Belturbet

Belturbet, Co.Cavan, was the terminus of a short branch from Ballyhaise on the Great Northern Railway's Cavan line on the Irish Northwest. The branch opened in 1885, and two years later it made a connection with the Cavan & Leitrim 3ft narrow gauge line from Ballinamore, which occupied the roofless western end of the station platform. Passenger traffic on the GNR line ceased in 1957, but goods traffic continued until 1959 when the C&L lines were also closed completely. One of the main flows from the C&L to the GNR at Belturbet was coal from the Arigna mines, which was then forwarded to the Drogheda cement factory.
Today, Belturbet station has been fully restored, the station buildings, platform, train shed complete with track, goods shed and engine shed have been preserved. I visited the station on two separate occasions See also the Belturbet Station Museum.
A classic view of Belturbet Station, unusally built of rough grey stone. The station's train shed and buildings have been restored. The attached station masters house on the right is of a typical Great Northern design. This is the main entrance to the station, again restored complete with its canopy. The sign gives a brief history about the ex narrow 3ft gauge Cavan & Leitrim Railway and standard gauge Great Northern Railway lines. Inside the station; the train shed roof has been excellently restored. This view is looking towards the narrow gauge Cavan & Leitrim platform. This is the west end of the train shed at Belturbet Station, shortly after restoration. The Great Northern Railway line terminated on this side of the platform.
This is the former Cavan & Leitrim Railway platform at the west end of Belturbet Station. This view is looking towards Ballinamore, with the Great Northern Railway platform side on the left. Another view of the former bay platform at Belturbet which served the 3ft gauge C&L Railway. The concrete buffer stop remains in situ. This another classic view of the west end of Belturbet Station, where the Cavan & Leitrim railway line from Ballinamore terminated on the left side of the platform opposite the Great Northern Railway. This is the single road Great Northern Railway engine shed, used to store the locomotives operating on the Belturbet to Ballyhaise branch. They were usually operated by the GNR JT 2-4-2 tank engines.
The medium sized ex Great Northern stone built goods shed at Belturbet Station, complete with attached office building. The shed is now used for various town functions. The former goods crane still survives at Belturbet Station, seen mounted on the goods platform adjacent to the shed. A view from the former Great Northern goods yard at Belturbet, looking back towards the station. This is the former transhipment goods shed at Belturbet Station. Like the passenger platform, the goods platform here allowed goods to be transfered from the narrow 3ft gauge Cavan & Leitrim goods wagons to standard gauge Great Northern wagons.
This is the small Cavan & Leitrim goods shed at Belturbet Station. It was little used in comparison the transhipment and Great Northern goods sheds. The stone built water tower at Belturbet Station. It was moved to this position to accommodate a housing estate built adjacent to the station site. Its detached metal tank can also be seen. This is the 0-4-0 Ruston built diesel shunter, formerly employed at the sugar beet factory in Co.Carlow. The loco has since been cosmetically restored and placed within the train shed (see first image). Other rolling stock was brought to Belturbet shortly after restoration. This is a standard CIE 30 ton brake van, No.23667 , with the ruston shunter behind. Behind them is the single road GNR engine shed.
Side profile view of the ex CIE 30 ton brakevan at Belturbet, a standard type to be see all over the Irish Rail system. The last remaining vans were taken out of service a few years ago. Rather more surprising was to see that some original 3ft gauge Cavan & Leitrim Railway covered wagons survive, albeit minus their underframe and bogeys. This was typical of the type of goods wagons to be seen on the line. Inside the restored Belturbet Station is a the small museum, displaying a model of a typical 3ft gauge C&L train. The coaches had USA style verandas at either end. The goods wagons are similar to the original seen outside the station. There is plenty of artefacts of the ex Great Northern and Cavan & Leitrim Railways to be seen in the museum. Here are some GNR signalling equipment with a staff token on the right foreground.
Also in the museum is what appears to be one of Cavan & Leitrim Railway metal cow catcher guards which where mounted on the front of the locomotive's buffer beams. An ex Great Northern Railway brake coach was to be seen at Belturbet Station in 2003, retaining its rubber carriage gangway. The wooden structure was removed and the underframe and bogeys were moved into the train shed. The brake wheel inside the coach survived, exposed to the elements; only a small portion of the carriage roof remained. The water visible in the background is Dawson's Lough. This is the first level crossing west of Belturbet on the 3ft gauge Cavan & Leitrim line. The crossing keepers house on the left has been rebuilt considerably. This view is looking towards the station.
The concrete gate posts remain in situ here, complete with metal hook. The crossing guarded a small country lane which leads south from the town. Just outside Belturbet on the west side of the town, the Cavan & Leitrim railway crossed the River Erne on a fine four arched stone viaduct, which was the most impressive feature on the system. A gravel pathway leads from the station down towards the viaduct, however beyond the viaduct the former trackbed is heavily overgrown towards Ballinamore.