The
23rd March is a very special date for us at Downpatrick, we
will be celebrating 150 years since the the Belfast & County Down
Railway opened the line to Downpatrick.
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Downpatrick Recorder
Saturday 22nd February 1859
BELFAST AND COUNTY OF DOWN RAILWAY. - Considerable
animation is at present going on at this end of the line.
The rails will, next week, be laid over the wooden bridge,
about a mile and a half from the town. The road has been ballasted
to the terminus here. The turn table has been formed and the
building of the station is about to be commenced, so that
there is every prospect of the extension to this town being
opened with the least delay possible.
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he BCDR's main
goal in its formation in 1848 was to reach the then administrative
centre of County Down, but it would be another 11 years before the
line would reach the town. The construction of the main line before
the town is chronicled on the main history page, but on this page
there is a little bit more info on the construction of the line
as it approached Downpatrick.
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Northern Whig
Tuesday 22nd March 1859
COUNTY DOWN RAILWAY - Extension to Downpatrick
- It was generally hoped and expected that this line would
have been opened before the assizes, and, had this expectation
been fulfilled, the accomodation to the members of the legal
profession in Belfast, and to all who are compelled to attend
these assizes, would have been very great. The Government
Inspector was looked for last Friday with some anxiety; for,
had he inspected and approved the line on that day, the final
authority of the Board of Trade might have been obtained in
time to permit the line to be opened through on the first
day of the hearing of cases at Downpatrick. His official visit
has not, however, been yet made, and there is now no possibility
of the advantages of railway communication with that town
being available at the present important juncture.
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One of the biggest
obstacles was crossing the River Quoile, which was bridged by a
trestle bridge resting on wooden piles driven into the river bed.
To cross the marshes bundles of reeds were tied together and laid
across to form a sound foundation.
A temporary
station was built on approximately the site of the current Downpatrick
Station until the main building was built on Market Street itself.
Trains ran into
Downpatrick for the first time on the 23rd March 1859. There was
no official opening, or indeed any particular pomp or ceremony.
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Northern Whig
Wednesday 23rd March 1859
Belfast & Co. Down Railway - Yesterday the
line of the railway between Saintfield and Downpatrick was
officially opened, by Captain Tyler, Government Surveyor,
and pronounced by him to be excellently constructed, and fit
for immediate working. This day, as well be seen by advertisement,
two special trains will leave Belfast for Downpatrick, and
during the remainder of the assizes, and in a few days the
formal certificates of the regular opening of the line will
be announced to the public.
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Although enough
land was purchased between Belfast and Downpatrick for double track
to be laid, and bridges built to accommodate this, only the section
to Comber was doubled, in phases, between 1877 and 1902. The rest
of the network remained single track throughout its lifetime.
The line continued
in operation for the next 91 years, providing a reliable transport
service between Downpatrick and Belfast, and later Newcastle and
Ardglass.
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Downpatrick Recorder
Saturday 26th March 1859
DOWNPATRICK AND BELFAST RAILWAY. - It is gratifying
to find that this railway is at length opened to the public.
The first trip was made from Belfast to this town, on Wednesday
morning, in one hour and ten minutes. This rate of speed is
not to be expected on all occasions. The usual time likely
to be taken, between the termini of the two towns, will be
about an hour and a half, which will be quite satisfactory
to the public.
- - We
refer the reader to our advertising columns for the time-table.
That the opening of this railway will be an important matter
for the inhabitants of this town, and the surrounding neighbourhood,
there can be no doubt. The intercourse between this town and
Belfast has always been considerable, and must undoubtably
increase, from the facilities which railway communication
never fails to produce. To the agricultural portion of the
community it is calculated to prove most valuable, as the
assimilation of prices between the two places, for grain,
pork and butter, is almost certain to follow.
- - In
this respect alone, we regard the railway as likely to confer
important advantages on the community here. The money which
will be received for these commodities will to a certain extent
find its way into the shops in town, in place of being laid
out as heretofore in Belfast. This will the case particularly
for pork, which was hitherto all carted to Belfast for want
of a market here - a market which we have no doubt the railway
will be the means of establishing in this town, as it has
done at Lurgan, Portadown, Ballymena, and other places.
- -
We trust the good sense of the Directors of this railway will
keep the fares at a moderate rate. They will by this means
not only add to the comforts of the people, but in our opinion
increase the dividends of the company.
- - All
credit is due to the directors for the excellent temporary
station which they have fitted up at the terminus here until
their permanent and handsome station-house, at present in
progress of building, be completed. The engines and carriages
on this line are of the most superior kind, and nothing can
exceed the neatness and comfortable appearance which the first
class carriages present.
- - We
are enabled to give the rates of the fares to Belfast, for
the present, viz.:- First class, single ticket 3s 6d ; return
ticket, 5s 3d. Second class, 2s 4d ; return 3s 6d. Third class,
1s 6d ; return 2s 3d. The return tickets seem to be on the
usual scale of a fare and a-half.
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The line was
closed on 15th January 1950, and all the track was lifted by 1953.
Downpatrick station carried on as the main bus depot until 1972
when it too was demolished, while for most of the line 40 years
of dereliction came before the rebirth of the line in the shape
of ourselves.
First suggested
in 1982 we got off the ground in 1985 and gradually brought life
back into a forgotten railway line.
We might not
have track all the way to Belfast, but of all the lines closed in
Ireland, we were the first to be given new life, and the only one
done so by volunteers.
We plan to have
events around the anniversary date, as well as throughout the year.
Keep checking
this page and the news page for more details.
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Downpatrick
Station around 1901, facing on to Market Street
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Loco
No. 27 at the main platform at Downpatrick on 4th July 1936
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Downpatrick
staff circa 1922
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No.
27 arrives in Downpatrick with a mixed goods train
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A
train crosses the original Quoile Bridge (pre-1929)
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Fireman
Joe Hanna on the left, on No. 27 in the bay platform in Downpatrick
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Permanent
way work at Downpatrick yard, before line reached the Home
Junction and Cabin, 1907
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W.
Kelly, P. Blaney, J. McCarter & J. Watterson in 1907
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No.1
sits under the train shed in Downpatrick Station
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James
Taylor (left), Mr Patton, fireman James Hill, driver Barney
Malone on the last day, 15th January 1950
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(left
to right) William (Billy) Macrory, William (Willy) Irvine
and Station Master James Taylor
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