Downpatrick is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about 21 mi (34 km) south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the burial place of Saint Patrick. Today, it is the county town of Down and the joint headquarters of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. Downpatrick had a population of 11,545 according to the 2021 Census.
County Down is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of 961 sq mi (2,490 km2) and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the north, the Irish Sea to the east, County Armagh to the west, and County Louth across Carlingford Lough to the southwest.
In railroad structures and rail terminology, a wye or triangular junction is a triangular joining arrangement of three rail lines with a railroad switch at each corner connecting to the incoming lines. A turning wye is a specific case.
Bangor is a city and seaside resort in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to which it is linked by the A2 road and the Belfast–Bangor railway line. The population was 64,596 at the 2021 census. Bangor was granted city status in 2022, becoming Northern Ireland's sixth city.
The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland that operated from 1948 until 1967.
The Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) was an Irish gauge railway in Ireland linking Belfast with County Down. It was built in the 19th century and absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948. All but the line between Belfast and Bangor was closed in the 1950s, although some of it has been restored near Downpatrick by a heritage line, the Downpatrick and County Down Railway.
The Downpatrick and County Down Railway (DCDR) is a 5 foot, 3 inch 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. 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. 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.
This is a bibliography for the history of rail transport in Ireland.
The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I) or GNRI) was an Irish gauge (1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)) railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The governments of Ireland and Northern Ireland jointly nationalised the company in 1953, and the company was liquidated in 1958: assets were split on national lines between the Ulster Transport Authority and Córas Iompair Éireann.
Downpatrick railway station was on the Belfast and County Down Railway, which ran its longest route from Belfast to Downpatrick in Northern Ireland. Today it is the headquarters of the Downpatrick and County Down Railway.
Events during the year 1987 in Northern Ireland.
Neill's Hill railway station is a disused railway station / halt on the main line of the Belfast and County Down Railway. It ran from Queen's Quay, Belfast south to Newcastle, County Down in Northern Ireland.
Castlewellan railway station was on the Great Northern Railway (Ireland). It was located in the village of Castlewellan.
Comber railway station was on the Belfast and County Down Railway which ran from Belfast to Newcastle, County Down in Northern Ireland.
Downpatrick Loop Platform railway station is a junction station owned and operated by the Downpatrick and County Down Railway, heritage railway in Northern Ireland.
King Magnus' Halt, more commonly known as Magnus' Grave, is a heritage railway station on the Downpatrick and County Down Railway's South Line, located on the outskirts of the town of Downpatrick in County Down, Northern Ireland. It takes its name from the nearby grave of Viking King Magnus Barefoot, a local tourist attraction that was not easily accessible prior to the arrival of the railway.
The O&K CSÉT Shunting Locomotives were a class of nine small Irish steam locomotives built in Berlin, Germany, by Orenstein & Koppel for shunting wagons of sugar beet at the three Irish Sugar Company factories in Mallow, Thurles and Tuam. They were delivered in two batches, with the first six arriving in 1934 and the last three in 1935. The 1934 batch was paid for by barter, using cattle as payment. Each factory received three locomotives, and numbered them independently, leading to each factory having a No. 1, a No. 2 and a No. 3. Each factory applied their own design of number onto the tanks, and in some cases, bufferbeams, of their respective locomotives.
The Quoile Bridge is a railway bridge across the River Quoile in Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is 43 metres (141 ft) long and carries a single-track line.
