Editing Northern Counties Committee (section)

===Tourism===
Whilst tourism in Ireland was not a new development, it was in the last quarter of the nineteenth century that a great increase occurred with large numbers of tourists making the sea crossing from Great Britain to see the delights of Ireland's scenery. The railways saw that it would be to their advantage to encourage tourist development since this would bring them increased traffic. On the {{abbr|BNCR|Belfast and Northern Counties Railway}}, its manager, [[Edward John Cotton]], especially recognised the potential value of tourism and was influential in its development throughout the North of Ireland.

The {{abbr|BNCR|Belfast and Northern Counties Railway}} was able to exploit the advantages of the Larne-Stranraer short sea route with its benefit of a daylight crossing in the summer months and the ease with which passengers could transfer to trains alongside the steamer berth at Larne Harbour.

====Excursions and special attractions====
The {{abbr|BNCR|Belfast and Northern Counties Railway}} continued the {{abbr|B&BR|Belfast and Ballymena Railway}}'s practice of running cheap excursions. Besides excursions organised by the company itself, there were extensive summer programmes of special trains operated on behalf of outside organisations especially [[Sunday school]]s and other church organisations. A large number of special trains were chartered by [[Ulster loyalism|Loyalist]] organisations around the [[The Twelfth|"Twelfth of July"]] and the [[Siege of Derry|"Twelfth of August"]].

G. L. Baillie, the golfing pioneer, organised golfing excursions that included first class train fare and hotel accommodation to Portrush and [[Newcastle, County Down|Newcastle]] as well as to the [[County Donegal]] links at Rosapenna, Portsalon and Lisfannon.

The Giant's Causeway became an even greater tourist attraction with the opening of the [[Giant's Causeway Tramway|Giant's Causeway, Portrush and Bush Valley Electric Tramway]] all the way to the Causeway in 1887. Thousands of tourists found the journey from outside Portrush railway station much quicker and easier than before and, being the world's first [[hydro-electric]] tramway, it was an attraction in itself.

Another of Ulster's celebrated tourist attractions is the [[A2 road (Northern Ireland)|Antrim Coast Road]] that stretches north from Larne to Ballycastle and Portrush and from which may be seen the Nine [[Glens of Antrim]]. The largest and arguably the most beautiful of these is [[Glenariff]] which stretches from [[Parkmore]] down to the sea. The opening of the Cushendall line to passengers created whole new possibilities for tourism. The {{abbr|BNCR|Belfast and Northern Counties Railway}} leased Glenariff from the landlords and laid out a series of paths and bridges to make it easily accessible to tourists. Rustic shelters were provided near the water falls to protect visitors from the spray and, in 1891, a "tea house" was built which, as well as providing refreshments, included a dark room for the use of photographers.

Coastal scenery of a different kind may be seen in the [[Islandmagee]] area near Whitehead. While there was already some provision for tourists, the {{abbr|BNCR|Belfast and Northern Counties Railway}}'s civil engineer [[Berkeley Deane Wise]] constructed a new promenade and imported sand from Portrush to make a beach. In 1892 he also engineered a cliff path was engineered that stretched 1{{frac|1|4}} miles from Whitehead to the Blackhead promontory. The lower sections bordered the shore but blasting and cantilevering from the cliffs was necessary higher up.

Further north from Whitehead on the eastern coast of Islandmagee is a region of high [[basalt]] cliffs known as [[the Gobbins]]. Here too, Wise set to work building a path. Steps were cut to connect the various levels, bridges were thrown across ravines including two tubular bridges that connected the "Man o'War Stack" to the main path. The first section of the path opened in August 1902 but it was to prove too expensive to continue to Heddle's Port as originally planned.

====Hotels====
Hotel accommodation in nineteenth century Ireland was not of a generally high standard. While this should have been of concern to the railway companies, few took a direct interest in the matter. The {{abbr|BNCR|Belfast and Northern Counties Railway}} and the [[Great Southern & Western Railway]] were exceptions.

The {{abbr|BNCR|Belfast and Northern Counties Railway}} purchased a share in the lease of the long-standing and well thought of Antrim Arms hotel at [[Portrush]] and in 1883 formed a separate company to manage what was renamed the Northern Counties Hotel. Situated on an elevated site, the hotel overlooked the Atlantic Ocean at front and back. With more than one hundred rooms, it was intended to accommodate high-class tourists visiting the [[Giant's Causeway]]. The hotel was enlarged and improved in 1884 and 1892 and in 1902 the {{abbr|BNCR|Belfast and Northern Counties Railway}} purchased the freehold outright from the [[William McDonnell, 6th Earl of Antrim|Earl of Antrim]].

A new hotel was built in Belfast as part of the York Road station reconstruction with the intention of capturing trade from long-distance travellers as it was convenient to the cross-channel steamer berths. Designed by Berkeley Dean Wise and directly connected to the station, the unimaginatively named Station Hotel opened in 1898.

In addition to the railway-operated hotels, arrangements were made during the 1890s with the independent Olderfleet hotel in Larne and the Antrim Arms and Marine hotels in [[Ballycastle, County Antrim|Ballycastle]] for the issue of combined railway and hotel tickets.

====The Holden train====
The Holden train was a new concept in Irish tourism. In 1902, A. W. Holden, a Larne hotelier who had hired trains from the {{abbr|BNCR|Belfast and Northern Counties Railway}} for his summer tours, approached the railway to provide him with a special train. York Road works built the all first class four-car train. Three of the coaches were saloons and the fourth was a restaurant car, all being furnished to a high standard. They were bogie vehicles with corridor connections; the lower body panels were finished in match boarding and the end doors were recessed in the manner of [[Pullman train (UK)|Pullman cars]]. Two six-wheel vans were fitted with [[corridor connection]]s to work with the train.

The train entered service in 1903 shortly before the end of the {{abbr|BNCR|Belfast and Northern Counties Railway}}'s independent career. Based at the Laharna Hotel, Larne, Holden's tour visited most of the popular tourist attractions in north-eastern Ireland over a six-day period. During this time, it covered some {{convert|400|mi|km}} of railway travel and a further {{convert|40|mi|km}} by road. The tours ran until the outbreak of World War I.