There are a number of

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

s in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, reflecting

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

's long

railway history The history of rail transport began in the BCE times. It can be divided into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of track material and motive power used. Ancient systems The Post Track, a prehistoric causeway in the va ...

. Some of the primary sites include: *The Downpatrick & Co Down Railway in

County Down 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 and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

is located on part of the former

Belfast & County Down Railway The Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland (later Northern Ireland) linking Belfast with County Down. It was built in the 19th century and absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948. All but ...

. Two and a half miles track has been relaid to Inch Abbey on the old route to Belfast, and a further one mile laid along the old route to Newcastle. It operates with preserved steam and diesel locomotives and vintage wooden carriages. *The

Railway Preservation Society of Ireland The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) is an Irish railway preservation group operating throughout Ireland, founded in 1964. Mainline steam train railtours are operated from Dublin and Belfast, but occasionally from other locations ...

headquarters, in Whitehead,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

. A large selection of steam locomotives and preserved rolling stock can be seen. Although there is not an actual heritage railway in Whitehead, there is a museum, and there are regular

railtour A railtour is a special train which is run in order to allow people to experience rail travel which is not normally available using timetabled passenger services. The 'unusual' aspect may be the route of the train, the destination, the occasion, s ...

s with the preserved stock running to various destinations in Ireland. *The

Giant's Causeway and Bushmills Railway The Giant's Causeway and Bushmills Railway (GC&BR) is a narrow gauge heritage railway operating between the Giant's Causeway and Bushmills on the coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The line is long. History Original line The Gia ...

on the north coast in

. Steam-powered services run from the

Giant's Causeway The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (5 km) northeast of ...

Bushmills Bushmills (From Irish ''Muileann na Buaise'') is a village on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Bushmills had a population of 1,295 in the 2011 Census. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under ...

. Laid on part of the course of the original

Giant's Causeway Tramway The Giant's Causeway Tramway, operated by the Giant's Causeway, Portrush and Bush Valley Railway & Tramway Company Ltd, was a pioneering narrow gauge electric railway operating between Portrush and the Giant's Causeway on the coast of County An ...

which was electric-powered, with its own hydroelectric plant – the first such system in the world. * The

Foyle Valley Railway The Foyle Valley Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway in Derry, Northern Ireland. Foyle Valley Railway Museum was initially opened in 1990 on the site of Foyle Road station of the GNR (Ireland). In August 2016, Destined Ltd, a charity ...

, in

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

. The project has faced some difficulties (and is closed), but does hold a quantity of preserved railway stock, on part of one of

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

city's closed railway routes (the city once had four stations)

External links

UK Directory of Heritage Railways
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List

Heritage railways in Northern Ireland There are a number of heritage railways in Northern Ireland, reflecting Ireland's long railway history. Some of the primary sites include: *The Downpatrick & Co Down Railway in County Down is located on part of the former Belfast & County Down ...

Cultural heritage of Ireland Irish railway-related lists

See also

External links