
By Ryan Sands
Seventy-five years ago this week, on 21 January 1950, the front-page headline of the Mourne Observer marked, with no small degree of sadness, the closure of the Belfast & County Down Railway (BCDR) line out of Newcastle to Belfast six days earlier.‘Newcastle, Dundrum, Downpatrick, Ballynahinch and other parts of east Down have bade adieu to the railway, an institution which, for over 80 years, has given faithful service to market town, seaside resort and country village and hamlet,’ the accompanying article began.‘Yes, the greater part of “the County Down” is now but a memory, and just as our ancestors of a century ago witnessed the passing of the stagecoach and the inauguration of the steam engine – and did they too not sigh at the change? – so we today are witnessing another step in the inexorable march of events.’It also stated that ‘now road transport is in the ascendancy, we look to those whose responsibility it is to see to it that no undue inconvenience is caused as a result of the change’.‘To this end, the UTA (Ulster Transport Authority) staff have taken every precaution to ensure that all districts formerly served by the railway – and many more – are being catered for by an intricate network of bus services,’ the report continued.‘The great fear now looms, however, that the roads will become dangerously congested, and, here again, it is to be hoped that those in authority will provide ways and means of ensuring the greatest possible road safety compatible with efficient and economic transport.’The last train from Newcastle to Belfast – at 7.08pm on a Sunday evening – was described as ‘like a farewell party for a beloved friend’.‘But it was as good-humoured a parting as one could have wished for,’ the article stated.‘Outside the Newcastle terminus, buses and cars were parked in close formation, while inside the station was a crowd of some 1,000 strong, including 300 passengers (as against the usual 80 or 100), also souvenir hunters and other “sentimentalists”.‘A number of those unreconciled to buses gave vent to their opinions by ingeniously worded posters, which they attached to the carriage windows.‘A large placard representing a tombstone, hung at the rear of the guard’s van, was removed by officials before the train left the station.‘It read: “In memory, BCDR. Born 1869, co-ordinated 1950. Aged 81. Executioners: Brooke and Pope”.’It was, however, highlighted that ‘sympathy rather than hostility was the mood of those who came to watch the “death” of 41 route miles of railway services (39 miles remain alive in the meantime)’.(It would be five years before the removal of the Great Northern Railway service – after 1950, this remained linked to Newcastle via a retained BCDR line from Castlewellan – which ultimately led to the closure of Newcastle Railway Station).‘People stood in the doors of their houses and waved a farewell, and a record number of platform tickets sold at Newcastle showed that many want to say their goodbyes at close quarters,’ the report added.‘A good number of townspeople travelled from Newcastle to Dundrum or Downpatrick, returning by bus, in order to be able to say they were on the last train.‘Cheering crowds assembled at Dundrum, Downpatrick and other intermediate stations.‘There were even some eyes, including those of the train crew, which were not quite dry.’The article detailed that the line from Downpatrick to Newcastle had been ‘constructed by the Downpatrick, Dundrum and Newcastle Railway Company in 1869 and acquired by the Belfast and Co. Down Railway in 1881 for a cash payment of £12,000 and the issue of £38,000 debenture shares to the former owners’.It also stated that ‘the branch line to Ardglass and the loop at Downpatrick was officially opened on 8 July 1892’.With the support of Down County Council, the Council of the Ulster Tourist Development Association had protested against the closure of the line, which it said was ‘of particular importance in the development of a flourishing tourist trade’.The Mourne Observer’s ‘What the People are Saying’ column included some local feeling on the development via vox pops.One respondent said that, like Down County Council, they felt that ‘Newcastle and district will suffer a setback for some time if it loses the railway’.Another stated that ‘buses may be good enough, but visitors think a town with no railway into it can’t be a great town’.In an online post last Wednesday, Downpatrick and County Down Railway marked ‘a sad anniversary that many in east Down still regret’.‘It’s the 75th anniversary of the closure of the Belfast & County Down Railway to Newcastle with the sole exception of the Bangor line and (for five years) the Castlewellan-Newcastle line, robbing all of east County Down of access to the rail network,’ it read.‘How busy would this line be today?’The museum added that it ‘strives to conserve and record as much about the old BCDR as we can’, and urged anyone who may have anything of interest related to it to get in touch with them at info@downrail.co.uk.