Downpatrick and County Down Railway

18/10/2026

One unexpected skill for our volunteers is foraging for food, as you never know when you will be stranded down the line without your lunchbox and need to live off the land to survive.

During track work on the Loop Line near the North Junction on Saturday, the team spotted a healthy crop of apples growing amongst the lineside trees. Our very own ‘Bear Grylls’ Morgan took the plunge and declared the apple as ‘very appley’. He couldn’t be drawn on the type of apple, as he’s still getting used to this concept of healthy eating.

24 hours on he has reported no ill effects, so the race is on to harvest them before they drop. Nah, we’ll be good people and leave them for overwintering birds to enjoy.

Now was this a BCDR era apple tree, or did it grow from an apple core discarded by a volunteer in the 1990s when laying the track…?

15/10/2026

It may be only October, but we’re already getting daily queries about availability for our Lapland Express Santa Trains. Some of them are already nearly sold out. Last year’s event sold out completely, and unfortunately we cannot hold places or add more. As such, we recommend reserving your place sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.

https://www.downrail.co.uk/event/santa/

Ireland’s only full size heritage railway. Take a journey on our vintage trains through the drumlin countryside, explore our museum and carriage collection, and experience rail travel as it used to be. We host family events throughout the year, from St Patrick’s Day to dinosaurs and superheroes ...

14/10/2026

Our small track team had a busy day on Saturday, with two important jobs underway. The main task was the replacement of a timber on one set of points that make up the East Crossover just outside the station, where trains can switch from our North Line to the South Line.

The timber had been identified for replacement as part of our regular track inspection regime, and the time between summer trains and Halloween with no public trains running was a good time to fix this before it became problematic.

The process is pretty simple, and we’d say it was the same as it was in Edwardian times apart from our useful collection of battery and two-stroke petrol track tools!

The old timber was first unbolted and removed, the area under it was levelled, then the new timber was slid into place using muscle power alone. With everything lined up, it was drilled to accept the chairs that hold the rail, then bolted in. Ballast was poured round the area and adjusted using pick and shovel, with one of our petrol Geismar hand tampers used to finish off the task, with levels and gauge checked to make sure everything was good for trains to run over it again.

Work to install our first working signal in the station headshunt was also started, but there was no machinery here, just spades and shovels as the foundations were dug ahead of a concrete pour to support the signal.

It was all in a day’s work for our volunteers. If you think you’d like to join in the fun, please get in touch.

13/10/2026

Just arrived - all new enamel badges depicting one of Downpatrick's most popular diesels, The Irish Traction Group's 121 Class loco No.124.

Available now.

https://downrail.myshopify.com/products/121-class-loco-no-124-enamel-badge

07/10/2026

Looking for a train ride to remember this Halloween with your little monsters?

Board the Phantom Flyer for an immersive story experience that promises to be fun for all the family.

Journey along the tracks to see what fang-tastic stories lie at the other end of the line.

Departing Platform 1 at Downpatrick on Friday 30th and Saturday 31st October.

https://www.downrail.co.uk/event/halloween/

22/09/2026

This October, The Phantom Flyer returns to Downpatrick, in association with Avalard Productions. With an all-new script this year, it's an event that promises to be an absolute scream.

Dates:
Friday 30th October: 3:30pm*, 4:45pm, 6:00pm and 7:15pm

Saturday 31st October: 3:00pm*, 4:15pm, 5:30pm and 6:45pm.

The Phantom Flyer pulls into the railway for Halloween again this year, and with it a collection of weird and spooky characters.

20/09/2026

12th/13th September was our European Heritage Open Days Weekend for 2026. 124 and the vintage carriages were out for what turned out to be a lovely day in the early autumn sunshine.

19/09/2026

Here we see the lesser known Venus Loco Trap (Locomotivus Devourus) - jaws ready to snap shut - luring another unsuspecting victim into its smokebox, with the promise of "just having a quick look inside".

19/09/2026

On Wednesday, we were delighted to welcome a group of 20 museum professionals, members of the International Association of Transport Museums who were visiting Northern Ireland. The members were from a wide range of countries: Germany, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and India, as well as representatives from London Transport Museum and National Museums Scotland.

It was a great opportunity to not only showcase the DCDR but to exchange views, ideas and heritage-related issues. We would like to thank Steve Wood from the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway,, who was leading the group.

13/09/2026

If you visited us on Saturday you will have noticed GM Locomotive 124 was sporting L-plates front and rear, and you might have wondered what was going on.

It was exam day for driver Des Sage, who had completed two years of intensive training to get to this stage. This included passing out as shunter and guard along the way. The final stage consisted of a written rules exam, verbal rules follow-up, and an intensive day of train operations including shunting, passenger trains, and both air and vacuum braked stock.

The path to becoming a fully qualified driver was a long, hard slog for Des, like all of our new drivers, but his hard work and determination paid off in the end and he can now drive all of our GM locomotives without an instructor looking over his shoulder.

He was even visited in the cab by his daughters, Emer and Ella, who told our photographer that their dad was super-cool. We have to agree!