Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive is a free public access resource for teachers, students, historians and anyone who has an interest in moving images. Spanning from 1897 to the present day, the films in the Digital Film Archive cover all aspects of life in Northern Ireland and includes everything from dramas to documentaries, newsreels and features, animation to amateur footage.
This film is part of Free
Enterprise
There are no signs of steam locomotives as amateur film maker A. H. Martin captures a new age in rail travel.
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Overview
Diesel trains displace their steam siblings in Belfast, marking the end of steam powered public transport across Ireland. Arrive at the empty tracks of the desolate Poyntzpass station in time to watch the ghostly workings of the level crossing. Then the Enterprise map animates the northern part of the express train service between Belfast and Dublin. Boarding in Belfast most people only glimpse Poyntzpass in a blur as the Enterprise speeds through without stopping.
Poyntzpass station opened on 6th January 1862 creating one of the few crossing points across 40km of marsh land. The BFI player features several of A.H. Martin’s personal films which capture the lost gems of public transport in Northern Ireland. You can see the Enterprise leaving Belfast in his 1981 film ‘All Aboard: Shane's Castle Railway and the Enterprise leaves Belfast’.
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