern Ireland parliament in Stormont placed a great emphasis on developing road transport and closed many railways.
The company was also unusual in that it did not number its steam locomotives like other railways but gave them names, usually after local places, such as Lough Gill, Lissadell, Hazelwood and Glencar.
The SLNCR had only one main line which ran from Enniskillen, through stations at Florencecourt, Belcoo (which was also called Blacklion station), Glenfarne, Kilmackelly Halt, Manorhamilton, Lisgorman, Dromahair, Ballintogher, Ballygawley to Collooney (which had three separate railway stations). It switched to the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) at Carrignagat Junction to complete the journey to Sligo.
The SLNCR opened as far as Belcoo in 1879,Manorhamilton in 1880, Collooney in 1881 and Carrignagat Junction opened in 1882, completing a line of about 43 miles (69 km). There were a number of proposals to connect Sligo with Enniskillen after the Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway (L&ER) was completed in 1859, linking Enniskillen with Derry. A Londonderry, Enniskillen and Sligo railway was proposed that would have run from Enniskillen via Manorhamilton direct to Sligo and the Enniskillen and Bundoran Railway (E&BR), which opened from Bundoran Junction to Bundoran in 1868, had government approval to continue from Bundoran to Sligo, but failed to do so.
A section on the history of the railway included in the Lissadell Papers (held in the Northern Ireland records office) records that “the impetus for the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway arose principally from prominent residents and landowners at the Sligo end, anxious to bring the benefit of rail transport to the intervening areas of Counties Sligo and Leitrim, and to provide an outlet for livestock to Derry and Belfast in addition to that in Dublin offered by the Midland Great Western Railway”. “The possibilities of ironstone or iron ore traffic, and traffic from the coalfields, in the Lough Allen area also figured in the prospects of the line.” The Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway Act was passed in the British Parliament on August 11, 1875. It authorised “a railway 42 miles, 1 furlong, 9 chains in length, commenced by a junction with the Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland, in the townland of Carricknagat in the parish of Ballysadare in the county of Sligo, through the counties of Leitrim and Cavan, and terminating by a junction with the Irish Northern-western Railway, in the townland of Breandrum in the parish of Enniskillen in the county of Fermanagh”. Share capital of £200,000 (which would have the buying power of around €26m now) was authorised, with borrowing powers up to £100,000. The capital was raised solely by private means, without any state assistance. Financial assistance was sought in the form of “baronial guarantees” (support from local rates) from the counties of Sligo and Leitrim.
The papers record that among the names listed in the Act (though not among the guarantors, whose guarantees ranged from £5000 to £1000), were the MP Sir Robert Gore Booth and Henry William Gore Booth of Lissadell. Henry Gore Booth, by then Sir Henry, was later appointed chairman of the company.
It required a further act of parliament in August 1879 to allow for an increase of the authorised capital by £40,000 (with additional borrowing powers of £20,000) to allow for the purchase of further rolling stock, and to pay for altered works which were anticipated at the request of the Great Northern Railway and MGWR at the junctions with their lines.
Finance continued to be a problem for the company and debts became such that in June 1890 a receiver was appointed and the Treasury was seriously considering the enforced sale of the line to the MGWR and GNR, who were willing to jointly buy it for £120,000.
However it is recorded that “such a move would have aroused considerable opposition not only amongst the proprietors of the line, but also from traders in the Sligo area who felt they were benefiting in both rates and service from the competition existing between the MGWR and SLNCR”. “The scale of the opposition can be gauged by the fact that a deputation to the Treasury to argue against the sale of the line consisted of the Mayor of Sligo and no less than 15 members of parliament,” the papers record.
The railway survived as a separate entity and continued on for a total 78 years despite various threats to its existence.
During those years it was a busy line, becoming very much part of the fabric of life for the communities through which it passed and the businesses who relied on it to transport goods. Because of its route from Sligo to Enniskillen it was very much affected by the Border, following the partitioning of the country and the creation of Northern Ireland 100 years ago this year, in June 1921.
The Lissadell papers record that the “real effect of the partition of Ireland upon the SLNCR was the disturbance to established flows of traffic”.
“Some reluctance, known as the ‘Belfast Boycott’, to trade across the border had its effect upon SLNCR traffic in 1922, although it was not until April 1, 1923 that a customs barrier was set up.”
