On Saturday, 2nd August, visitors to the Downpatrick & County Down Railway travelled in vintage carriages to mark 40 years since the railway was incorporated.

Originally named the Downpatrick & Ardglass Railway, 40 years ago the railway was renamed to its present title of the Downpatrick & County Down Railway.

The vintage carriages used on Saturday date from Edwardian times and have been beautifully restored. Two of the carriages were originally in use with the Belfast & County Down Railway.

Trains using the vintage carriages were appropriately hauled by one of the railway’s vintage diesels.

The two Belfast & County Down Railway carriages in use were No. 72 and No. 148. No. 72 is known as the ‘Hollywood Railmotor’ and was built in 1905 by the Metropolitan Railway Carriage & Wagon Company in Birmingham. The Belfast & County Down Railway later became part of the Ulster Transport Authority, and No. 72 was withdrawn from service in 1959.

Belfast & County Down Railway carriage No. 148 was built in 1897 by the Ashbury Carriage & Iron Company at Openshaw Works in Manchester, and withdrawn from service in 1952.

Among other vintage carriages at the Belfast & County Down Railway is a six-wheeled carriage built at Dublin’s Inchicore works in 1888 by the Great Southern & Western Railway and believed to have been in the opening sequences of John Wayne’s 1952 romantic comedy film The Quiet Man.

In November 2024, devastating storms in Northern Ireland hit the railway particularly badly, flooding much of its base at Downpatrick and forcing it to suspend operations for many months.