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As most of you readers know, your editor has been spending a lot of time in Northern Ireland over the past year. Usually it is just a business trip with a couple of days to explore – and some good exploring has been done – but this May I had the chance to spend an extended period and get to some new places in both the Province of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This is the story of three weeks in May.
May 15, 2005 – I’m at YVR and ready to board a familiar conveyance – Air Canada 854 for London Heathrow. I’m sure the A 330 has my name on one of the seats by now. The flight departs and arrives on time, and the service is good as well. A terminal change at Heathrow, which takes at least an hour each way, has become routine. Next we’re on BMI 086 for the 50 minute flight to Belfast City Airport. Then a taxi to the Marine Court Hotel at Bangor, and we settle in for five days of seminar work.
Saturday, May 21 – Time to get outside. It’s a beautiful sunny morning so time to head for the Bangor Railway (and bus) station. I purchase a Freedom of Northern Ireland pass, good on all trains and buses in Northern Ireland for the entire day – a steal at 13 pounds sterling. TransLink (the Northern Ireland version) runs them all.
I start my day on the 0820 service to Belfast, one of the new Spanish CAF C3K three-car Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) trains that are just about now all in service on the system. The new trains are very comfortable and quiet, and ride beautifully on the smooth welded 5 foot 3 inch gauge welded rail. Northern Ireland Railways will introduce a new faster schedule on all services effective June 5, 2005 built around the new trains. This is the first time here that I do not see a single train of the old 1950’s English Electric stock in service (although many of the 1960’s vintage "Castle series" trains are operating. (photo, new CAF and "Castle" trains at Belfast Central station)
My goal today is to head to the south coast of Northern Ireland (if there is such a thing), notably Downpatrick, Newcastle and Kilkeel. I board an Ulsterbus Goldliner for the one-hour trip to Newcastle (a full fledged highway coach) and enjoy the ride through the Irish countryside in the sunshine. Newcastle is on the Irish Sea, and the waves are pounding in as I enjoy the coastline. The most notable feature here is the spectacular Slieve Donard hotel – which I discover is a railway hotel! Turns out that the Belfats & County Down Railway built south from Belfast through County Down in the 1880’s through Downpatrick to Newcastle, and that it built a series of railway hotels in the grand tradition for vacationers to enjoy. Ride the railroad and stay at a railroad hotel – sound like a familiar strategy?
Now I hop the #17 bus (again a Goldliner) across to Downpatrick for a look around. Downpatrick is the gravesite of Saint Patrick – so I really have to come here! It is also the home of the Downpatrick Railway Museum, (www.downrail.co.uk) and I wander in the side gate (it does not seem to be open through the station, but there are volunteers there). I snap a photo or two then find a couple of people, introduce myself and discover I have just met the Chair of their board. That’s all it takes, and for the next hour and a half I have a personal tour of the place!
It’s incredible how you hear the same stories and woes everywhere you go. The struggle to get enough volunteers, the ravages of weather on the collection (much of which is outside), and in their case even vandalism—a break in at their station three years ago resulted in the place being set on fire with much damage, the wood canopy burned and set a wooden coach from 1888 that was parked there on fire as well, both were destroyed. But, as he said, you go on for we have a passion it seems for this preservation.
Their collection numbers somewhere around 25 to 30 pieces, most from the Republic of Ireland. Their site has been created from scratch (as has ours been), and they have laid over four miles of track over which they run occasional steam and diesel excursions. They have two 0-4-0 German built steamers – one completed and one under restoration. The 1935 built locos were used in the Republic of Ireland in industrial use. (Below) Diesel "shunters" are
of British and German heritage, the coach collection from the Emerald Isle. We crawl through several wooden coaches from the 1880’s – one is well along in restoration, (left) but several are tarped outside. Their pride and joy is inside, but four operable cars are outside and suffering from the ravages of the weather somewhat. A steam charter party is set to operate that evening – pity I can’t be there.
I move on to climb the hill to Down Cathedral and find the burial place of Saint Patrick. While up there I also take in the Down County Museum – like most state supported facilities here, it is well done and free admission. Then back to town, and hop onto the #17 bus to Newcastle and then the #37 along the coast to Kilkeel. Not a lot to be seen here, so I continue west on the #39 to Newry, then hop a "BusyBus" connection to the railway station. It’s now well along through the afternoon, so I head back to Belfast on the 1633 Enterprise from Dublin – a one hour express ride on the smooth and very nicely equipped mainline train. Hauled by a GMDD locomotive, we whisk along at 70 mph with nine cars into Belfast Central station right on time. Now an across platform connection to the 1731 service to Bangor – one of the 1960’s English DMU sets— and I’m back at 1800. I’ve put my pass to good use – three train rides on three different equipment types, and six different buses – all in one ten hour day!
Sunday, May 22 – not quite as exotic a day of travel, but a bargain again. Northern Ireland Railways offers a Sunday "Rail Tracker" pass – for just 4 pounds 50p you get unlimited travel on any trains all day. I start off with a goal of visiting Lurgan, and off we go on the 0910 train from Bangor, again one of the new CAF DMU trains. From Belfast this is an express and we really get rolling – only 8 minutes from Belfast to Lisburn - some 90 mph running and smooth as silk. Here, however, the train is annulled due trackwork in progress. Not to worry though, as they put us all on the closely following Enterprise train. It’s a smooth ride to Lurgan, with a major steel tie installation in progress on the other main.
