As you have walked back from the Island of Inch towards Tooban, you have enjoyed walking along the old Buncrana to Derry Railway Line, here at Tooban is where the line split one for Carndonagh, and the other for Letterkenny/Burtonport, it is known locally as Tooban Junction.
Opened in 1868 for the branch line to Farland Point, the Tooban station survived the closure of Farland Point branch by 2 years. It was reopened in 1883 upon the opening of the line to Letterkenny. The Letterkenny line was a narrow gauge line, this gave the station the unusual situation of having a narrow gauge line on one side of the island platform and a standard gauge line on the other for two years until the Buncrana line was converted to narrow gauge. Access to the station was pedestrian only via a footbridge.
The bird hide at Tooban overlooks the main area of wet grassland and is a favoured roost for whooper swans and greenland white- fronted geese. It is also a great place to see breeding lapwing in the summer, and keep your eyes peeled for hunting hen harriers or on occasion marsh harriers.
