Recalling the golden age of steam

The Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties line was opened in 1879

Almost half a century ago, the last steam train pulled out of Enniskillen station, marking the end of rail services in Fermanagh and the border counties.

Memories of the bygone age of steam in the county have been captured on film but the tracks have long since disappeared.

Former employees, many of them now in their 80s and 90s, gathered at the weekend to mark this important part of the town's heritage with the naming of several pathways in the vicinity of the old station.

A large crowd gathered to watch the ceremony.

The honour of unveiling the name plates commemorating these paths was given to the men and women who once worked on Fermanagh's railways.

Former GNRI engineer Harold MacIntyre, the son of the station master in Enniskillen, helped uncover the Manager's Walk sign.

The path was used by senior railway officials or managers, who were provided with a key to the gate across the path.

This allowed them to quickly access their official residences nearby.

Harold is now in his 90s, but there was nevertheless a youthful spring in his step as he took a walk back in time.

As he unveiled the Manager's Walk sign, he recalled: "I ran down this path more often than I walked it because I was running to catch a train.

The last train steamed down the Great Northern Way in 1957

"I remember I used it man and boy."

For the men and women who worked on the railway, the loss was personal.

The Great Northern Way name plate commemorates the Dundalk and Enniskillen Railway which was the first to reach Enniskillen in 1859.

It later became part of the Irish North Western Railway in 1862 and then finally the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) which was formed in 1876.

The last train to run down the Great Northern Way from Enniskillen to Omagh on 30 September 1957 was driven by Arthur Darragh.

"There was a depressing atmosphere. A lot of people, a lot of staff and families were very much affected in that they had lost their livelihood," said Arthur.

"I wasn't so bad, I was single, I could move, but for a lot of men it was the end of the road, as well as the end of the railway."

Others sharing their memories were the workers on the Sligo Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway.

For them, the weekend event was a chance to reminisce while hoping that a piece of history would be saved for posterity.

Arthur Darragh, left, drove the last train down the Great Northern Way

The Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties line was opened in 1879 and connected Enniskillen with Sligo.

The line relied heavily on the transportation of live cattle and remained one of the few privately-owned railways until its closure in 1957.

Former employee Cecil Irvine said he still felt an occasional pang of nostalgia.

"I felt that the railway should have never closed," he said.

But amongst the sadness there was a sense of pride that the names of these railways will live on in the pathway names.

History teacher and railway enthusiast Alan Devers said there were few signs left of the railway's importance in Enniskillen.

Standing in the old Enniskillen railway station yard, now a car park, he explained: "That was the reason why a few of us felt it was necessary to name some of the paths that now exist along the former track bed as Great Northern Way, Sligo-Leitrim Way and the Manager's Walk."

The closure of the line cut Fermanagh off, increasing the town's sense of isolation.

But perhaps future generations taking a shortcut along the Great Northern Way or the Sligo-Leitrim Way will pause, and if they listen carefully, they may just hear the sound of a distant whistle.