Bleach Green is a

railway junction A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge), provided by ''points'' ( ...

located in

Newtownabbey Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement in North Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course. It surrounds Carnmoney Hill, and was formed from the merging of sever ...

where the

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

diverges from the Belfast to

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. Th ...

route. The Bleach Green Junction is the only

burrowing junction A flying junction or flyover is a railway junction at which one or more diverging or converging tracks in a multiple-track route cross other tracks on the route by bridge to avoid conflict with other train movements. A more technical term is "gr ...

in the whole of Ireland.

History

Bleach Green railway station opened in 1925 and closed in 1977. Today no trace remains of the halt, though the Larne-bound platform survived until the line was re-laid in 2006. The Junction lies 3/4 of a mile to the North of Whiteabbey Station. The Viaducts being on the Greenisland Loop line were referred to as the "Greenisland Viaducts" and were used in poster promotion campaign by London Midland and Scottish Railways in 1924.

Viaduct

There is a

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide va ...

located at Bleach Green, which was completed in 1933 to allow trains to run between

Belfast York Road Station Yorkgate railway station serves the north of the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The station opened in 1992, replacing the previous York Road railway station nearby. As at May 2021 there are plans to rebuild Yorkgate. History Following the ...

and Ballymena without having to reverse at

Greenisland Greenisland is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies 7 miles north-east of Belfast and 3 miles south-west of Carrickfergus. The town is on the coast of Belfast Lough and is named after a tiny islet to the west, ''the Green Island' ...

(then Carrickfergus Junction). It was designed by

Freeman Wills Crofts Freeman Wills Crofts FRSA (1 June 1879 – 11 April 1957) was an Irish mystery author, best remembered for the character of Inspector Joseph French. A railway engineer by training, Crofts introduced railway themes into many of his stories, ...

, shortly before he retired from Engineering to become a full time author. The viaduct was repainted and the junction relaid in 2001 for the reopening of the railway line between Belfast and Antrim. Three smaller concrete arches carry the lines over Glenville Road. The one carrying the Larne-bound line was completed in 1931, the once carrying the lines to and from Derry in 1932, and the one carrying the line from Larne to Belfast in 1933.

References

{{coord, 54.67778, -5.90334, display=title Rail infrastructure in Northern Ireland Rail junctions in Northern Ireland Transport in County Antrim Railway bridges in Northern Ireland Bridges in Northern Ireland Buildings and structures in County Antrim

History

Viaduct

See also

References