124 test runs – behind the scenes – July and August 2025

If you attended our Downpatrick diesel gala on Saturday 23rd August, you will have realised that we have been keeping an awful lot of work on 124 secret. Well now the secret is out…

124 has been consuming an awful lot of our time behind the scenes, way more than we posted publicly on our social media and website. The team were determined to get it working before the gala and, against all the odds, they succeeded.

Battling stuck contactors, seized brakes, leaky water pumps, weird electrical issues, driver familiarisation, a last minute major coolant leak, and most importantly the hard work of risk assessments, inspections, dealing with visibility issues, and getting it passed by our regulator – it’s been a whole load of work. This is just the start of it, with further overhaul needed and attention to bodywork pending, following its time by the seaside.

As you all know, the loco engine was started not long after it arrived. But what you don’t know is that just six weeks after arrival, the first test runs took place during the July holidays, with further driver training runs that same week. Final testing took place a week before the gala, with the first actual train being hauled.

And that brought us to Saturday. Much more coverage will no doubt emerge, not least from us. We continue to need your support and donations, and the work will be continuing for some time. In the meantime, it’s a poke in the eye to the miserable ‘they are rotting and will never run again, may as well cut them up’ people.

Thanks to our friends and supporters. We love you all. Really. We’re not the evil b******s some people think we are. It’s going to be a blast. Now we have three more locos to get running…