Downpatrick and County Down Railway

Downpatrick and County Down Railway
The DCDR logo, based on a monogram design used by the BCDR
Locale	Northern Ireland
Commercial operations
Name	Belfast and County Down Railway
Built by	Belfast and County Down Railway
Original gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) Preview warning: Page using Template:Track gauge with unknown parameter "abbr"
Preserved operations
Operated by	The Downpatrick and County Down Railway Society Limited
Stations	4
Length	Approximately 3 miles (4.8 km)
Preserved gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) Preview warning: Page using Template:Track gauge with unknown parameter "abbr"
Commercial history
Opened	1859
Closed	1950
Preservation history
Jan 1985	Work started on building preserved railway
Dec 1987	First public trains ran
Apr 1995	South Line extended to Magnus' Grave
Sep 2005	North Line extended to Inch Abbey
Sep 2014	Carriage Gallery officially opened
Mar 2020	Railway closes during COVID-19 pandemic
Jul 2022	Railway reopens to public
Oct 2023	Railway Temporarily Closes due to severe flooding and resulting damage
Oct 2024	Railway reopens following flood damage
Website
downrail.co.uk
Route map Legend Belfast & County Down Railway to Belfast Inch Abbey Quoile Bridge (River Quoile) Downpatrick Downpatrick Loop Platform King Magnus' Halt Ardglass Line Ballynoe Killough Coney Island Ardglass Ballydugan (proposed) Belfast & County Down Railway to Newcastle

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3][4][5]

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.^[6] 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,^[7] which has been the standard gauge on the island since the 1840s.^[8] 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.^[9] Some of these have been overhauled by the railway's volunteers from a dilapidated state, and have received awards for their restoration.^[10][11]