The Belfast & County Down Railway - Revisited

[Patrick Davey]

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!

1. 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!
2. 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:

• A very early view of Belfast Queen’s Quay station
• 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.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

Excellent - I look forward to it!

[Patrick Davey]

17 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Excellent - I look forward to it!

No hard questions please…….!

[Mol_PMB]

5 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

No hard questions please…….!

You're on safe ground - the BCDR is probably the line I know the least about! Though I learnt a bit more walking round the triangle at Downpatrick a few weeks ago.

[airfixfan]

Looking forward to this talk Patrick

[Signal Post]

Sounds like this talk will be a treat to be savoured, looking forward to it.

[leslie10646]

Looking froward to "Chairing" you in January, Patrick.

A line which I am just to young to have savoured, to my regret. Seen on your and @Tullygrainey's layouts, it was a definite loss. 

You should have nudged me for Henry Casserley's stuff, but there's always another talk ........

Edited 12 hours ago by leslie10646

[Patrick Davey]

4 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

Looking froward to "Chairing" you in January, Patrick.

A line which I am just to young to have savoured, to my regret. Seen on your and @Tullygrainey's layouts, it was a definite loss. 

You should have nudged me for Henry Casserley's stuff, but there's always another talk ........

Still open to further contributions Leslie!!

[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!