Cookstown railway station was one of two railway stations serving the town of

Cookstown Cookstown (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth-largest town in the county and had a population of 12,546 in the 2021 census. It, along with Magherafelt and Dungannon, is one of the main towns in the Mid-Ulster ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

History

The

Great Northern Railway Great Northern Railway or Great Northern Railroad may refer to: Australia * Great Northern Railway (Queensland) in Australia * Great Northern Rail Services in Victoria, Australia *Central Australia Railway was known as the great Northern Railway ...

opened the station on 28 August 1879 as the terminus of a branch from

Dungannon Dungannon (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 16,282 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2021 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Counci ...

. The GNR was the second railway company to reach Cookstown - the first being the Belfast and Ballymena Railway in 1856, after they opened a branch line to the town by way of

Randalstown Randalstown () is a small town and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, between Antrim and Toome. The town, which contains a prominent disused railway viaduct, lies beside Lough Neagh and the Shane's Castle estate. Randalstown is bypas ...

and

Magherafelt Magherafelt ( ; , ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 9,071 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county an ...

. Though located next door to the BBR station on Molesworth Street, the GNR station was completely separate. A rail connection between the two stations existed, but for transfer of goods wagons only. There were no through passenger workings. It was closed to passengers by the

Great Northern Railway Board The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I), GNRI or simply GNR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. Th ...

on 16 January 1956 and to goods on 5 October 1959. The station building was designed by William Henry Mills in his typical polychrome style, with red and yellow

Flemish-bond Flemish bond is a pattern of brickwork that is a common feature in Georgian architecture. The pattern features bricks laid lengthwise (''stretchers'') alternating with bricks laid with their shorter ends exposed (''headers'') within the same cours ...

brickwork. After closure it became Council property, and listed in 1975. Today, it is used as by the town's hockey club. Two further GNR railway buildings survive in Cookstown, along with the goods shed (also listed) in use by the

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

and a gate archway bearing the name ''Great Northern''. The arch inspired a similar design at the

Downpatrick and County Down Railway The Downpatrick and County Down Railway (DCDR) is a Track gauge in Ireland, 5 foot, 3 inch (1,600 mm) Track gauge, gauge heritage railway in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is operated by volunteers and runs passenger trains using Steam loco ...

Routes

References

Disused railway stations in County Tyrone Railway stations in Northern Ireland opened in 1879 Railway stations in Northern Ireland closed in 1959 {{NorthernIreland-railstation-stub