History made as ‘The Bundoran Express’ returns to the railway

It was no April Fool when a train with the ‘Bundoran Express’ headboard arrived at Connolly Train Station in Dublin on the first day of this month.

The steam engine train wasn’t taking tourists to the Donegal seaside though, but it was on an historic reenactment trip from Dundalk to Dublin to mark the heritage of the railway.

The Bundoran Express headboard was attached to a “Q” CLASS 4-4-0 No.131 locomotive for the special journey. The No.131 was built in 1901, and train enthusiasts were delighted to see it in running order once more.

The original “Bundoran Express” was pulled by U class 204 ‘Antrim’ and took passengers from Dublin to Dundalk, stopping at Clones, before powering non-stop through Northern Ireland to Pettigo. There, pilgrims got off to visit Lough Derg, while the remaining passengers headed to the beaches of Bundoran. This month, the “Bundoran Express” headboard was taken out of preservation from the Headhunters Railway Museum in Enniskillen to guide the restored No. 131 to Dublin.

Derry author and rail expert Jim McBride was in Dundalk for the occasion and told Donegal Daily: “It was an historic day because this steam engine hadn’t been in Dublin in running order since 1963. There was a big turnout of railway men in Dundalk, the former headquarters of the Great Northern Railway.”

Jim described the engine as a phoenix. It lay as a relic up to its recent restoration.

The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland took delivery of No.131 in 2003. On Saturday 31^st January 2015, No.131 moved under its own steam for the first time in over 50 years. No.131 was certified by Translink NI Railways to operate at 60 mph from 29^th June 2018, and received all-island clearance in 2022.

Those who were fortunate to board the train on 1st April were treated to a partial reenactment of how people travelled in the old days. She pulled seven carriages into Connolly Station.

“It was a one-off journey, we don’t when it will be happening again but we enjoyed that very historic day,” Jim said.

The famous Bundoran Express last ran in 1957, the year that the  Northern Irish Government closed the G.N.R. line.