Downpatrick & County Down Railway chairman Robert Gardiner with the signage and some of the paperwork that came with them.

A Brexit-Buster delivery  to Down Railway was received recently with thanks to the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company for donation of seven redundant speed restriction signs from their line.

The traditional cut-out steel, which shows the speed limit in large 18in yellow letters, were once a common sight across the railway networks and it's one of the things we need on our line, especially for some of the tighter curves such as Inch Abbey or approaching the Loop Platform.

Whilst Downpatrick & County Down Railway are still getting some brand new ones cut out locally, it's still great to have authentic ones for the line.

However the new Irish Sea border near scuppered the offer from the DSR - believe it or not due to the scarcity of mechanical materials (Translink and Irish Rail operating much more modern networks now) we routinely need to source items like this from other heritage railways or from Network Rail.

This time around only one of the regular couriers was accepting work between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, with of course a higher price. And each time one paperwork hurdle was overcome, another seemed to rear its head, and after much exasperation the question was asked was it worth the hassle?

However, we're a stubborn bunch and persevered, and Downpatrick & County Down Railway were delighted that the pallet arrived at long last! They send their thanks once again to friends in Dartmouth for the donation and their patience as we sorted this out, and to Countrywide Freight Group for delivering the goods against all the odds!