Richard Riley’s brief visit to Ireland in May 1950 was fortunately timed. He witnessed railway systems in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic that in many respects were ‘’working museums’’ but by then were on the cusp of profound change. Locomotives and rolling stock that had changed little in many years would soon suffer the ravages of modernisation and route rationalisation. The process had already started with near total closure of the Belfast & County Down Railway. Within a sadly short period, many of the fascinating scenes recorded in this album would disappear forever.
