Northern Counties Committee

The Northern Counties Committee (NCC) was a railway that served the north-east of Ireland. It was built to Irish gauge () but later acquired a number of narrow gauge lines. It had its origins in the Belfast and Ballymena Railway which opened to traffic on 11 April 1848.

The NCC itself was formed on 1 July 1903 as the result of the Midland Railway of England taking over the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR), which the Belfast and Ballymena Railway had become. At the 1923 Grouping of British railway companies, the Committee became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). After the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948 the NCC was briefly part of the British Transport Commission, which sold it to the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) in 1949.

The BNCR and its successors recognised the potential value of tourism and were influential in its development throughout Northern Ireland. They were able to develop and exploit the advantages of the Larne to Stranraer ferry route between Northern Ireland and Scotland which gained importance in World War II.

Belfast and Ballymena Railway Proposals There had been a proposal by the Davison brothers of Ballymena to build a railway between Belfast and Ballymena in 1836 but this came to nothing due, firstly, to the inability to identify a suitable route out of Belfast that did not include excessive gradients and, secondly, an economic downturn.

However, in 1844, the same promoters, in association with Sinclair Mulholland, William Coates and John McNeile of Belfast drew up a new scheme that included a branch to Carrickfergus. Charles Lanyon was employed to carry out preliminary surveys of the proposed route.

In fact, two routes out of Belfast were surveyed. One was an inland route beginning at the Antrim Road and skirting Cavehill. The other started at the junction of York Road and Corporation Street; it ran north on an embankment across slob land on the western shore of Belfast Lough. To ease the gradient, it was necessary for the line to Ballymena to leave the Carrickfergus branch by means of a trailing junction from Belfast. Lanyon strongly favoured this latter coastal route and reported accordingly at a public meeting in Antrim courthouse on 20 May 1844. A motion was carried that a complete survey of the line was to be completed and that costs were to be defrayed by opening a subscription.

A prospectus was issued in September 1844 with an optimistic review of the financial prospects for the undertaking. There was a good response and capital accumulated steadily from both sides of the Irish Sea. By 1848, the Belfast and Ballymena Railway (B&BR) would have 221 shareholders.

Parliamentary approval

The next stage was to obtain parliamentary approval for the B&BR's original line plus a branch to Randalstown. A bill was duly lodged and came before a committee of the House of Commons in April 1845. Clauses were inserted at the Belfast Harbour Commissioners' request to protect them from possible competition from the harbour at Carrickfergus. The promoters were able to assuage the committee's fears that the works would be heavy and costly and the bill received royal assent on 21 July 1845 as the (8 & 9 Vict. c. lxxxi), "An Act for making a Railway from Belfast to Ballymena in the County of Antrim, with Branches to Carrickfergus and Randalstown".

Building the line Lanyon immediately began preparations for building the line and placed advertisements for tenders for the construction of the railway. The contract was awarded to William Dargan. Orders were placed for rails and sleepers and locomotives were ordered from Bury, Curtis and Kennedy.

Meanwhile, the directors were recruiting staff. A secretary was appointed in 1845, Ellis Rowland was appointed locomotive superintendent in 1847 and Thomas Houseman Higgin became manager in May 1848.

By the spring of 1847, portions of the line were ready for ballasting and, as neither Dargan nor the B&BR had any locomotives, a second-hand engine was obtained from the Ulster Railway to carry out the work. While it had been hoped to open the line in November 1847, this was put back by the need to raise the embankment along the shore of Belfast Lough.

Stations were built along the main line and the Carrickfergus branch. The most impressive was that at Belfast where Lanyon used his architectural talents to create an imposing classical design.

Board of Trade inspections Eventually the line was deemed to be ready for inspection by the Board of Trade on 10 January 1848. Captain Robert Michael Laffan RE carried out the inspection and issued an unfavourable report dated 3 March. He was much concerned that the permanent way was very roughly laid and unballasted in places; neither were there any signals. Furthermore, he deemed that a bridge had been constructed in a hasty manner with the result that, when tested, it exhibited very great deflection. Other defects included poor drainage in cuttings and a lack of mileposts. Captain Laffan's opinion was that it was therefore unsafe to allow the line to be opened.

Lanyon and Dargan were keen to retrieve their reputations and there was a period of furious activity as they worked to correct deficiencies identified in the Board of Trade report. The directors carried out their own inspection of the line on 6 April and felt sufficiently confident about what they had seen to ask Captain Laffan to make a second inspection. This he did and his report of 8 April was more encouraging than the previous one. Although there were some strictures, Captain Henry Drury Harness RE, secretary to the Railway Department of the Board of Trade formally advised the directors of the on 14 April that the railway could be opened for public service. However, authorisation had been sent previously by telegraph and the railway was already at work.

