Santa Trains 2022

Nobody knew it at the time, but the 2022 Santa season proved sadly to be the final RPSI steam operation for long-standing NIR driver Noel Playfair. Noel died suddenly in January 2023 and the RPSI remembers his contribution over many years with heartfelt gratitude.
Providentially, the 2022 Belfast Santa operation was covered by Mark Gray, who used his drone camera to record some magical footage of No.131 steaming its way between Belfast and Whitehead. Mark has now completed a two-minute film using drone video taken last December. Fittingly, he has dedicated his film to the memory of Noel Playfair.