The Waterside station is Derry's only surving train station, and as well as the city serves parts of Counties Donegal and Tyrone and wider county Londonderry.
View of the Platforms one and two
The Londonderry & Coleraine Railway Company (LCR) was incorporated in 1845. Construction began in 1845 and in 1846 the major work on the line, the blasting of the Downhill tunnels between Downhill and Castlerock, was completed. The Coleraine terminus on the west bank of the Bann was only opened to regular traffic from Derry on 18th July 1853. The LCR operated independently for nine years before amalgamating with a handful of other companies on the North Ulster coast to form the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway (BNCR) in 1861. This connected the Walled City to Belfast with branch lines to other places like Portrush, Ballycastle and Larne. The original Londonderry Waterside Station was opened on 29 December 1852 by Steven Alfred John Campbell, a well-known banker of the time. It closed on 24 March 1980 due to bomb damage, but the station building remains intact. The current station of the same name replaced the larger terminus in 1980, much to the dismay of the Derry people services were reduced and track layout was severely altered.
Artists impression of the old Waterside Station
The BNCR was bought out by the Midland Railway (later the London Midland and Scottish Railway) in mainland Great Britain in 1903. With the Nationalisation of UK railways in 1948 it was briefly in the ownership of the newly formed British Railway Executive but in 1949 it came under the direct ownership of the Northern Ireland Government, via the Ulster Transport Authority, before the formation of the current operator, Northern Ireland Railways in 1968. The current railway is mainly single track and terminates at Belfast Great Victoria Street Station, with a junction at Coleraine where you can change for Portrush a popular seaside town. This is the second oldest rail route into the city and was once one of four railways connecting the city, but now is the sole survivor. The Waterside Suffix of the station name became redundant upon closure of the city's three other railway termini, and is no longer used on signs or timetables. This line is one of Michael Palin's "Great Railway Journeys."
Inside the Victoian Station in the 1960s
After years of neglect and decline; use of the rail network is steadily increasing every year. The Victorian station building remains intact and a recent consultation on moving the station, came back with 60% of those who responded choosing to move back into the old station. However if this happens it will not be until the much needed upgrade of the line is complete.
For the rail enthusiasts amongst you the original steam locomotives bought by the LCR, were severely underpowered and often ran back to back. One of the first LCR Locomotive superintendents was famous loco designer Robert Fairlie, who designed the famous double Fairlie engine. It is thought he might have got his idea from LCR locos running back to back in and out of the Waterside! Today modern CAF 3000 and 4000 Diesel Multiple Units make up the regular trains. These are in 3 car sets and can carry 201 - 216 seated passanger at speeds upto 90mph.
The cache is a magnetic, Nano cache that blends into its surroundings, and is located beside the station. The other rail caches are GC5W0VB and GC5W0XY. These can be found across the Craigavon Bridge (the lower deck of which once carried the Londonderry Port & Harbour Commissions railway which linked the city's four stations) on the Cityside.
Happy Geocaching and enjoy your trip to the Walled City.