Portstewart Tramway



Owner Portstewart Tramway Company
Opened (unofficially) 14th June 1882 (steam)
Opened (officially) 28th June 1882
Operator Belfast and Northern Counties Railway Company
Entered liquidation 3rd January 1897
Taken over 1st June 1897 (Belfast and Northern Counties Railway Company) from the liquidators
Ownership transferred 1st July 1903 (to the Midland Railway Northern Counties Committee, following the take-over of the B&NCR by the Midland Railway Company)
Ownership transferred 1st January 1923 (to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Northern Counties Committee, following the creation of the LMS at the 1923 railway 'grouping'
Closed 30th January 1926
Length 1.85 miles
Gauge 3ft 0ins

Button description (Pattern 1; Variant 1) Title (‘BELFAST & NORTHERN COUNTIES RAILWAY’) within a border, surrounding an 0-4-0 locomotive
Materials known Gilt
Button Line reference [None]

Button description (Pattern 1; Variant 2) Title (‘BELFAST & NORTHERN COUNTIES RAILWAY’) within a border, surrounding an 0-4-0 locomotive
Materials known Brass
Button Line reference [None]

Button description (Pattern 2) Title (‘MIDLAND RLY NORTHERN COUNTIES COMMITTEE’) surrounding a wyvern on a torse, within a raised rim
Materials known Brass
Button Line reference [None]

Button description (Pattern 3) Title (‘LMS NORTHERN COUNTIES COMMITTEE’) within a border, surrounding a vertical wing with superimposed cross, all above a garland with roses and thistles
Materials known Brass
Button Line reference [None]

Comment The Belfast and Northern Counties Railway was a major shareholder in the Portstewart Tramway Company, and it is believed that staff working the line were provided by the B&NCR from the very start of services. The B&NCR was itself taken over by the Midland Railway in 1903, a company which ran its Northern Irish operations via the Midland Railway Northern Counties Committee, which was in turn renamed following the creation of the LMS in 1923, of which the Midland Railway was a major constituent. Tramway conductors certainly wore uniforms (see link) and these would undoubtedly have borne the buttons above.