During the Civil War the SLNCR suffered some attacks. On March 7, 1923, a carriage and van forming part of a passenger train were destroyed by fire when running between Manorhamilton and Glenfarne, while 10 days later Carrignagat Junction signal box was burnt down.
A cease-fire was called on April 27, 1923 and the Irish Free State admitted malicious injury claims for damage caused during the disturbances.
But partition wasn’t the only threat to the railway. In common with all railways, it also had contend with growing competition from road transport.
The Lissadell papers record that “in 1928 there arose the first possibility of a competing bus service between
Enniskillen and Sligo by the Irish Omnibus Company, but in the following year it was reported that the Northern Ireland authorities had refused permission for the service on the Enniskillen-Belcoo section.
“By 1932 the possibility arose again, and in 1933, with the railway companies in disfavour as a result of the strike that year, the Central Omnibus Service was providing a through bus between Enniskillen and Sligo.” However, during World War 2 the fortunes of the company picked up when the British government, recognising the value of the railways for the war effort, provided subsidies.
The Lissadell papers also record: “The years of the 1939-1945 War emphasised the international position of the SLNCR, a state of war applying only in Northern Ireland, although the effects were of course felt across the border, where the situation was described as the ‘Emergency’.” Because of the war the railway was helped by the shortage of petrol which reduced road activity but it was affected by a shortage of steam coal and was often down to having supplies for just two weeks.
The problems caused by the border was particularly apparent at the Belcoo-Blacklion station (which was actually in Northern Ireland at Belcoo) and a customs post was established there. However, the presence of customs officers did not totally ensure that excise duty was paid on all goods. In an Irish Times article in 2017 on the closure on the railway, Blacklion shopkeeper Harold Johnston recalled how during rationing times, smuggling was rife as many people crossed the Border to purchase goods that were either unobtainable or rationed in Northern Ireland.
He said: “Engine drivers were coaxed – or maybe even bribed – to slow down near railway crossings where goods could be dropped off at the side of the line and quietly collected later by their owner.
“It was common practice for ladies to wrap lengths of fabric, or even the odd blanket, round themselves under a concealing winter coat.
“One lady, when asked what was under her coat replied coyly, ‘I’ll tell you in six months’. ”
He said that underwear concealed all sorts of groceries such as tea, sugar and butter and he recalled how “one woman smuggled a turkey wrapped up in a shawl, boldly walking up the platform past the customs officer trying to, as she put it, bring the baby’s wind up”.
Harold Johnston also recalled very many sad farewells at Belcoo station as family members emigrating said farewell to parents and family members.
And he remembered “lads enlisting to fight in the Great War also left from Belcoo, little knowing of the carnage that was to meet them at the front”. And according to another report the closure of the railway in 1957 left the village of Belcoo with another problem.
“Since the closing of the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway the village of Belcoo has the unpleasant experience for four days each week of having hundreds of cattle punched in the pens on the main street. The filth left behind is unsanitary, dangerous and unhealthy. “Before the closing of the Sligo Railway between 65,000 and 70,000 cattle passed through from the west to Enniskillen each year. The same number are still passing through but although most are on cattle lorries they have to be disembarked and put into the pens to be punched.”
It wasn’t just trains that ran on the line. The SLNCR also operated railbuses and railcars, which were introduced in the 1930s and 1940s as a more cost-effective way of dealing with smaller passenger numbers.
One of those was Railcar B (which is preserved by the Rail Preservation Society of Ireland at Whitehead, Co Antrim). It was built by Walker Brothers of Wigan for the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway in 1947, costing £10,500 (£400,000 in today’s money).
Railcar B sat 59 passengers, with 15 holding straps provided for standing passengers.
The new railcar was offically brought into service on September 4, 1947 and a report from the time stated: “Many compliments were paid to the company, especially since it maintained its services last winter while few trains ran in Eire. The Secretary of the Sligo Chamber of Commerce, Mr JA McLoughrey received the greatest ovation when he recalled that the railway had on occasion been named the ‘Slow, Lazy and Never Comfortable’ but a more fitting title today would be the ‘Steady, Lovely and No Complaints’.”
But in another 10 years the railway was closed. The line closed on October 1, 1957, principally because the Great Northern Railway was forced by the Northern Ireland government to close its line through Enniskillen. It was one of the railways that the Great Southern Railways in the Republic did not absorb in 1925 because it crossed the border with Northern Ireland and at the time of its closure was the last privately owned railway surviving in Ireland.