Railway’s farewell to flood damaged heating carriage

Railway’s farewell to flood damaged heating carriage

21 May 2025

THE Downpatrick and Co Down Railway has said a final farewell to one of its carriages which was damaged in the devastating flood of November 2023 which swamped the charity’s Market Street base.

Last week, the final curtain came down on the former CIÉ Steam Heating Van No 3189 which departed for the last time – not on rails, but the back of a lorry.

The charity purchased the carriage from Irish Rail in 2007, where it saw a varied second life as a guard’s van, generator vehicle, and storage facility, before being retired at the end of the 2019 Lapland Express season.

After spending years out of service during the Covid pandemic and one of the carriages damaged in the flood of at the railway, 3189’s condition had deteriorated significantly. 

An internal review carried out by officials found restoration economically unviable, with costs estimated well above £100,000 to restore it even as a basic van – let alone convert it back for passenger use. 

And efforts to find another home for the vehicle, including approaches to other heritage railways, proved unsuccessful.

Steam Heating Van No. 3189, to give it its full title, began life as BR No. 81029, a standard Brake Gangwayed (BG) Mk1 coach built at Wolverton in 1961.

It was converted into a steam heating van by CIÉ in 1973, becoming one of a small fleet (numbered 3181–3190) that operated across Ireland to provide heating to older carriages without onboard generators.

The van was used extensively in winter train services where a generator was needed when it arrived in Downpatrick.

But it was subsequently not considered of significant enough rarity or historical importance to warrant major fundraising for restoration, especially given its advanced corrosion and limited operational use.

Railway chairman Robert Gardiner said he “desperately tried” to find a new home for the carriage.

“There were a few expressions of interest, but nothing firm,” he revealed.

“As much as I’d have loved to restore our only Mk1, it realistically would have been a complete money pit and we have much more pressing needs at the railway.”

Robert said that after sitting in full view of the public since 2019 at the front of the railway’s workshop, the carriage was moved off site last Wednesday morning by Ahoghill-based contractor Thomas Hamill and Sons.

Given its size, the carriage was cut in half and the body loaded onto lorries for its final trip to Co Antrim which proved quite the spectacle for onlooking members of the public and later travellers on the M2. 

While the carriage departed, its bogies and an assortment of spare parts were retained by the heritage railway for potential reuse in future projects.

Robert added: “It’s a sad farewell for a long-serving vehicle, but as the team at Downpatrick often reflect, you can’t save them all.”