OOPS: i got it Wrong!

OOPS: I got it Wrong!
Carrick Biz readers catch me out.
LAST month’s feature on the Larne Line caught the attention of quite a few Carrick Biz readers.  It’s clear that many readers have a great affection for our local railway service and welcome the recent and planned improvements reported in recent issues of your favourite local paper.
  Well done to the readers who took the time to point out a rather glaring error in the last issue.  The station pictured was not Trooperslane as captioned.  It was Kilroot. The Kilroot station was closed in 1977 and demolished two years later.
  Reader Jim Gamble was first off the mark, “After reading your latest edition of the Carrick Biz about the Larne Line.  I think this photo is of Kilroot Station and not Trooperslane.  I came from the area and remember the station well in those days.”  Well spotted Jim.
  Katie Branagh got it right too, “Great to see old photographs of Carrick in the Carrick Biz. Unfortunately the location of the steam train stopped at the station in the April edition is not Trooperslane, as probably loads of people have told you.”  You’re right, there, Katie.  It’s been a while since I’ve had so much mail on the one subject.
  Katie has her own memories of Kilroot station. The picture showed, “the white pillars of the gateway to Rosganna Manor on the right hand side and the station master’s house and signal box on the left.  There was also a parcels office and a through way to a large turning circle behind the station.  It must have been a very important station in its day.  We used to walk the railway path along beside the wall of Rosganna Manor up to Kilroot from Eden halt and then on along the railway path to the Three Arches.  This photograph certainly brings back memories.”  Kilroot station was quite important, as it was the terminus for many of the local trains leaving from the old York Road station in Belfast.
   H E Hamilton added some more detail to the mix. Kilroot station, “stood where the line passes through the power station, which of course was not there when the picture was taken.  That seems to be one of the early RPSI specials with ex GNR loco 171, probably in the late 1960s as the RPSI was formed in the mid 60s.  Kilroot had 2 cross-overs and local trains terminated there through the 40s and into the 1950s.”   Mr Hamilton knows his trains. He is spot-on in his obversations.
  He goes on to describe some other defunct branch lines. “Courtaulds had its sidings with the 2 small locos Patricia and Wilfrid, handling their coal and  wood (not paper) pulp for the manufacture of rayon.
   “There was also a line diverging to the right between the Mount and Clipperstown which ran at the back of the houses of Ellis Street, past the Chapel, over the main road by way of the Tramway bridge and down to the west pier or coal quay as it was known.   This line was a separate company known as the Carrickfergus Harbour Junction Railway, and my late father Richard A Hamilton was the secretary during its final years.”
   Another reader, Richard White, takes a great interest in local history, collecting old photographs and studying historic maps. He comments. “There is a lot to be learned, even in an apparently nondescript settlement such as Greenisland.”
  He adds, “The one issue about track lines that you did not mention was the ‘tramway’ that ran from Woodburn, parallel with the road and towards Trooperslane before sweeping down and along again to join the main line. I would guess that it was around two miles long. There was a lot of industry around Woodburn at the time (mills and salt mines). I assume it was a means of getting produce to the main line.
  “The course of the tramway is easy to see on Google Earth since the hedge lines remain. I also use the OSNI historic maps section for a rough idea of dates. My guess is that it could have been in use for a century since 1850 (trees are depicted growing on it post 1950).” Mr White is looking for any source of information on this subject.  I’m sure Carick Biz readers will be able to help.
  Finally, Mr White and other readers ask if copies of the 2002 Colourpoint book, Along UTA Lines by Ian McClarnon Sinclair are still available. I did an on-line search and he news isn’t good. This book was published at £14.95 but some specialist dealers are looking for as much as £129.00 for  a copy.  I’m afraid you’ll just have to scour the second-hand bookshops in search of a copy or borrow it from your local library.