station was made unusable. Almost all the remaining station offices, its overall roof and the Midland Hotel were gutted by fire. Both the inwards and outwards goods sheds were destroyed and the works section extensively damaged with several workshops completely burned out and a consequent loss of stores and equipment. Bombs also cut the running lines in two places between York Road and Whitehouse. Unfortunately, manning problems meant that it had not been possible to evacuate rolling stock to other locations as planned and several trains were caught in the air raid. Twenty coaches were destroyed along with more than 250 wagons representing heavy losses of 10% and 15% of total stock respectively. Despite the surrounding destruction, however, the locomotive sheds and the signal cabin remained undamaged. Temporary passenger termini were set up at Whitehouse and Whiteabbey with shuttle bus services to the city operated by the NIRTB. Goods services were transferred to the GNR(I) Grosvenor Road goods yard. Meanwhile, the Civil Engineer's staff and military personnel worked to clear debris and demolish dangerous structures at York Road. The station reopened to passengers on 8 May and shortly afterwards it was possible to accept goods traffic. The loss of rolling stock imposed severe constraints on the NCC's ability to maintain its services. The LMS provided twenty ex-Midland Railway coaches that were no longer included in its capital stock and these were regauged in Belfast. Meanwhile, arrangements were made for the Great Southern Railways (GSR) and GNR(I) to build and repair 250 wagons. Military traffic The first special trains carrying soldiers ran on 27 September 1939 when two trains carried a Belfast territorial battalion from a camp in Portstewart. The NCC served both of Northern Ireland's most important harbours, Belfast and Larne, during the war. From the beginning Larne-Stranraer was the principal route used by military personnel; the Irish state remained neutral and the Dún Laoghaire-Holyhead route was not available. Various territorial units were transferred from Northern Ireland to Great Britain. At first each movement numbered less than 400 personnel but this soon increased to over 1 000 which required multiple special trains and additional steamer sailings. The first significant move into Northern Ireland was in late 1939 when 2 700 men of the British 158th Infantry Brigade were sent to various destinations. Although there were logistical problems on this occasion, valuable lessons were learned. The buildup of troops in Northern