NITB award winner

The railway wins the Best Project award at the Northern Ireland Tourist Board annual awards.

Inch Extension land acquired

Land for the Inch Abbey extension north of the River Quoile is acquired, the original trackbed as far as today’s Inch Curve and the land in towards Inch Abbey Road for our future railway track, station and car park.

Billy Hastings honoured

Billy Hastings OBE, a long time supporter of our railway, is honoured with Life Membership.

Renamed again!

With the retirement of our only operational steam locomotive ‘Guinness’, we rebranded from Downpatrick Steam Railway to Downpatrick Railway Museum, to give the brand a broader focus.

Council partnership agreement

The railway enters into a joint partnership agreement with Down District Council, in order to deliver the extensions to Ballydugan and Inch Abbey

HLF Grant awarded

 One of the first Heritage Lottery Fund grants in Northern Ireland is awarded to enable reconstruction of Maghera Shed, our new locomotive shed.

Bridge replaced

Bridge 163 on the Loop Line is replaced, to enable us to complete the former ‘main line’ side of the triangular junction.

St Patrick’s Day parade

The railway takes part in the Downpatrick St Patrick’s Day parade for the first time.

Our first concrete sleepers laid

We used concrete sleepers for tracklaying for the first time. These were more difficult to handle than traditional timber sleepers, but they signal a move towards a more sustainable railway – concrete does not rot!

Loop Platform Canopy opened

Following a long restoration project, funded by the International Fund for Ireland, the Loop Platform canopy is officially launched – one of the few original BCDR structures surviving in the Downpatrick area.