Passengers on the Belfast-Larne railway line had better beware this Halloween as hundreds of wizards and witches will be riding past them on Sunday 26th October!

With an 82 year old steam locomotive at the front and a train full of children (and adults) in fancy dress, it’s a moving cauldron of seasonal fun.  They will be onboard the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s “Broomstick Belle” steam train, this year hauled by “Merlin”.  This “Merlin” is not a magician, but a giant of steam bringing a magic all of her own.  “Merlin”, the steam locomotive, has come back into operation this year after an extensive overhaul (that took volunteers nearly 10 years to complete) and will add lots of steamy atmosphere to this ghostly fun train.

“Railways have long been associated with the paranormal, but our Broomstick Belle train is all light-hearted spooky fun” commented Mervyn Darragh, RPSI Operations Officer.

“One of our members will be bending balloons and we encourage all our passengers to wear fancy dress.  To add to the fun, we will be distributing Halloween goodie bags to all the children.”

“The Harry Potter film brought the Hogwarts Express into our homes and now all the little wizards want to be seen on a steam train, just like their hero Harry.”

Philip Lockett, RPSI Publicity Officer speculated that “This train is the (dis-) embodiment of what we are trying to achieve.  We provide the atmosphere and the parents, grandparents and children enter into the spirit with their own fancy dress.  There is plenty of time to see what apparitions might appear from the steam whilst the engine runs round its train and plenty of time to play with the goodie bags on the return journey.  A positively spiritual experience!”

“Our carriages are warm and comfortable, heated by steam from the locomotive.  One of the carriages is a Dining Car, complete with full-bar serving draught beers, hot and cold drinks and snacks.”

The trains will depart from Belfast Central station at 11:05, 13:05 and 16:05 for the 90 minute return trips.  Tickets cost £11 and are on sale (by phone or over-the-counter) from Belfast Welcome Centre (028 9024 6609) and also online from http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/.

Tickets must be purchased in advance.

Full details are available from the RPSI website at http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/

– The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland was formed in 1964 and is celebrating its Golden Anniversary in 2014. Set up to preserve and operate steam trains and associated railway heritage stock and items, the RPSI is still managed by volunteers and the majority of restoration work is carried out by volunteers in Whitehead, Dublin and Mullingar.

– The steam locomotive for the Broomstick Belle, No.85 “Merlin”, is unique, the last of 5 “V”-class, three-cylinder compound locomotives built by Beyer Peacock in Manchester for the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) in 1932. The locomotives were built to be powerful and fast, but still be small enough to be worked on inside the dimensions of the railway company workshops at Dundalk.

– The 5 locomotives were named after birds of prey: No.83 Eagle, No.84 Falcon, No.85 Merlin, No.86 Peregrine, No.87 Kestrel.

– No.85 was last steamed in about 1962 and was eventually bought by the Belfast Transport Museum. The locomotive was on display at their museum in Witham Street Belfast until 1977 when Lord Henry Dunleath provided substantial funding to have the locomotive restored.  She is still owned by the Ulster Folks and Transport Museum and is on loan to the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland.

– The locomotive’s first overhaul in preservation was largely carried out by Harland and Wolff and she operated from 1985 to 1990 before returning to the RPSI depot at Whitehead for further extensive work.

– She hauled steam trains all over Ireland from 1994 to 2004 before retiring again for overhaul. The overhauls are largely carried out by volunteers and the work on Merlin earned junior volunteer Nathan Lightowler from Moira the national award of UK Volunteer of the Year 2013.

– The RPSI is always seeking new volunteers and interested persons should first of all join the Society, details of which can be found online at Steam trains on Irish Railways with RPSI – Railway