A VISIT TO BELFAST

Let's start this post at Belfast York Road station, where trains once left for Larne, etc. Here, DEMU 98 is getting ready to leave in 1983.

The adjacent sheds usually had something of interest to photograph,

A fairly recent remodelling of Belfast's railways means that York Road has closed and been replaced by Yorkgate on a through route connecting with the rest of the network. Back in 1992, that journey had to be done by a dedicated bus.

Here's a much older view of the exterior of York Road station, when trams were in operation in the city.

Now we're in York Street, in the city centre.

Belfast trams later gained covers over the top decks. This is High Street....

....and Castle Place.

The city's main station, where Dublin services start from, is Belfast Central, where we see DEMU 93 in 1982.

Much more convenient for Central Belfast is Great Victoria Street, a terminal station reopened in 1995. DEMU 8094 is seen there in 2003, as is CIE 075 on loan to NIR.

Citybus (now part of Translink) run the local services within Belfast. Here is a selection of vehicles over the years.

Ulsterbus can also be seen, mainly serving a bus station near to Great Victoria Street. 

Back in 1982, this old Leyland was found in central Belfast on training duties.

An old London Routemaster is being used on a tourist service in 2006.

No visit to Belfast is complete without a look at Harland & Wolff's shipyard.

At last, it's time for a beer! First stop, the Kitchen Bar, a bit of a Belfast institution.

One pub in Belfast just has to be visited. The Crown Liquor Saloon. It's a Nicholson's pub these days, but still fantastic! More info here. 

Right, it's about time we left Belfast and Northern Ireland. We coud get a ferry. (Creative Commons License)

Instead, we'll head to Belfast City Airport, now named after George Best. Here's the control tower.(Creative Commons License)

And we're soon on our way. (Creative Commons License from Flickr)

Our destination will be the Isle of Man, but that's in the next post.