The heritage railways of NORTHERN IRELAND

摘要

Welcome to 'Norn Iron' that's the popular way of phonetically spelling Northern Ireland as pronounced by us natives." So said a Downpatrick Railway Museum member, one of the welcoming breed of heritage railway activists in a part of the United Kingdom that has probably not received the recognition it deserves in mainland railway circles. Never mind politics - the people developing these preservation sites are all united by a common interest in heritage and transport. This feature deals with the three main 'standard gauge' heritage centres in Ulster, but first a little history. Although the earliest rail track in Ireland dates from the 1740s, the island's first 'proper' railway was the Dublin-Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) line, built to 4ft 8(1/2)-in gauge and opened on December 17, 1834. The first line in what is now Northern Ireland came in 1836 from Belfast to Lisburn, but was built to a 6ft 2in gauge. The potential for gauge chaos was recognised and a Royal Commission on Railways was set up under Major General Pasley, who, somewhat arbitrarily, recommended that 5ft 3in become the standard gauge for Ireland. This was confirmed by an 1846 Act of Parliament - the whole of Ireland then being politically part of the United Kingdom.