After many years of rumours and false starts, rails have finally returned to Saintfield, seventy years after they were lifted by the old Ulster Transport Authority.
As we mentioned a few weeks ago, we were delighted to assist Saintfield Community Association with their development of Windmill Park Saintfield, located just behind Saintfield Leisure Centre. The park includes the remains of the old windmill and a section of the former Belfast and County Down Railway main line to Downpatrick and Newcastle from Belfast, featuring two beautiful stone bridges, one over a river and the other carrying Windmill Road over the trackbed.
As part of the park’s design, the association decided to include a short section of track across the bridge to indicate where the railway once ran. An interpretive display will also be installed to tell the story of the old line, complete with a QR link to our website for visitors who would like to learn more.
Chris Johnston, Aaron McEvoy, and DCDR Infrastructure Manager David Crone carried out the track laying, assisted by contractors with a very impressive tracked digger (which David may have been tempted to keep). The trackbed had been carefully prepared to our specification with additional ballast ready to drop between the sleepers. The exact location was agreed with Martyn Todd, the association member responsible for the installation, and Chris ensured the first sleeper was placed exactly in the middle. The next four were quickly put down, with two of the contractors lifting them off the digger forks and spacing them out using our track jig. The fifth was then measured for centre, and the other three had their chairs aligned. A quick change to the bucket allowed the digger driver to expertly spread the ballast between the sleepers to give a good even height.
With another change back to forks, the remaining seven sleepers were quickly put down and lined up. The final layer of ballast was swiftly and neatly spread, the rails lifted into place, and Aaron had his first lesson in hammering in keys. With just the right amount of ballast in place, the contractors tidied up the site. All done by 1.30 pm without getting wet, then back to Downpatrick for lunch and to put the tools away.
It was a pleasure to help bring a bit of railway character back to Saintfield. It is wonderful to see the local community celebrating their Belfast and County Down Railway heritage, and we look forward to visiting Windmill Park once it opens. Best of luck to everyone involved in this great project.
