Patrick Davey

Also, for the November 11th talk in Orangefield, Alan @Tullygrainey has kindly agreed to bring along his authentic BCDR layout 'Kilmore' for display, along with a selection of his superb BCDR locomotives and rolling stock. This will be the icing on the cake for an evening celebrating Ireland's premier railway line!

Still open to further contributions Leslie!!

No hard questions please…….!

I am currently putting the finishing touches to a much-expanded version of a presentation about the BCDR which I first delivered to the RPSI back in November 2019, entitled ‘The Belfast & County Down Railway - Revisited’. There will be two opportunities to attend the talk over the next few months, and I am very much looking forward to both! Wednesday November 11th 2026 at 7:30pm, Parke Hall, Orangefield Presbyterian Church, Castlereagh Road, Belfast, BT5 6BH: this is a LIVE presentation, part of the always-popular RPSI Winter meetings series. With thanks to Charles Friel for the invitation to present! Friday January 22nd 2027 at 7:30pm: this is an ONLINE presentation, part of the also-popular Winter meetings series of the London Area of The Irish Railway Record Society. With thanks to Leslie McAllister for the invitation to present! The presentation takes the form of a journey around the BCDR lines, with a focus on the stations, bridges and other BCDR infrastructure, much of which remarkably still survives today, 76 years after closure. We’ll start off at Belfast Queen’s Quay and take a quick trip to Bangor, before returning to Ballymacarrett Junction to take the BCDR main line into the heart of County Down. At Comber we’ll head over to Donaghadee via Newtownards then head south from Comber towards Ballygowan and Saintfield. We’ll spend a bit of time at Ballynahinch Junction then take a short trip over to Ballynahinch itself before continuing our journey southwards to Downpatrick. After a visit to Ardglass we’ll eventually reach Newcastle and end our journey at Castlewellan. If there’s time, we’ll take a look at the GNR line as far as Ballyroney, over which the BCDR had running powers, although these were not, as far as we know, ever exercised. I have gathered together a collection of fascinating BCDR photos from various sources, and I am very grateful to the following for contributing a lot of excellent material: Charles Friel Bill Gillespie RIP Jackie Rice RIP Robert Gardiner Gavin Bamford Alan Nixon Ciarán Cooney Tony Hillman I am particularly indebted to Ciarán Cooney for giving me permission to include a number of BCDR views from the excellent Flickr archive of the IRRS, and also to Tony Hillman for permission to include an exceptional series of post-closure photos of the BCDR from the JJ Smith collection, currently in the care of The Bluebell Railway in England. I will also be including some of my own photographs of the BCDR as it appears today. Many of the photos will be shown in public for the first time, and some highlights include: Cultra station in original condition Connswater Viaduct King’s Road bridge, Knock Millisle Road Halt Shephard’s Bridge Halt Ballynahinch Junction Creevyargon Halt Tullymurry Newcastle All are welcome to either or both talks - further details to be shared closer to the dates of each presentation.

Plenty of 800 action plus interesting views of CIÉ A class at Monaghan. Ciaran Cooney is to be commended for his mammoth efforts which bring these superb photos to us!

I've built all 3 kits and can vouch for their excellence!

Really enjoyed a fantastic talk last night given by our very own @Galteemore David Richardson, featuring his beloved SLNCR!! An incredible selection of photos was displayed, many of which I hadn’t seen before, and it was great to hear about David’s family connections to the railway and the area. Many thanks to David and also to Charles Friel and the team for a great start to their superb winter series of meetings.

Excellent - thanks for these. Yes indeed this fine example of one of the smaller WH Mills designs for the GN is now a fabulously renovated private home. @Tullygrainey and I visited recently but as there were no adults in the house at the time we didn't take photographs.

Very creative!! She fairly moves ok!!

And he's off again!!! Just putting off the inevitable Baltic Alan.........!

Always loved that photo - could study it for hours and still see new things!

Does indeed look like a nice event - hopefully a few future modellers being inspired there too!!

Early autumn sunlight at Clogherhead Natural light rocks!

I always noted that it seemed to be the loco sheds that fell into dereliction quicker than other railway buildings - a lot of post-war photos show sheds with roofs falling apart, windows broken and doors missing. I guess the impending end of steam combined with increasing financial constraints meant that maintaining engine sheds became less of a priority.

Grotty is the exact word!! Great atmosphere of dereliction!!