The Draperstown Railway was an

Irish gauge Railways with a track gauge of fall within the category of broad-gauge railways. , they were extant in Australia, Brazil and on the island of Ireland. History ;600 BC :The Diolkos (Δίολκος) across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece ...

() in

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

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 line was built between 1881 and 1883, a short single-track branch line in length, to connect

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 ...

and Draperstown. The engineer was John Lanyon, and the contractors were J & W Grainger. It was operated by the

Belfast and Northern Counties Railway The Northern Counties Committee (NCC) was a railway that served the north-east of Ireland. It was built to Irish gauge () but later acquired a number of narrow gauge lines. It had its origins in the Belfast and Ballymena Railway which opened ...

and taken over by them in July 1895.The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland. William Alan McCutcheon, Northern Ireland. Dept. of the Environment. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984 Passenger services were withdrawn in 1930 and the line was finally closed in 1950.

Stations

The following stations were on the route: *

Desertmartin Desertmartin (;Toner, Gregory: ''Place-Names of Northern Ireland'', page 85. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996, )Flanagan, Deirdre & Laurence: ''Irish Place Names'', page 202. Gill & Macmillan Ltd., 2002. is a small village in County Londond ...

* Draperstown

References

{{reflist Closed railways in Northern Ireland Transport in County Londonderry Railway lines opened in 1883 Railway lines closed in 1950 Defunct railway companies of Ireland Irish-gauge railways