The demolition, in the late 1950s, of the bridge at Kilrea Railway Station caused much regret in the local community. One unknown person from the area wrote the following poem, which was published in the Northern Constitution on the 18th January 1958.
Kilrea Railway Station Bridge Poem
Farewell Old Bridge,
In Memory
Last Saturday, when in Kilrea,
I wandered down New Row,
To take the chance of a farewell glance
‘Ere the oul’ bridge crashed below.
Excavators groaned, bulldozers droned,
A welder brightly sparked,
And down below, queen of the show,
A traction engine barked.
Now young and old, some story told,
Of happy days of yore,
When they sailed out, with happy shout,
In the train that runs no more.
And now in fear, the men jump clear,
The engine’s wheels birl round,
The rope grows taut, the battle’s fought,
The gallant bridge is down.
‘Tis true, alas, old friends must pass,
While this grim earth goes round;
For hands so skilled, will ever build,
And other hands pull down.