Editing Northern Counties Committee (section)

====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.