Rails Through Castlerock

Rails Through Castlerock

In 1972, the author’s family moved to Castlerock, Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland. With lots of interesting old passenger trains coming through, the author started taking photographs of them in 1975 with his Kodak Instamatic, upgrading to a ‘decent camera’ in 1978. Most of the photographs included in the book date from 1977, and most are of Castlerock Station and the immediate area around the village, including Downhill, but there are also some photos of Magilligan and Bellarena. Some of the images include railway staff, and Des has tried to get these folk identified. One of these, illustrating just how varied this book is compared to the description, shows signalman Kevin O’Brien releasing a pigeon that had just arrived by train from Londonderry in a cardboard box.