The line opens As soon as the Board of Trade's telegraphic authority had been received, advertisements were placed in the newspapers on 8 April 1848 to inform the public that the B&BR would be open for passenger traffic on 12 April. Because of the delay in starting operations, it was decided not to have an official opening ceremony. However, two special trains ran on 11 April to give members of the press and potential customers a foretaste of railway travel and the railway was in business.

The normal train service was five trains each way with the Carrickfergus Junction (later renamed Greenisland)-Carrickfergus and Drumsough Junction-Randalstown lines being considered as branches. All main line trains had to reverse at Carrickfergus Junction because of the trailing connection there. This was to be an operating problem for years to come.

Because the goods sheds were still incomplete, it was not possible to run goods trains at first but some articles were accepted for carriage by passenger train.

Early accounts The financial results for the first year of operation were very poor due to depressed passenger traffic during the winter season and because of the Great Famine of Ireland with the result that no dividend was paid. Goods traffic increased once the goods sheds and other facilities had been completed and, in an attempt to obtain additional passenger traffic, the company reduced second and third class fares. However, the financial situation remained unsatisfactory throughout the early years and no dividend would be declared until 1850–51 when it was possible to pay a modest dividend of 1%.

Dividends continued at around 1-1% until November 1855 when they rose to a new peak of 5%. Goods traffic had continued to increase gratifyingly although passenger numbers fluctuated.

Cookstown extension

Terminating at a small country town, the Randalstown branch was not generating as much traffic as the directors wished. Therefore, it was decided to extend the line to Cookstown. The act of Parliament for this extension, the (16 & 17 Vict. c. lxviii) became law on 28 June 1853. After a delay to acquire land and raise capital, William Dargan was awarded the contract for building the line and began work in March 1855.

The Cookstown extension included two massive engineering features. One was the eight-span masonry bridge which carried the line fifty feet above the River Main just outside Randalstown and the other, a few miles further on, was a lattice bridge with a swing section across the River Bann near its outflow from Lough Neagh. Nevertheless, Dargan was able to carry out the work on the Cookstown extension speedily and the line was deemed to be ready for a Board of Trade inspection on 13 October 1856.

Captain H. W. Tyler RE, the inspecting officer, reported that although there was much that was satisfactory, the presence of an unauthorised level crossing prevented his allowing the line to be opened. Eventually, following correspondence between the directors and the Board of Trade, permission was given to open the line on condition that a bridge replaced the crossing within six months. The line was officially opened on 16 October 1856 but public services did not begin until 10 November. Four trains ran in each direction on weekdays and two on Sundays.

Excursion traffic Cheap travelling facilities were offered from the earliest days of the railway. Special trains were run from Ballymena and intermediate stations in connection with Queen Victoria's visit to Belfast in August 1849. Later that year, day excursion tickets were available from Belfast to Randalstown for those who wished to visit Shane's Castle demesne at about two-thirds of the cost of normal tickets. Cheap tickets were also available for those travelling to Belfast; in 1857, passengers from Cookstown were being urged to experience the view from Cave Hill.

By 1859, further reductions were available for parties of eight or more travelling to destinations such as Shane's Castle, Masserene Park, Toomebridge, Moyola Park, the Giant's Causeway and Dunluce Castle. As always, the seaside was a popular destination with excursion tickets to Portstewart and Portrush via the neighbouring Belfast, Ballymena, Coleraine and Portrush Junction Railway (BBC&PJR) and valid for seven days being offered at normal single fare rates.

A lack of capital and a change of name The continued to prosper but lacked capital and matters came to a head at when it was reported that the capital was totally expended and borrowing powers had been exceeded by £10,000. It was essential that the company raise additional funds to double the existing single line out of Belfast, as it was no longer adequate for the current volume of traffic and to replace many of the original wooden stations. It was therefore proposed to make a submission to Parliament as soon as possible.

In 1858, with the connivance of the , the neighbouring promoted the (21 & 22 Vict. c. liii) to empower the to purchase the at a future date. The sum required was to be paid for by the issue of new shares. This manoeuvre was aided by the links both companies had with William Dargan.

However, a complication arose when the was granted approval in the (22 Vict. c. xxxi) in April 1859 to build a bridge over the River Bann at Coleraine to connect with the Londonderry and Coleraine Railway. Since this was after the 1858 act, the bridge could not be included in any sale of the . The Belfast and Northern Counties Railway Act 1860 had to regularise the situation. In addition, this act made provision to change the title of the and to alter the dates of the half-yearly meetings.

When the last half-yearly accounts ending in March 1860 were issued, it was possible to declare a dividend of 4%.

With the passage of the (23 & 24 Vict. c. xlvi) on 15 May 1860, the Belfast and Ballymena Railway ceased to exist and the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR) took its place.

Belfast and Northern Counties Railway