Railway (December 1852 and July 1853/July 1871) Ballymena, Cushendall and Red Bay Railway (1875 & 1876/October 1884) Ballymena and Larne Railway (August 1877, June & August 1878/July 1889) Carrickfergus and Larne Railway (October 1862/July 1890) Draperstown Railway (July 1883/July 1895) Derry Central Railway (29 miles; 46 km) (February 1880/September 1901) Portstewart Tramway (June 1882/June 1897) Edward John Cotton had succeeded Thomas H. Higgin as manager of the B&BR in 1857 and continued in this position with the BNCR. He would be instrumental in making it the most prosperous railway in Ireland. Berkeley Deane Wise was the Chief Civil Engineer of the BNCR from 1888 to 1906. During those 18 years Wise made an immense contribution to the BNCR, designing many of its grand stations and tourist attractions. Steamer services The shortest distance between Great Britain and Ireland is the across the North Channel between Portpatrick in Wigtownshire, Scotland and Donaghadee in County Down. A privately run mail service had started in 1662 which. taken over by the Post Office and then the Admiralty, continued for nearly 200 years. In 1849, problems at both Portpatrick and Donaghadee during severe weather and the difficulty in accommodating larger steamers at Portpatrick caused the termini of the Short Sea Route to be transferred to Stranraer and Larne. Even before the Carrickfergus & Larne railway (C&LR) had been completed, the BNCR was playing a leading role in discussions with other railway companies about operating a steamer service between Larne and Stranraer. The BNCR, Glasgow & South Western, Portpatrick, North British and Newcastle & Carlisle Railways formed a joint committee to operate a steamer. It purchased the iron-hulled paddle steamer which made her first sailing in normal service on 2 October 1862. The service was not a success and continuing poor financial results led to its being suspended on 31 December 1863. Meanwhile, the BNCR continued to promote the possibility of a steamer service but with a better ship. Although lacking capital it was able to encourage private investors to set up a new company in 1871. Known as the Larne & Stranraer Steam Boat Company it began operating the PS Princess Louise on a daily service from 1 July 1872. In 1885, the London & North Western, Midland, Caledonian and Glasgow & South Western railways had formed the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway to operate the Portpatrick Railway and to, improve the profitability of the