There are no signs of steam locomotives as amateur film maker A. H. Martin captures a new age in rail travel. 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’.

Filmed by A.H. Martin. 

Digitised as part of the BFI's Unlocking Film Heritage project.

• Railways on Film - BFI