The Downpatrick and County Down Railway (DCDR) is a 5 foot, 3 inch (1,600 mm) gauge heritage railway in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is operated by volunteers and runs passenger trains using steam and diesel locomotives, diesel railcars, and vintage carriages. The railway has approximately three miles (4.8 km) of track in a triangular-shaped layout, which connects the town of Downpatrick with the historical sites of Inch Abbey to the north and King Magnus’ Grave to the south. It also houses a museum of railway artefacts and rolling stock originating from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, dating from the 1860s to the 1980s.
The DCDR's development was spearheaded by a group of local railway enthusiasts in the early 1980s, and work started on building the railway in 1985. Most of its track is on part of the now-closed Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) mainline which ran between Belfast, Downpatrick, and Newcastle. The heritage railway first opened to the public in December 1987, and originally consisted of little more than a short stretch of track with an E-class diesel locomotive and a brake van. It has expanded incrementally since then, and reached its current length with the completion of the Inch Abbey line in 2005.
The DCDR is the only five-foot, three-inch gauge heritage railway in Ireland, which has been the standard gauge on the island since the 1840s. With its Downpatrick terminus located at the foot of Down Cathedral and next to the Saint Patrick Centre, the railway has become a major tourist attraction for the town and has accumulated several hundred members. It currently has three steam and eight diesel locomotives, five of which are on loan from the Irish Traction Group, as well as the largest collection of Victorian railway carriages in Ireland. Some of these have been overhauled by the railway's volunteers from a dilapidated state, and have received awards for their restoration.
History
Belfast and County Down Railway The first railway in Downpatrick was opened to the public in March 1859, with the completion of the Belfast and County Down Railway mainline from Belfast Queen's Quay. Downpatrick's railway facilities included a substantial station building on Market Street, a two-road train shed, a goods store, an engine shed, and a turntable. The line was constructed under the management of the BCDR's chief engineer Sir John Macneill, and included a bridge over the marshy estuary of the River Quoile, just outside Downpatrick. The original bridge consisted of lattice trusses supported by timber piles driven into the riverbed, and was replaced with a steel girder bridge in 1929. As it was built on the floodplain of the River Quoile, the line towards Downpatrick often suffered from flooding, particularly during the winter months.
The railway originally terminated at Downpatrick, but in 1869 a separate company, the Downpatrick, Dundrum and Newcastle Railway, built an extension from Downpatrick to the seaside town of Newcastle. The Newcastle line was operated by the BCDR and purchased by them in 1881. The extension created an inconvenience wherein a train running between Belfast and Newcastle had to stop in Downpatrick and uncouple its locomotive, which moved via a run-round loop to the other end of the train in order to continue its journey. This significantly increased journey times and caused excessive congestion at the Downpatrick terminus.
The opportunity arose in 1892 to end this cumbersome practice with the opening of the Downpatrick, Killough and Ardglass Railway and, with it, Downpatrick Loop Platform. The Ardglass line was built and operated by the BCDR, and branched off from their mainline about a kilometre south of Downpatrick station. In conjunction with this, a loop line was constructed to directly link the Newcastle and Belfast lines, with the Loop Platform located at the South Junction. This enabled Newcastle-bound trains from Belfast (and vice versa) to bypass the main Downpatrick station, and instead call at the Loop Platform where passengers intending for Downpatrick or Ardglass could board a local train. Meanwhile, the mainline train could carry on without having to run around. This resulted in an unusual triangular-shaped layout, the trackbed of which forms the basis of most of the DCDR's operational railway line.
Decline and closure of the Belfast – Newcastle Line Following the 1945 Ballymacarrett rail crash and the resultant £80,000 (the equivalent of over £3,530,000 in 2020) it had to pay in compensation, the BCDR was financially ruined. This was a deciding factor in the nationalisation of the company, which became part of the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) in 1948. The UTA's railways were in need of significant investment following years of underfunding during World War II; as a result, Northern Ireland's devolved government established a tribunal to determine the future of its public transport system. In December 1949 the tribunal authorised the closure of all ex-BCDR lines except the Bangor branch, as part of an effort to avoid excess expenditure on railway maintenance and to divert assets towards improving the UTA's road services.
The entire Belfast – Newcastle line south of Comber, including Downpatrick, was closed on Sunday 15 January 1950. The track and almost all of the railway infrastructure was removed in 1953, and the station was used by the UTA's bus division, which became Ulsterbus in 1968. Most of the trackbed along the line was sold by the UTA to private individuals who owned adjoining land: the trackbed in the Downpatrick area was sold to Charles Mulholland, 3rd Baron Dunleath, and was left largely undisturbed until the arrival of the DCDR. Although the 1929-built Quoile Bridge was dismantled for scrap, the Loop Platform and several smaller nearby bridges were left intact. The station building was demolished shortly after Ulsterbus moved to a new depot in the town in 1975, and part of the former station yard was used as a storage depot by the Department of the Environment's Road Service.
