Ballysadare

Ballysadare, Co.Sligo, is located on the Midland Great Western Railway's Dublin to Sligo line, and is the last station before Sligo itself. The station opened with the line in 1862, but closed to passengers in 1963 and to goods in 1975. The station had two platforms, but the up platform and signal cabin have been demolished since the track upgrading. The derelict station buildings and goods shed are on the down side. Until the late 1950s, Ballysadare Station was shared between CIE and the Sligo Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway, who operated trains to and from Sligo and Enniskillen. The line from Ballysadare to Sligo was worked as double track until 1959 when the SLNCR line closed, and was lifted soon after. At the north end of the station there as a long siding which diverged through a short rocky cutting into Ballysadare Flour Mill, but was lifted in the late 1960s.
071 Class locomotive No.080 speeds past the derelict station at Ballysadare with an afternoon Sligo to Dublin service. Ballysadare Station, now visible without a train in view. The goods shed and station building survive, albeit in a derelict condition. A view from the down platform at Ballysadare, showing the rather forlorn looking station building. This view is looking towards Sligo. Only part of the small Midland Great Western canopy above the main door of the station building survives. This was a common feature at MGWR and Dublin South Eastern stations.
Inside the station building now, part of the paint work and plastering remains. The building was in use up to 1975 for goods traffic. The inside of Ballysadare goods shed is relatively intact, and it even retains its goods crane. The shed was last used in 1975. A view looking south towards Dublin from the weed covered down platform at Ballysadare Station. The up platform, once sited on the left, was demolished in recent years. This is the passenger approach to the down platform from the station forecourt. The station was to be restored into a restaurant but the building remains derelict to this day.