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 […]
Gallery Project on Schedule
Progress in the HLF/NTB funded Carriage Gallery has been largely internal and away from the dramatic scenes of the superstructure being erected to internal fitting out of electrics and the construction of the internal platforms. Wednesday 6th July saw another milestone with the start of the rails for the three roads being moved in and […]
Work on Gallery Construction Complete
The Downpatrick & County Down Railway marked the completion of construction work of the new £550,000 “Carriage Gallery”, as the keys were officially presented to the society by the contractors, Glasgiven Contracts. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and NITB, as well as the railway society’s own funds, the new public display area has been […]
More Filming at Railway with TG4 History Drama
The Downpatrick & County Down Railway will once again grace the small screen, featuring in a documentary about the significance of railways in Irish history that will be screened on Irish language station TG4 in the New Year. The series is called Boithre Iarainn, and is a six-part series for TG4 about the closure of […]
Downpatrick Railway ‘Switches’ its Attention to Bagenalstown
The Downpatrick & County Down Railway has taken delivery of a specialised piece of railway track – a “switch” or also known as a “turnout” – that allows trains to be guided from one track to another at a junction. The switch was purchased from Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann) in the early part of 2011, […]
MP Sees Work at Railway Complex
South Down MP Margaret Ritchie was given a guided tour of the new gallery under construction at the Downpatrick and County Railway last week. The MP said she was delighted to visit the Lower Market Street facility to see at ?rst hand the ongoing work on the gallery project which is expected to open for […]
Boost to Gallery Project from Adelaide
The DCDR has taken delivery of four turnouts (or switches or crossings) from the former freight yard at Adelaide, off the Boucher Road in Belfast, which is being redeveloped by NIR to stable and service their new trains currently being built. As part of the new Gallery project, we need to lay three sidings into […]
Gallery Project Progresses on Schedule
For any readers who have been folloing the rapid progress of the Carriage Gallery’s construction on our Facebook page, you will know how remarkable progress has been since the last update here. In short, the small loco shed is now structurally complete and weather-tight. The electricians have taken over and power will be installed very […]
Doctor Who Star’s Debut on Downpatrick’s Rails
In early March eagle eyed viewers of BBC TV couldn’t have helped see O&K No. 3 bursting on to their TV screens for the promotional trails of the drama “Christopher & His Kind”. The drama was broadcast on Saturday 19th March and the DCDR provided location filming facilities, along with many other Northern Ireland locations […]