Heritage Railway Local architect Gerry Cochrane M.B.E. was inspired to start the scheme after taking a walk along the route of the line, and by 1982 had gained support to rebuild part of the line as a heritage steam railway from the local council. Lord Dunleath, whose father had purchased the railway trackbed adjacent to his estate after the closure of the BCDR in Downpatrick, gave the newly formed society a package of land on which to build the line and station for a peppercorn rent. This was on the approaches to the old Downpatrick station, which had been demolished in the 1970s. Work started on rebuilding the railway in 1985, with public trains finally running in the town again in Friday 4 December 1987, making it the first Irish gauge heritage railway in Ireland to carry passengers over its own track. Track has been relaid on nearly 6 km (4 mi) of Belfast and County Down Railway trackbed, and a 1.6 km (1 mi) extension south to the hamlet of Ballydugan is planned.
The railway began life as the Downpatrick & Ardglass Railway, as the original intention was to extend the railway to this fishing port on the south coast of County Down. This name was dropped in 1996 following the abandonment of this proposal and the railway was renamed the Downpatrick Railway Museum until 2005 when the new name, Downpatrick & County Down Railway was adopted following the opening of the Inch Abbey extension.
Between March 2020 and July 2022 (apart from a temporary resumption of service during Christmas 2021) the railway was closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Volunteers continued work throughout the closure period, and normal service resumed on 16 July 2022
The railway was once again closed to the public in November 2023, after excessive rainfall during Storm Ciarán submerged the entire site under 3 - 6ft of floodwater for nearly a week. The railway was closed for almost a full year whilst volunteers assessed and repaired the damage caused by the flood to rolling stock and infrastructure, finally reopening on October 26 2024.
Operations
Approximately three miles (4.8 km) of Irish standard gauge track are open , along which a steam locomotive, currently either O&K No. 1 or 3, and 1950s-60s era diesel locomotives are run, drawing preserved rolling stock. Passenger trains are usually operated with brake/generator standard class coach 3223, which was built in 1954 by Córas Iompair Éierann, brake/standard class coach 728, which was built in 1951 by the Ulster Transport Authority, and Park Royal brake/standard class coach 1944, also built in 1954 by Córas Iompair Éierann. Stock is added to or withdrawn from the 'running set' as maintenance allows. Older carriages built by the Great Southern and Western Railway and Belfast and County Down Railway were operated on the line, but as 1950s/1960s stock became available the DCDR moved these vintage carriages inside for overhaul and display. These vintage coaches are now used on a select few special running days, such as European Heritage Open Days and for private contracts, as they are too historically important for everyday wear and tear.
The railway also aims to have an at least partially operational mechanical signalling system, using the preserved King's Bog and Bundoran Junction signal cabins along with multiple semaphores that are on the site. Related to this is the Double Track Project, which will allow simultaneous operation on the North and South lines.
Every year, the DCDR operates the following trains: Saint Patrick's Day Specials, which are held on Saint Patrick's Day and operate to Inch Abbey. Easter Specials, which take place over a couple of days around the Easter Period, and operate to Inch Abbey. May Day Specials, which take place on May Day and operate to Inch Abbey. Summer Specials, which take place every weekend during summer and operate to Inch Abbey. Some of these days involve special events, as well as an annual diesel day. EHOD Days, which run in conjunction with the last Summer Specials weekend. These offer visitors free cab rides in a diesel as well as behind-the-scenes tours. Halloween Specials, which take place on the weekend prior to, and on, Halloween night, and operate to Magnus' Grave. Santa Specials, which take place on the weekend prior to Christmas, and operate to the Loop Platform. Mince Pie Specials, which take place on either the last or last weekend of the year, and operate to Magnus' Grave or Inch Abbey - these are usually diesel-hauled.
Bank Holidays, shunts, private charters and film contracts make for extra trains throughout the year too.
On operating days, visitors have access to the BCDR Museum which is housed upstairs in Downpatrick railway station, the Downpatrick East signal cabin, a model railway room, the workshop viewing area (Where carriages can be seen undergoing restoration) and the Carriage Gallery.
A gift shop and buffet carriage, the latter of which will be parked at Inch Abbey or Downpatrick Loop Platform railway station, are open on operating days.
Stations & Buildings
Stations
Downpatrick Station is the principal station on the DCDR network, where all passenger trains originate from. It has two platforms, though one of these is currently out of use. The original BCDR station was sited on Market Street, but was demolished and replaced by a supermarket before the DCDR was established. Downpatrick Loop Platform has no road access, which helped it to escape demolition in the 1950s. It serves as the interchange point between the DCDR's South and Loop lines. Downpatrick Loop has two platforms.