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data-widget_type="text-editor.default"> <div class="elementor-widget-container"> <p>The railway is currently closed to the public while we continue to recover from 2023’s floods</p> <p><a href="/appeal">Find out more here</a></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-c27778e e-con-full elementor-hidden-widescreen e-flex e-con e-parent" data-id="c27778e" data-element_type="container" id="dcdrFeaturedImageContainer"> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-6cc2db4 elementor-widget__width-inherit elementor-widget elementor-widget-image" data-id="6cc2db4" data-element_type="widget" data-widget_type="image.default"> <div class="elementor-widget-container"> <img loading="lazy" width="1600" height="700" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/banner_no1george.jpg?fit=1600%2C700&ssl=1" class="attachment-full size-full wp-image-27179" alt="A vintage steam train at the Downpatrick & County Down Railway Museum, Northern Ireland." srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/banner_no1george.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/banner_no1george.jpg?resize=300%2C131&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/banner_no1george.jpg?resize=768%2C336&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/banner_no1george.jpg?resize=1024%2C448&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/banner_no1george.jpg?resize=1080%2C473&ssl=1 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /> </div> </div> </div> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-cb95f96 e-con-full elementor-hidden-desktop elementor-hidden-tablet elementor-hidden-mobile e-flex e-con e-parent" data-id="cb95f96" data-element_type="container" id="dcdrFeaturedImageContainerWS" data-settings="{"background_background":"classic"}"> <div class="elementor-element 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e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child" data-id="2f1f6cb" data-element_type="container"> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-41ccfa5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child" data-id="41ccfa5" data-element_type="container" data-settings="{"background_background":"classic"}"> <div class="e-con-inner"> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-8c5b1b0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading" data-id="8c5b1b0" data-element_type="widget" data-widget_type="heading.default"> <div class="elementor-widget-container"> <h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">In this section:</h2> </div> </div> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-d1cbe92 elementor-widget elementor-widget-shortcode" data-id="d1cbe92" data-element_type="widget" data-widget_type="shortcode.default"> <div class="elementor-widget-container"> <div class="elementor-shortcode"> <div class="menu-subabout-container"><ul id="menu-subabout" class="dcdrSubMenu"><li id="menu-item-39653" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page current-menu-item page_item page-item-36315 current_page_item menu-item-39653"><a href="https://www.downrail.co.uk/about/" aria-current="page">About us</a></li> <li id="menu-item-38459" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-38459"><a href="https://www.downrail.co.uk/about/news/">News</a></li> <li id="menu-item-38460" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-38460"><a href="https://www.downrail.co.uk/about/timeline/">Our timeline</a></li> <li id="menu-item-38461" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-38461"><a href="https://www.downrail.co.uk/about/trains/">Rolling stock</a></li> <li id="menu-item-39897" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-39897"><a href="https://www.downrail.co.uk/about/bcdr/">Belfast & County Down Railway</a></li> </ul></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-b747892 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child" data-id="b747892" data-element_type="container"> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-c536fdd elementor-search-form--skin-classic elementor-search-form--button-type-icon elementor-search-form--icon-search elementor-widget elementor-widget-global elementor-global-37704 elementor-widget-search-form" data-id="c536fdd" data-element_type="widget" data-settings="{"skin":"classic"}" data-widget_type="search-form.default"> <div class="elementor-widget-container"> <search role="search"> <form class="elementor-search-form" action="https://www.downrail.co.uk" method="get"> <div class="elementor-search-form__container"> <label class="elementor-screen-only" for="elementor-search-form-c536fdd">Search</label> <input id="elementor-search-form-c536fdd" placeholder="Search..." class="elementor-search-form__input" type="search" name="s" value=""> <button class="elementor-search-form__submit" type="submit" aria-label="Search"> <div class="e-font-icon-svg-container"><svg class="fa fa-search e-font-icon-svg e-fas-search" viewBox="0 0 512 512" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M505 442.7L405.3 343c-4.5-4.5-10.6-7-17-7H372c27.6-35.3 44-79.7 44-128C416 93.1 322.9 0 208 0S0 93.1 0 208s93.1 208 208 208c48.3 0 92.7-16.4 128-44v16.3c0 6.4 2.5 12.5 7 17l99.7 99.7c9.4 9.4 24.6 9.4 33.9 0l28.3-28.3c9.4-9.4 9.4-24.6.1-34zM208 336c-70.7 0-128-57.2-128-128 0-70.7 57.2-128 128-128 70.7 0 128 57.2 128 128 0 70.7-57.2 128-128 128z"></path></svg></div> </button> </div> </form> </search> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-04cd9f3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child" data-id="04cd9f3" data-element_type="container"> <div class="e-con-inner"> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-ba69df7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-excerpt" data-id="ba69df7" data-element_type="widget" data-widget_type="theme-post-excerpt.default"> <div class="elementor-widget-container"> From 1985 to the present day, DCDR has grown from a small band of determined enthusiasts working in a field, to become the only full-sized mainline heritage railway anywhere in Ireland. </div> </div> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-b936085 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-content" data-id="b936085" data-element_type="widget" data-widget_type="theme-post-content.default"> <div class="elementor-widget-container"> <p>An award-winning Northern Ireland museum, the Downpatrick & County Down Railway (DCDR) was set up in 1985 with the aim of restoring a portion of the former Belfast and County Down Railway as a working railway museum and tourist attraction with the ability to run steam trains, incorporating the various aspects of Northern Ireland’s railway heritage.