Downpatrick and County Down Railway

27/05/2026

Bang! There's been a lot of door slamming in the workshop recently. Don't worry, nobody's throwing a temper tantrum. In fact, Robert and Niall are smiling, because the pesky vestibule doors on 80 class power car 69 is finally closing following its refit. Tricky things, carriage doors, they might all look the same but can be very particular when it comes to aligning properly - despite using the original hinge screw holes, they still need fettling!

This really is a major milestone for 69's refit - the large curved vestibule doors were one of the very first parts of the railcar to be removed for essential bodywork - and now (almost) the last thing to go back on. Time, of course, had not been kind to them and they needed whole sections of steel replaced internally, with the fibreglass recently repaired allowing them to finally stop getting in the way of the midweek carriage team.

A few last bits of prep prior to painting are also being undertaken, resulting in Niall gaining a new blue livery...

As we inch closer to giving 69 a new coat of paint and FINALLY entering service - again we're asking if any vehicle refinishers want to give us a hand to please drop us a DM.

26/05/2026

This summer, make it your mission to experience the County Down countryside off the beaten track.

Travel on our heritage trains and you'll see sights you'll never so much as glimpse from the road.

Bookings now open at https://www.downrail.co.uk/event/summer-trains/

25/05/2026

Work may be continuing to get our steam locos back in action, but aul 124 was certainly making a good impression of one this Bank Holiday weekend, as we welcomed a group of German tourists over in the basking sun.

For the train nerds we'd 124 and 146 working in multiple hauling our vintage set, and also our little German deutz G-Class and the 450 railcar.

Vielen Dank für Ihren Besuch!

16/05/2026

This summer, join us on board The Jurassic Express. But hurry, places are already being snapped up fast.

The event takes place Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July.

Travel back in time on our heritage train for an action-packed adventure with the dinosaurs on the Jurassic Express.

15/05/2026

With structural work completed on the Maghera Shed (our main loco maintenance shed), we’ve been able to make progress cleaning the shed before it is returned to regular use.

This is a pretty major task, as it hasn’t seen a serious clean for years, and was still suffering from the after effects of the floods in 2023 and years of heavy use to maintain steam and diesel locos. Luckily we have recently been able to acquire a hot pressure washer, helped by donations from our supporters, which has been just what was needed to cut through the years of grime.

There’s still plenty of manual scraping, shovelling and sweeping up as well.

Kitted out in the appropriate PPE, our team has been gradually working through the shed cleaning the floors and pits, and we’re just about 75% finished, before attention turns to painting the walls.

In between cleaning we’ve had to make way for locos to come in for pit access and even the ballast regulator squeezing in to enable essential maintenance to take place that just wouldn’t be possible out in the yard.

There’s a good bit of work to complete before the steam locos are back inside, but we’re getting there.

Thanks to all our supporters and funders, especially Newry, Mourne and Down District Council , for getting us this far!

10/05/2026

May 2026 sees a huge leap forward for signalling and train control at our railway – the commissioning of our first ever set of points controlled by a signal cabin.

Downpatrick East Cabin, originally Bundoran East cabin from the GNR Enniskillen-Derry line, has seen extensive refurbishment to the lever frame over the past year, returning the interlocking to full use after a long hiatus in the project.

Our small team have been busying themselves installing the point rodding runs for the headshunt and loco yard turnouts, with the first of these now connected to the lever frame, and the second not far behind. The first signals in this part of the railway will hopefully be commissioned over the summer.

In the meantime it’s flags and lamps, with traincrews all now trained in the use of the cabin and new operating instructions in place.

Our chief civil engineer and resident signalling expert David Crone puts the frame through its paces on Saturday. Full credit to David, Robin, John and Jim for all their hard work on this to date.

The sound of levers banging in and out of the lever frame at the end of the platform is so nostalgic!

09/05/2026

It was a right royal appointment yesterday for Chairman Robert Gardiner and Company Secretary John Noble, who swapped overalls and oily rags for suits and sandwiches while enjoying a spot of royal hobnobbin’ at Buckingham Palace 👑

The pair were invited to the Royal Garden Party, hosted by William the Prince of Wales, in recognition of the DCDR being awarded the King’s Award for Voluntary Service. Not bad going for our wee railway from Downpatrick.

Although the tea was perhaps more refined than what we get in the volunteers' tea-room - it's unlikely you can stand a spoon up in the royal teacups - hopefully these two didn't disgrace us with their table manners.

We're disappointed by their lack of top hats, however.

03/05/2026

We had a Super Saturday with the return of the SuperTrain, with four packed trains of junior heroes joining Captain America, Captain Marvel and Spider-Man to help in their mission to rescue an old friend.

Yes, the Hulk made his debut on the SuperTrain but forgot he was a hero, and our marvellous marvels had to help him remember with the help of all the little heroes.

The weather forecast proved to be way off, and we had a lovely sunny afternoon for the best superhero experience around, and it was brilliant to see so many of our passengers in full costumes for the event.

We’d love to see more of your photos of the day, and maybe you will pick yourself out in our photo collection?

01/05/2026

Is it really May already? Time really does fly. Let's start the month with a to 20 years ago, May 2006.

This photo from the late Mike Collins shows "Sugarpuff" No.3 at Downpatrick Loop Platform on a special charter for Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church, Bangor.

The train is on the Loop Line side of the platform, a route that has been out of service for many years. However, as we speak our Permament Way volunteers are hard at work repairing it so that operations on this section can recommence. This will give us the ability to run trains on all three sides of our triangle, making direct Inch Abbey-Magnus' Grave services possible. A true heritage railway "network" if ever there was one.