This summer, join us on board The Jurassic Express. But hurry, places are already being snapped up fast. The event takes place Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July. www.downrail.co.uk/event/jurass...

Limited places left www.irishtractiongroup.com/2026/downpat...

With structural work completed on the Maghera Shed (our main loco maintenance shed), we’ve been able to make progress cleaning the shed before it is returned to regular use.

Fan of our "Thumper" railcars? Then this might be your cup of tea. downrail.myshopify.com/products/nir...

May 2026 saw the commissioning of our first ever set of points controlled by a signal cabin. Our chief civil engineer David Crone put the frame through its paces. Full credit to David, Robin, John and Jim for all their hard work on this to date.

It was a right royal appointment this week for Chairman Robert Gardiner and Company Secretary John Noble, who swapped overalls and oily rags for suits and sandwiches while enjoying a spot of royal hobnobbing at Buckingham Palace.

#FlashBackFriday to May 2006, where we see O&K No.3 in action on a private charter for a church group.

An update on the restoration of our former CIÉ "tin van" 639A. www.downrail.co.uk/2026/04/rest...

Here's picture from George Walker of our beloved O&K 'Sugar Puff' No.3 in steam at Downpatrick back in 2010. The yard itself has seen quite a bit of change since then; the station track layout looks rather bare compared to that of today.

80 Class update - the final mile We may not have posted much in the way of 80 class updates lately, but activity on the set has been far from quiet. Recent weeks have seen the team tackle the last few bodywork "niggles" with a vengeance, with virtually all the filling work now completed.

Today marks an important date in the history of the Northern Ireland railway system, for it is 50th years since the former Belfast Central Railway line reopened on 12th April 1976.

Some photos from Day 2 of our 2026 Easter Expresses.

Day 1 of the Easter Eggspress complete.

Sunday's 12:00 train is now completely sold out. We still have capacity on the 13:00, 14:00 and 15:00 but these too are selling fast. Monday is completely sold out. www.downrail.co.uk/event/easter/ #Easter

Our Kathryn has been busy preparing the station for the Easter Bunny's visit this weekend. His friends have arrived early, and it looks like they've already made themselves at home. #Easter

EASTER MONDAY TRAINS SOLD OUT Our Easter Eggspress trains are now fully sold out, unfortunately we will not be able to facilitate pay-on-the-day customers. We have some places left on Sunday's trains, we stongly advise securing your place now to avoid missing out. www.downrail.co.uk/event/easter/

Coming to our carriage gallery 11th April www.downrail.co.uk/event/seen-a...

Are you hopping aboard the Easter Eggspress? Just a week to go, and this year promises to be EGGStra special, for we'll be using our classic Edwardian carriages. As you can see, the Easter Bunny has been stockpiling all sorts of treats for the children travelling. www.downrail.co.uk/event/easter/

We love working with other Irish railway heritage groups. It was a pleasure recently to welcome a team from Cumann Traenach na Gaeltachta Láir, the Fintown Railway, recently. The team are installing new points, and came to receive advice on such work from our own Chief Civil Engineer, David Crone.

St Patrick’s Day was not just a busy one for our many passengers, it was a long, hard day’s work for our train crew, especially for Morgan Young who was being put through his GM loco driver’s exam. So now you know what the L plate on the loco was for. To cut a long story short – he passed!

We had a fantastic St Patrick’s Day yesterday. We were joined by musicians Patrick Davey and Nuala McBride who entertained passengers with some top class traditional Irish music. Here’s a small taster of a journey from Inch Abbey to Downpatrick with them.

Only a few weeks until the Easter Bunny visits the Downpatrick & County Down Railway on Easter Sunday and Monday, 5th and 6th April. This year, he has a new loco hauling a special train of vintage carriages, 1960s classic diesel 124. www.downrail.co.uk/event/easter/

With a myriad of other tasks to be dealt with post-flood, it is only now that our carriage team has managed to turn its attention to the ‘green set’, i.e. UTA 'Festival coach' 728 and CIÉ Park Royal carriage 1944. Some of you may recall that this pair were the subject of a vandal attack.

A vice-chairman’s work is never done… You may think that such high office in a railway organisation means it’s all meetings and traybakes and awards ceremonies, but that’s definitely not the case for our vice-chairman Mike.

A look at some of our activities last Saturday... www.downrail.co.uk/2026/03/spri...

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

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...

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?

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.

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?

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.