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The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) in colour

Category: Transport

The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) is held in great affection by many enthusiasts and those who worked for, or travelled on, the GNR. Railway writer and Great Northern enthusiast, Norman Johnston, has long dreamed of producing a full colour album on the company. Now, in 2005,  that dream has at last been fulfilled.

Although material was scarce - some lines and even main stations don’t seem to have been photographed in colour - he has risen to the challenge and brought together 235 priceless images of his beloved GNR(I). These are not 1960s pictures of GNR trains running in UTA livery but the GNR as it really was. Steam engines in sky blue, diesel railcars, buses and trams in Oxford blue and cream, coaching stock in mahogany and stations in brick and stone are all illustrated in wonderful colour.

A network map and diagrams of major stations such as Dublin, Drogheda, Dundalk, Clones, Enniskillen, Strabane, and Belfast complete the scene.

The Author

Norman Johnston has been a railway enthusiast for as long as he can remember, though with three earlier generations of Johnstons involved with transport, it was ‘in the blood’. He began writing on railways in 1992 and has been the author, or joint author, of eight other railway books, including The Fintona Horse Tram, Fermanagh’s Railways, LNER Locomotives in colour, The Irish Narrow Gauge in colour and, most notably, Locomotives of the GNRI.

Norman spent most of his working life in Co Tyrone before retiring from teaching in 1996 to concentrate on publishing and writing. He is a founder and joint partner of Colourpoint Books. He is married with two sons, both of whom are in the family publishing business.

Norman would especially like to thank a number of people who have assisted with this book, either by lending photographs and slides, assisting with drawings or reading the manuscript. In alphabetical order they are JG Dewing, Des FitzGerald, Charles Friel, Roger Joanes, Selwyn Johnston, John Langford, the late Keith Pirt, Arnold Richardson (Photobus), David Soggee, Joyce and Norman Topley, WFM Wallace, Ron White (Colour-Rail), Richard Whitford and Derek Young.

 ©2008 Colourpoint Books