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Navan, Co.Meath, was
first served by rail in the 1850s when the Dublin & Belfast Jnc
Railway built a line running from
Drogheda to Navan, and eventually
to
Oldcastle. Taken over by the Great
Northern in 1876, the Navan and Oldcastle branch lost its passenger
service in 1958. The section from Navan to Oldcastle closed
completely in 1963, but the line between Drogheda to Navan remains
in use to serve the Tara Mines, which dispatches two to four ore
trains each weekday. As yet there are no plans to reinstate
passenger services on the GNR line, but possibly on the former
Midland Great Western line from
Clonsilla to
Navan Junction
which closed in 1963.
Navan Station remains
remarkably intact, complete with its single platform and large GNR
yellow brick station building. Navan also retains the last
operational GNR signal cabin. The freight yard at the station,
adjacent to the water tower has been out of use since the early
1980s. At the east end of the station the line crosses the River
Boyne on a fine stone viaduct. |
.JPG "071 Class locomotive No.084 powers...")
.JPG "084 heads across the viaduct just...")
.JPG "Another view of 084 heading out of...")
.JPG "084 is seen heading away passing the...")
.JPG "Another view of the viaduct, the...")
.JPG "The single storey yellow brick...")
.JPG "Closer view of the building, whiich...")
.JPG "The boarded up booking office,...")
.JPG "Apologies for the angle to which this...")
.JPG "At the Drogheda end of the platform...")
.JPG "The Great Northern style signal cabin...")
.JPG "The McKenzie & Holland lever frame...")
.JPG "The wooden gable end board on Navan...")
.JPG "Another view of the cabin, painted in...")
.JPG "Side on view of the signal cabin at...")
.JPG "Final view of the signal cabin from...")
.JPG "Plenty of chains, wires and rodding...")
.JPG "View of Navan Station from the steps...")
.JPG "The loop here at Navan Station is...")
.JPG "The stone built water tower at Navan...")
.JPG "Another view of the water tower at...")
.JPG "View towards Drogheda from the east...")
.JPG "View looking back towards the station...")
.JPG "Old ground disc signal used for...")
.JPG "Where the siding once was, it was...")
.JPG "Another view of the former goods yard...")
.JPG "View of the stone arch viaduct at the...")
.JPG "Looking across the viaduct at the...")
.JPG "The standard CIE bracket semaphore...")
.JPG "The road bridge from where 084 was...")
.JPG "The station building at Navan, now...")
.JPG "Another view of Navan Station from...")
.JPG "Unfortunately the wooden GNR...")
.JPG "The semaphore signal as viewed from...")
.JPG "Close view of the coounter weight on...")
.JPG "Another view of the GNR counter...")
.JPG "The ground disc signal, which gives...")
.JPG "Detal on the semaphore signal at the...")
.JPG "The semaphore arms on the starting...")
.JPG "The original wooden GNR semaphore...")
.JPG "Side on view of the starting...")
.JPG "This one too also retains parts of...")
.JPG "The station at Navan once boasted...")
.JPG "The large stone built goods shed at...")
.JPG "View of the large goods shed at Navan...")
.JPG "The former goods yard is now used for...")
.JPG "Looking the opposite way towards the...")
.JPG "Adjacent to Navan Station is of...")
.JPG "The semaphore signal protecting the...")
.JPG "This semaphore signal interestingly...")
.JPG "This semaphore signal has GNR double...")
.JPG "Like the other semaphore signal posts...")
.JPG "GNR mile post adjacent to the level...")
.JPG "View towards the former Navan...")