The Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire has issued a tribute for the centenary of the closure of the Portstewart Tramway in Northern Ireland.

Last Friday, 30th January, marked 100 years since the tramway closed. The tramway, opened on 14th June 1882, was the first roadside steam tramway in Ireland, and served the seaside resort of Portstewart in County Antrim.

After a railway opened to the fishing village of Portrush, it blossomed into a thriving holiday destination, but because a local landowner refused to sell the land needed for the railway to reach the nearby hamlet of Portstewart, the railway company built a station to serve Portstewart, 1¾ miles from the hamlet.

To connect Portstewart railway station to Portstewart village, a 3-foot gauge steam tramway was laid alongside the highway. Rolling stock comprised of a 0-4-0 steam locomotive, built by Kitson’s of Leeds, one single-deck carriage, and one double-deck 4-wheel passenger carriage. A smoking carriage was provided by adding seats and a window to a four-wheel luggage van, all supplied by Metropolitan-Cammell of Birmingham. Later, two more locomotives and two open-topped double-deck bogie passenger cars were purchased.

In 1897, the tramway was taken over by the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR), which added extra rolling stock, built a new depot, and relaid much of the track. Six years later, in 1903, the Midland Railway absorbed the BNCR and delegated its management to the “Northern Counties Committee” (NCC), based in Belfast.

By the time of the Grouping of Britain’s railways in 1923, revenues of the tramway were in decline, and the infrastructure was showing signs of its age. These factors, as well as competition from motor buses, led to the tramway’s closure on 30th January 1926, with most rolling stock being sold at auction. However, two locomotives were preserved, being initially stored at the NCC’s locomotive works at York Road, Belfast.

In May 1939, one locomotive was moved to the Hull Streetlife Museum, which at that time was Britain’s only Transport Museum. Steam tram locomotive No. 2 survived air raids during April and May 1941 that almost destroyed York Road station, and is now housed in the Ulster Transport Museum.

Work is taking place in Northern Ireland to restore an NCC Class WT 2-6-4T steam locomotive, which is based on the LMS Fowler 2-6-4 tank engines, and the Downpatrick & County Down Railway is also restoring other items from Ireland’s railway heritage.