On Saturday 23rd August we welcomed an excited bunch of visitors to Downpatrick and County Down Railway for the diesel day. As always, we had a few secrets in store but the biggest secret of all was finally revealed,.. the first passenger working of a 121 class locomotive in preservation.
Those lucky enough to get tickets witnessed the first public moves of a 121 class loco in preservation, as 124 was firstly as a replacement on the ballast hopper run past (come on, you didn’t really believe we’d have used 146 again?) and then on the final train of the day, a passenger trip to Inch and back. It’s incredible to think that 124 was stopped in 2008 and, having been stored in Moyasta for the following 17 years, was once again brought to life just a few weeks after arrival in Downpatrick. That’s a credit to the engineers who designed and built such a robust loco.
The positive feedback we received at the end of the day was quite overwhelming and certainly made all the hard work (in secret) behind the scenes more than worth while. We’d like to extend a huge thank you to all who attended today, the volunteers at DCDR for helping us ensure the timely and safe running of the day and, of course, the Committee and volunteers of the ITG.
If you could like to help contribute towards the cost of restoring 124 and other members if our fleet, you can make a donation online here, all amounts small or big are gratefully received. You can also support us by becoming a member.