</p> <p>The railway project is, to date, the only Irish Standard Gauge railway restoration project ever undertaken in Ireland (Irish standard gauge is five foot three inches as opposed to narrow gauge which is three foot and English standard gauge which is four feet聽eight and a half inches). The only other example of a Irish standard gauge railway in Northern Ireland is Northern Ireland Railways.</p> <figure id="attachment_27181" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27181" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/5b122be0ad495d691c844e0a325776a0-11605.sites.k-hosting.co.uk/dcdr/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_old-trackbed1984.jpg?ssl=1"><img fetchpriority="high" data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="wp-image-27181 size-medium" src="https://i0.wp.com/5b122be0ad495d691c844e0a325776a0-11605.sites.k-hosting.co.uk/dcdr/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_old-trackbed1984-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1" alt="View of the abandoned track bed in 1984, the grass-covered line curving around to the right with the cathedral dominating the hill above." width="300" height="200" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_old-trackbed1984.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_old-trackbed1984.jpg?resize=768%2C513&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_old-trackbed1984.jpg?resize=1024%2C684&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_old-trackbed1984.jpg?resize=1080%2C721&ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_old-trackbed1984.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-27181" class="wp-caption-text">How the track bed looked in 1984</figcaption></figure> <p>Unlike other railway projects in the British Isles, the DCDR did not have the luxury of moving into the site with a railway infrastructure still intact as has been the case with many other steam railways in the United Kingdom, who moved in as soon as British Rail moved out.</p> <p>The original line had been closed on the 15th January 1950 by the newly formed Ulster Transport Authority, which was a nationalised institution set up in 1948 to amalgamate the three independent railway companies (namely the London Midland and Scottish Railway (Northern Counties Committee), the Belfast and County Down Railway and later the Great Northern Railway of Ireland) with the bus and freight operator the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board.</p> <p>The closure of the line was part of the UTA’s rationalisation of the transport system and the line was lifted in 1953, with the track bed sold off to local farmers, and most of the infrastructure, such as signalling, bridges, etc. removed for scrap. Many stations were retained for use as bus depots, and this was the case with Downpatrick Station. Unfortunately, after Ulsterbus (the bus operating company set up after the break-up of the UTA in 1967) moved out of these premises in the mid-seventies, the station was demolished to make way for a supermarket (which itself has since been razed to the ground ), ten years before the DCDR came into existence. All that remained of the original station complex was a small part of the yard used as a Department of the Environment Roads Service Depot.</p> <figure id="attachment_27187" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27187" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/track-gang-with-sighting-boards.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-27187 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/track-gang-with-sighting-boards-300x225.jpg" alt="Laying track on the South Line" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/track-gang-with-sighting-boards.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/track-gang-with-sighting-boards.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/track-gang-with-sighting-boards.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/track-gang-with-sighting-boards.jpg?resize=510%2C382&ssl=1 510w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/track-gang-with-sighting-boards.jpg?resize=1080%2C810&ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/track-gang-with-sighting-boards.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-27187" class="wp-caption-text">Laying track on the South Line</figcaption></figure> <p>However, the tremendous tourism potential in establishing a railway museum and steam train attraction at Downpatrick was soon realised. The site of the museum nestled in picturesque countryside in the shadow of Downpatrick Cathedral. The railway could connect the town with an already established, but highly under-visited tourist spot, namely Inch Abbey, as well as another potential attraction, an 18th century corn mill being restored in the small hamlet of Ballydugan located about two miles south of Downpatrick, both of which are a short distance away from the old line.</p> <p>An added bonus of the project would be that what was nothing but waste ground would be redeveloped into a tourist attraction and public amenity, removing an eyesore from the town and adding to the Northern Ireland Museum scene in general. The track bed between these destinations was virtually intact and the majority was generously donated to Down District Council for use by the Railway by Dunleath Estates, though not all – including land to Inch Abbey beyond the Quoile Bridge, and a half-mile to Ballydugan.</p> <p>In 1995 Phase 1 of the project was completed, with three quarters of a mile of track laid from the town to the only BCDR building that survives in Downpatrick – the Loop Platform and beyond to the reputed grave of the Viking King, Magnus Barefoot.</p> <p>King Magnus Barefoot was a Viking King who was killed in battle in 1103, and the events of this historic event have been well documented in Norse legend as well as local folklore. However, until the construction of a new halt at the grave site, this site was completely inaccessible for anyone wishing to visit it. As well as this development, Phase 1 has seen the construction of a new station building in 1990 and new workshop facilities. The station building was originally built in the 19th Century as the residence of the manager of the town’s gasworks.</p> <p>A historically listed building, it occupied a site on the opposite side of Market Street, but since the closure of the town’s gasworks had lain derelict, had been totally gutted by arson attacks and was in a dangerous condition. In a bid to save this important part of the town’s industrial heritage, the building was dismantled stone by stone and rebuilt on its current location by the Railway.