Work on £700,000 visitor centre at Railway now largely complete
Over the Twelfth holidays the new three-quarter of a million pounds “Carriage Gallery” at the Downpatrick & County Down Railway, co-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Northern Ireland Tourist Board took a massive step forward with the completion of the railways lines into it. This allowed a mammoth shunting operation to take place, which […]
Metal Theft at Heritage Railway
In the week where four people in the Downpatrick area were arrested for metal thefts, the Downpatrick & County Down Railway discovered it too had been targetted again by metal thieves. A volunteer spotted people in orange high-visibility clothing out by some of the engineering vehicles stored off-site and raised the alarm, knowing that none […]
Minister Inspects Work at Heritage Railway
The Minister for Regional Development, Danny Kennedy, visited restoration work being carried out by the Downpatrick & County Down Railway recently. In the first visit by a government minister to the County Down heritage railway, the Minister met with volunteers and took a trip out on one of their vintage diesel trains out to their […]
Downpatrick Railway Backs Tourism Plan
The Downpatrick & County Down Railway has offered its backing to Down District Council’s ambitious plans for tourism in the district. A feasibility study has been approved into four key projects, the most high profile being a cable car or funicular railway from the town centre into the Mourne Mountains. It also includes a feasibility […]
Michael Portillo Drops into Downpatrick
In this week’s series of episodes of the latest series of Great British Railway Journeys, Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw’s Victorian Railway Guidebook, crossing the Irish sea to discover the rich railway history of both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, following the unfurling 19th century expansion […]
A Scissors At A Snip
Last Tuesday and Wednesday DCDR members went “a long way” to Limerick Junction to collect the former Scissors Crossing which was removed from this location in 2010 by Irish Rail as part of a new track and resignalling works in this Tipperary location. All the important ironwork was secured and we now have enough components […]
Saving Your Snaps And Mementos Of The Railway
On the eve of the 62nd Anniversary of the closure of the old Belfast & County Down Railway lines on the 15th January, the Downpatrick & Co. Down Railway is relaunching it’s annual appeal for artefacts. Railway volunteer and photo archivist Robert Gardiner explained that it is important that things like photographs are recorded and […]
Sneak Preview of Gallery & Exhibition Room
There’s still time to catch the steam train this weekend at the Downpatrick & Co. Down Railway before the last summer train pulls out of the station. The Railway is running its last seasonal trip to Inch Abbey this weekend, Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th September, as part of the European Heritage Open Days, and […]
A Great Railway Journey for Portillo
The former Conservative politician and train enthusiast – turned TV presenter – Michael Portillo visited the Downpatrick and County Down Railway to film an episode of the third series of the BBC2 programme Great British Railway Journeys. During the series Mr Portillo uses a copy of the Bradshaw Railway Guide from the 1860s to travel […]
The Signal Box Now Arriving at Platform 1
If you were travelling between Enniskillen and Belfast yesterday on the M1 you may have seen a very unusual sight – a signal cabin perched on top of a low-loader lorry on its way to its new home at the Downpatrick & County Down Railway. The cabin used to control the north end of Bundoran […]