Just over a week to go until GM 124 hauls our first passenger trains of 2026, “The Shamrock Express”. These trains are proving to be as popular as ever so if you’d like to snap up some of the remaining tickets we recommend doing so sooner rather than later.
www.downrail.co.uk/event/stpatr...
Congratulations to our very own Chris McCausland,winner of the Award for Rising Stars at tonight's Heritage Railway Association Awards. #hrawards
Best of luck to all our fellow nominees, and here's to a great night.
We are also shortlisted for the Achievement of the Year Award, in a joint entry with the Irish Traction Group for 'Moyexit', the recovery of four diesel locomotives from Clare to Downpatrick last year.
Chris McCausland is up for the Rising Star Award.
Shea McKee is in the running for the Lord Faulkner Young Volunteer of the Year Award.
We're all set for the Heritage Railway Association Awards 2026 in Llandudno this evening. This year, we're up for not one, not two, but three categories.
Always great to be able to help a fellow heritage railway.
www.downrail.co.uk/2026/03/a-ri...
Yes indeed, we'll have her out hauling vintage carriages on St. Patrick 's Day www.downrail.co.uk/event/stpatr...
Saint Patrick's Day trains now on sale, featuring 124 and our vintage carriages.
www.downrail.co.uk/event/stpatr...
That classic Deutz idling sound...
The loco combo you never knew you needed.
What's coming out of the shed?
A digger key is handed over from one man to another. Both are wearing orange hi-vis work clothes. The digger itself is behind them.
Who said you ever grow out of Tonka toys? Because sometimes the toys just get bigger… and come with rail wheels.
A huge thank you to the team at Railway Plant Services Ltd, especially Chris and John, who have come to our rescue with a brand new (to us) digger.
Courtesy of George Walker, a #throwback to 10 years ago, showing one of our beloved 'Sugar Puff' locos, No.1, ready to haul the first trains of the 2016 season. Originally used to shunt wagons at the sugar factory in Thurles, No.1 was the mainstay of our services throughout most of the 2010s.
With our members coming from as far as Cork and Derry/Londonderry to lend a hand on 90, nobody on this island can say that they’re too far away to volunteer with us! If you’re interested in getting involved, just send us a message to find out more.
Our contingent from Cork, guided by Downpatrick regular Mark, then set remove the remaining nuts holding the ashpan in place. Following some very skillful cutting, we then used a jack to lower the whole assembly into the pit below.
Meanwhile, stalwart volunteer Jeff was hard at work cleaning up the manifold – which controls the steam auxiliaries like the injectors – to make sure everything fits together snugly when it goes back on the loco.
One volunteer went up through the ashpan underneath, lifted out each bar, and passed them to another volunteer through the firebox door. These were then labelled with tippex so they’ll fit snugly when they’re put back in.
A few weeks ago we started removing the firebars from 90’s firebox: these are metal bars which hold the coals in place and let ash fall through, much like in a household fireplace. As the firebox was dark and dusty, this was a messy, tiring job.
We’ve had an impressive influx of new volunteers over the past few months – and what better way to get them started than having them work on our 150-year-old steam loco No. 90?
These projects ranged from permanent way work to carriages to locomotives, and included...
As you can see, there's a lot going on and we will happily welcome even more volunteers should you wish to join us. DM us for information, we'd love to hear from you.
We've also had several new volunteers join, all of whom are already starting to make a big difference in speeding our projects along.
It was a very productive day. We think everyone went home feeling happy and with a strong sense of achievement.
Many parts of the island were represented, with attendees from both sides of the border. Members travelled from as far south as Cork, as far north as Derry/Londonderry and many counties in between.
On Saturday, we had no fewer than 27 volunteers working away across several different projects simultaneously. This is the most people - in a single place at the one time - we've had on a non-running day in decades.
If anyone has an interest in helping re-establish native, slow-growing species in the cleared areas - but far from the tracks (such as rowan and similar), we’d love to hear from you. These plants are not only great for wildlife but will also add seasonal colour and interest for visitors.
As ever, this work is about careful management, not clearance for the sake of it – improving safety, resilience and the long-term health of our lineside environment.
This week’s work focused on the North Line, which is currently used for passenger services while repairs continue to bridges and track on the South Line following flooding. They’ve promised they’ll be back to tame those lines too!
There’s simply no way our little hedge flail and clippers could have achieved this scale of work. A huge thank you to Gerard Kelly, Adrian McLoughlin and the entire team for their support of our wee line.
