Ballycastle Railway was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railway line which ran from Ballycastle to Ballymoney,
Ballycastle Railway opened in October 1880 and ran 17 miles from Ballymoney, on the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR), later Northern Counties Committee (NCC), main line to Derry, to Ballycastle. It was never a very profitable enterprise and closed down for a period in 1924, until rescued by the NCC, which took it over completely.[1]
Services mainly consisted of three return journeys each day, taking between 50 minutes and an hour. At the start there were three Black Hawthorn 0-6-0ST engines and two Kitson 4-4-2T engines arrived in 1908. Initially carriages were of the compartment type painted two shades of brown, until largely displaced by LMS-designed corridor carriages transferred from the Ballymena and Larne Railway in 1933. The Ballycastle Railway closed in July 1950
The Tunnel itself is 66 yards long
The Tunnel brickwork itself is in good condition - this can be seen in the photos I have uploaded to the gallery The base of the tunnel is however full of water as the old trackbed from the north has become more of a river
Unfortunately it is very difficult to get a good view of the Tunnel. - .
You are able however to walk on top of it and look over the other end. - When I was placing the cache a cheerful old local resident stopped me and engaged me in some conversation Sadly he only seemed to speak fluent Ballymush. I was able to establish that the land over the the tunnel was of indeterminate ownership but that it was an area of curiosity and that no-one minds when people stop and explore - just be considerate when parking.
On top of the tunnel the ground can be muddy so good footwear would be recommended. There are a number of derelict buildings and there is a second small tunnel (bridge) for a river - the water was flowing quite well when I visited so do take care of young cachers.