</p> <p>This action was a success in two respects: it saved an historic building from being lost forever and provided the Railway with an extremely apt station building. With steam train operation in mind, a water tower, formerly of Antrim Station was erected at the end of the bay platform and a signal cabin from King’s Bog, Ballyclare, was donated to the Museum by NIR as these once-common buildings are now obsolete in the modern railway network. The cabin was dismantled and re-erected in the same manner as the station building.</p> <figure id="attachment_27191" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27191" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_no3loop.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-27191 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_no3loop-300x200.jpg" alt="O&K No. 3 at the Loop Platform" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_no3loop.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_no3loop.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_no3loop.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_no3loop.jpg?resize=1080%2C720&ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/gen_no3loop.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-27191" class="wp-caption-text">O&K No. 3 at the Loop Platform</figcaption></figure> <p>Developments such as these have enabled visitors to the railway to view for themselves the operation of a railway station as it would have been for the first part of the century, and to see in use many railway artefacts that are now foreign to the modern railway service, many aspect of which can’t be found in any other museum in Northern Ireland. As part of this phase of the project, the Loop Platform was completely restored.</p> <p>This structure was the only BCDR building in Downpatrick to survive and was originally built a century ago to allow passengers on the Belfast-Newcastle express to disembark and board a branch train to Downpatrick or Ardglass, allowing the express to avoid having to stop at Downpatrick station and having to turn the engine around in order to proceed to Newcastle. However, in the years since the closure the platform had become extremely over-grown and the canopy had deteriorated into a dangerous condition.</p> <p>The platform was cleared and a replica canopy installed. This platform now serves as an important part of our operations as passengers can change trains for refreshments, or at Halloween and Christmas visit Merlin the Magician or Santa Claus respectively in their very own Grotto coach. The ability to ‘change trains’ is not something to be found in any other railway museum in Northern Ireland.</p> <p>Since then work advanced on Phase 2 of the project, another quarter mile of track was laid towards Ballydugan to the current limit of our land. Also a brand new 2.5 mile extension north to Inch Abbey was laid. This involved the largest single undertaking by the DCDR and was completed in January 1999. When the line was closed many of the bridges were removed for scrap, meaning that in order to complete the Inch Abbey extension the River Quoile would have to be re-bridged. With a distance of 140 feet to cross, this was no easy task and required two weeks for completion.</p> <figure id="attachment_27193" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27193" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/RPSI-3-distant-shot-2-quoile-1-bw.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img loading="lazy" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-27193 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/RPSI-3-distant-shot-2-quoile-1-bw-300x200.jpg" alt="A steam train crossing the River Quoile Bridge" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/RPSI-3-distant-shot-2-quoile-1-bw.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/RPSI-3-distant-shot-2-quoile-1-bw.jpg?resize=768%2C511&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.downrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/RPSI-3-distant-shot-2-quoile-1-bw.jpg?w=1024&ssl=1 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-27193" class="wp-caption-text">A steam train crossing the River Quoile Bridge</figcaption></figure> <p>The original bridge was built in 1859 and was one of the few major river bridges within the BCDR network. The first bridge originally consisted of lattice trusses on timber piles driven into the river bed and this was replaced with a steel girder bridge in 1929. After the closure of the BCDR main line in 1950 the girders were removed, but fortunately the abutments and the centre pier survive intact.</p> <p>The new bridge that has been reinstated is a replica of the 1920s steel girder bridge, and was fabricated by IES Ltd. of Dunmurry. Costing around 拢110,000 the funding for the bridge has been grant aided by the International Fund for Ireland and Down District Council. The main girders were craned into position from each abutment on separate days by a 100 ton crane.</p> <p>The line veers off the original line roughly 260 metres north of the Quoile Bridge towards Inch Abbey, which was not originally a stop on the railway. A new station has been built close to the Inch Abbey Road, out of sight of the Abbey to avoid ruining the tranquillity of the area.</p> <p>In 2012 our award-winning Carriage Gallery opened, furthering our place as one of a Northern Ireland museum attraction.</p> <p>Beyond this we remain committed to completing the extension to Ballydugan, subject to successful land negotiations for the remaining track bed. And in the future? Well, we have ideas, but you’ll just have to wait and see!</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div data-elementor-type="footer" data-elementor-id="36127" class="elementor elementor-36127 elementor-location-footer" data-elementor-post-type="elementor_library"> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-f8fee09 e-grid dcdrFooter e-con-boxed e-con e-parent" data-id="f8fee09" data-element_type="container" data-settings="{"background_background":"classic"}"> <div class="e-con-inner"> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-ca146a1 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child" data-id="ca146a1" data-element_type="container"> <div class="e-con-inner"> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-baa4f1a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading" data-id="baa4f1a" data-element_type="widget" data-widget_type="heading.default"> <div class="elementor-widget-container"> <h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">Our details:</h2> </div> </div> <div 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