The Downpatrick Railway Museum has seen the long awaited return of steam after a five-year absence at the Northern Ireland heritage railway, with the inauguration of a 'new' locomotive into passenger service.

The locomotive, No. 3, was one of nine originally built by the Berlin-based firm of Orenstein and Koppel for the Irish Sugar Company between 1934 and 1935, and was withdrawn in 1960. An attempt was made at that time to preserve some of the locomotives by an English railway enthusiast, who purchased three of them and moved them to Dalkey Railway Station, just south of Dublin, with a view to shipping them over to England for preservation. However, the plans were scuppered at the last minute when one crucial factor was pointed out - the locomotives could not be run in England, as railways in Ireland operate using a rail gauge of 5ft 3in, as opposed to the English standard gauge is 4ft 8 1/2in!

The locomotives lay in Dalkey until 1979 when two were saved for preservation in Northern Ireland ( the third eventually being scrapped) and were moved to the former Belfast and County Down Railway station at Ballynahinch Junction, between Saintfield and Crossgar. At this time a working railway museum was being mooted for the former BCDR Ballynahinch branch. However, this scheme failed to get off the ground and the locomotives once again lay derelict and unprotected. Following this, the Downpatrick Railway Museum stepped in with the aid of the Irish Sugar Locomotive Group (a group formed specifically to help preserve these locomotives) in 1987 to save these two important examples of industrial heritage.

Once at Downpatrick, they were put into secure storage awaiting funds for their restoration. The Heritage Lottery Fund came to the rescue, and offered funds for the complete restoration of No. 3 and the manufacture of a completely new boiler for No. 1 (the original boiler was beyond restoration in this engine).

With funding secured, the Downpatrick Railway Museum embarked on a joint venture with the Whitehead-based Railway Preservation Society of Ireland to get engine No. 3 back into operation. As the RPSI have over thirty-five years experience of restoring main line steam engines they agreed to be the contractors for the work necessary to be done on the chassis, including the running gear, while the Ballymena firm of Woolf Engineering agreed to recondition the boiler of No. 3 and fabricate a new boiler for No. 1. When completed, the engine was repainted in its original livery of black with straw lining.

At 0707 Hrs. on the 7th. January, 2000, Orenstein and Koppel Locomotive No. 3 moved for the first time at Downpatrick under its own power, much to the delight (and relief) of the "Steam Squad". The occasion was suitably celebrated with a magnificent Footplate Fry-up on the firemans shovel. Interestingly, it was exactly a week and a day short of the 50th. Anniversary of the closure of the Belfast and County Down Railway's main line services.

Downpatrick Railway Museum Publicity Officer, Robert Gardiner, said that perhaps there was something significant in the timing of the locomotive's return to service. "2000 was the fiftieth anniversary of the last steam services out of Downpatrick, and indeed the entire Belfast and County Down Railway network, bar the Bangor line. I think it is quite significant that it was this year that we saw the return of steam to County Down." He continued, "Another interesting point is that this is the first time that this locomotive will be transporting fare-paying passengers. The locomotive was never used for anything else other than hauling sugar beet wagons."

With the inauguration of the steam locomotive into service, the Downpatrick Railway Museum launched the first Footplate Experience Courses of their kind in Northern Ireland. Robert says, "From simply observing our colleagues across the water, we were very much aware that Footplate Experience Courses are extremely popular. Nothing like that had been offered to the general public in Northern Ireland before, so our return to steam was the perfect opportunity to bring something different to the preservation scene here in Northern Ireland."

But did the Northern Ireland public take to this new venture? "We were completely taken aback by the interest people showed in these courses, demand was so high that we had to take bookings for this year long before the 2000 season was finished!"

Photo Colin Holliday.

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