The Dublin Enterprise Arrives in Downpatrick?
The Downpatrick & County Down Railway has welcomed a rather large ‘visitor’ to the local heritage line. A large diesel locomotive that used to run on the Belfast-Dublin Enterprise service in between the late 1950s and 1980s, touched down onto Downpatrick rails for a two year visit. Railway Chairman Michael Collins explains, “The locomotive is […]
The Mystery of the Ghost Train
Although traditionally there are ghostly goings-on at this time of year at the Downpatrick & County Down Railway when the local heritage railway hosts its popular Halloween Ghost Trains, what many people do not know is that the old line does in fact have its very own bona fide ghost train. The story was recounted […]
Railway Visitors Want Longer Line
The majority of passengers on the Downpatrick & County Down Railway think that extension of the railway should be the local heritage railway’s number one priority. In a survey conducted between July and when summer trains finished two weeks ago, railway visitors were asked to name the single thing that they thought could be done […]
News on the Carriage Gallery
The DCDR have had a further meeting with Heritage Lottery Fund this week and are confident of successfully progressing this project to securing a Stage 2 pass. The project, which would see the vast majority of our vintage carriages stored in a visitor accessible building where they could be visited outside running days, as well […]
New Plates for No. 90 From Irish Rail
The DCDR was presented with a set of two specially cast bronze number plates for GSWR locomotive No 90, now in the care of the DCDR, yesterday by Iarnrod Eireann‘s Chief Mechanical Engineer, Phil Verster at a ceremony in Dublin’s Inchicore Works. The plates were cast from worn out brass fittings of old diesel locomotives, […]
Former Station Master Returns to Marino
On today’s BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster programme, there was a short feature when former Station Master Randal Cave returned to the platforms for the first time in fifty five years. While Marino may not seem atypcial of any other small NIR station, it has the distinction of once having the youngest ever station […]
Founder Celebrates Book Launch
The founder of the Downpatrick & County Down Railway celebrated the publishing of his, in effect, autobiography of his time building the DCDR. This book is not an “official” history of the DCDR, but a personal recollection of the events and people that helped shaped Ireland’s only full-sized heritage line, and how Gerry’s determination succeeded […]
Transport Heritage of a Different Kind
It’s not often that we get to sample a vintage mode of transport other than trains, but today 14 of our volunteers were invited by Adrian Fitzgerald, a volunteer from our early days, to join him for a tour of the MS Saga Rose. Adrian, who is originally from the Downpatrick area who now has […]
The Track Now Arriving at Platform 1
Yesterday the first two lorry loads of concrete bull head sleepers from Dundalk arrived at Downpatrick. This follows the earlier delivery of rail from the same batch of second-hand track material that was reported here earlier in the year. These sleepers and rail are intended for our planned extensions both east to the St. Patrick Centre, […]
150 Years Celebrated in Slieve Donard
Smart suits and fancy frocks, not a phrase you often associate with the volunteers of the Downpatrick & County Down Railway, who are more often to be found covered in various shades of grease, smoke and dirt underneath carriages or engines… But last Friday the volunteers let down their hair and dolled up in the […]