After strolling around Lurgan, it’s back to the station just in time to see a ballast train pass through – one of the GMDD units painted for Iarnrod Erieann Intercity service with ballast cars. Once again we locals board the Enterprise and enjoy a smooth ride back to Belfast. Spend the rest of the day on foot, watch some jet ski racing on the Lagan River in the centre of town, then return to Bangor late afternoon on another new DMU trainset.
Tuesday, May 24 – A long day to the North Coast, as we start out at 0800 on the express service to Belfast on the Bangor line. Our new DMU flies along smoothly for the 15-minute one-stop service, I continue on to Great Victoria Street where I change to the 0845 service to Londonderry. This also is one of the new C3K trains – although I note today that some of the old trains are still running in rush hour service. This will be a chance to try out the new train on a longer distance single track jointed rail line.
The ride turns out to be much smoother than the old equipment, and we make good time with up to 70 mph running, arriving at Coleraine on schedule. One note of change, however, is that the "Newsie" who boards the train on this route doesn’t come through anymore – rather he sets up in the rear coach accessible seating / bicycle area and you have to go to him! My observation-this greatly reduces his sales!
I get off at Coleraine and watch the trains tie up the main street of town as they do every couple of hours. This is the junction point of the Portrush and Londonderry lines, and three trains converge all at once. The station sits right at the main intersection of the town, and the crossing gates are down for as much as five minutes. (photo below)
Trains arrive northbound from Belfast, southbound from Londonderry, and the Portrush shuttle comes in too. The Junction is tower controlled, and both the lines north are single track unsignalled territory – the operator hands up the token to the driver giving authority to use the lines (just as we do with our mini rail by Sweet Apple) and off the train goes, returning the token on arrival back from Londonderry or Portrush.
The rest of my day is spent walking villages and hiking on the coast, as I travel on a series of different buses. A surprise occurs at the Giant’s Causeway, as the Giant’s Causeway and Bushmills Railway train is outside (the diesel version). Turns out it is for a private charter, and I see it head off in the distance for its 4 km round trip run. The Antrim coast is sunny and spectacular, and I enjoy it before returning to Belfast late evening and taking the train back to Bangor.
Wednesday, May 25 – Off to Dublin! Today is a rainy start, but I have decided to head south to Dublin for a day and see what I can find down there. I catch the 0645 service from Bangor to Belfast, where I will connect to the Enterprise. An interesting start – they can’t do a first class ticket to Dublin here, so "just board the train and do it when you get to Belfast". Turns out not to be a problem, although I have to explain it at the boarding gate in Bangor, to the conductor on the Bangor train, and at the exit gate at Belfast! But, I get there and get my tickets arranged.
I board the Enterprise at 0735 and settle into a comfy first class single seat – looks like a good load as most of the seats have reservation tags. And, so it is. I luck out, though, as the reservation tag for the seat facing me is not claimed – about the only one in the two first class cars! We head off on a one stop fast ride to Dublin, all the comforts including a full hot Irish breakfast en route. The rain eases up as we approach Dublin’s Connolly station – may be we’ll be lucky!
Dublin Connolly station has been under construction on my previous visits, but no more. A brash new front face is open with escalators down to the brand new LUAS tram system. Better check this out – so I buy a one-day pass (Euro 4.50) and hop aboard a waiting tram. The triple articulated cars are very modern, painted a silver – purple scheme with sweeping glass ends and huge windows. One can see ahead perfectly from the front seats, watching the driver at work as he navigates the vehicle through the city and then out the private right of way.
The Alstom built cars are high tech – side view mirrors are replaced by dual video displays that allow the driver to see both sides of the tram at stops and while traveling. A huge touch screen display in the centre of the dashboard provides all controls and station announcements, even the electronic bell which gets heavily used in the city streets. The ride is very smooth, speed (which you can watch) tops out at around 70 kph. The brand new service is heavily used right off – service is every 8 minutes all day with rush hour frequencies of four minutes. New traffic signs in the city warn motorists that the "Tram Lines are in Operation".
After riding and exploring by LUAS for a while, it’s time to try something else. I hop aboard Dublin’s commuter rail service DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) and head for the coastal village of Howth. The electric MU equipment is quite basic, but clean and efficient. The ride to Howth takes about 30 minutes and I explore the quaint coastal village for a couple of hours on foot. This is home to the Irish Transport Museum – however it is locked up tight and looks none too inviting. I return to Dublin around 1530 and spend a couple of hours walking the city in the sunshine that is now here.
Time to head home, so hop a last ride on LUAS ( photo above ) and return to Connolly Station, to board the 1900 Enterprise back to Belfast. Not as busy as this morning, first class about half full. But it is pretty fine to pull out for our two hour journey with a glass of wine and dinner on the way. Up ahead eight cars, our GMDD diesel notches up and soon has us flying along at 70 mph plus. The rain returns as we cross into Northern Ireland, we arrive Belfast on time at 2100.
Now just an across the platform connection for Bangor – and in rolls one of the 1960’s English Diesel "Castle" consists, but in brand new paint to match the new CAF trains. Inside it has been well cleaned and has new upholstery on the seats. The old burble of the English diesel is up ahead as we glide through the night to our 2145 arrival back at Bangor. As I disembark, I stop to see which "Castle" name is on this newly renovated train. In a brand new cast metal plaque, it reads— "Olderfleet Castle" – what could be more fitting!
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