Bessbrook

Bessbrook, Co.Armagh, was the starting point of an electric tramway which ran for just over three miles between the mill town of Bessbrook to Newry. Opened in 1885, the 3ft narrow gauge Bessbrook & Newry Tramway line survived until closure in 1948. The depot for the trams was located at Bessbrook opposite the mill and adjacent to this was the terminus station and single platform. A loop line allowed trams to return to Newry without reversing. Overhead power was used on the tramway. Today the depot at Bessbrook remains in situ albeit derelict, but the most of the passenger infrastructure, including the station at Millvale, have long since vanished. For a detailed description of the Bessbrook & Newry Tramway, see Irish Railway Record Society journal No.177.
The site of Bessbrook station and tram depot, now derelict. The tall building in the background is the former Bessbrook Mill which prompted the construction of the tramway between here and Newry. The old three road tram shed remains, albeit bricked up and disused. Closer view of the electric tram depot belonging to the Bessbrook & Newry Tramway. The passenger platform and balloon loop was located to the right. As indicated by the arches, the structure could accommodate three tracks. The tram was an overhead system and operated from 1885 to 1948. Brick window surround on the stone built tram shed at Bessbrook. A proposal exists to renovate the shed and provide a scenic walkway along the tram trackbed between here and Newry City.
The tram shed and the site of the passenger platform at Bessbrook, viewed from the adjacent Derrymore Road. Behind the depot a siding once crossed this road and entered the mill. Millvale was one of the stations located on the tramway between Bessbrook and Newry. Just north of the station site the tram crossed the Camlough River via a short metal span, the remnants of which are still visible. Another view of the metal girders and stone abutments whcih once carried the Bessbrook & Newry Tramway across the Camloughr River just north of Millvale station. This is the site of Millvale station, located adjacent to the Millvale Road. The station had a single storey booking office and platform, now long since demolished.
At the south end of Millvale, the tramway heading for Newry crossed the Millvale Road at an oblique angle, necessitating a wide crossing. The line passed in front of the buildings on the right and crossed the road towards the fencing opposite (See IRRS Journal 177, pg11). This gated crossing is claimed to be the first automated crossing in the world, the operation of which was triggered by trams striking levers on either side of the crossing which subsequently operated the gate mechanism.