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A Steam Train Returns to the Rails

Plumes of smoke join the clouds again as a steam train races across Northern Ireland. If steam trains retired in 1970 is this one is eighteen years late?

Amateur film 1988 3 mins

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Logo for Northern Ireland Screen

Overview

Join amateur film maker A.H. Martin in pursuit as a vibrant blue steam train makes a rare return to the Northern Irish landscape. The use of steam for passenger railways ended eighteen years before this film. However the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland tours have been keeping steam alive in Ireland since 1964. Plumes of smoke billow from the treetops. The passengers on board indulge in a nostalgic trip as they speed alongside the glittering waters of Belfast Lough.

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 more steam tours by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland in his 1970 film 'The Swansong of Steam'.