There are five passing places, in addition to the
sidings at the termini and at the carriage depot. At the Bushmills
end, the line is laid for about 200 yards along the street, and ends
in the marketplace of the town. It is intended to connect it with an
electrical railway from Dervock, for which Parliamentary powers have
already been obtained, thus completing the connection with the narrow
gauge system from Ballymena to Larne and Cushendall. About 1,500 yards
from the end of the line, there is a waterfall on the river Bush, with
an available head of 24 feet, and an abundant supply of water at all
seasons of the year. Turbines are now being erected, and the necessary
works executed for employing the fall for working the generating
dynamo machines, and the current will be conveyed by means of an
underground cable to the end of the line. Of the application of the
water power it is unnecessary to speak further, as the works are not
yet completed. For the present, the line is worked by a small
steam-engine placed at the carriage depot at the Portrush end. The
whole of the constructive works have been designed and carried out by
Mr. Traill, assisted by Mr. E.B. Price.
The system employed may be described as that of the separate
conductor. A rail of T-iron, weighing 19 pounds to the yard, is
carried on wooden posts, boiled in pitch, and placed ten feet apart,
at a distance of 22 inches from the inside rail and 17 inches above
the ground. This rail comes close up against the fence on the side of
the road, thus forming an additional protection.
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