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The town of Dundalk in County Louth is about midway between Belfast and Dublin.

Here, in the months leading up to the war, the Great Northern Railway converted nine of its carriages into an ambulance train.

The War Office had stated as early as May 1913 that two such trains might be needed in Ireland 'in time of emergency'.

The carriages were fitted out to strict specifications, with 100 beds for wounded soldiers, steam heating, a kitchen and a pharmacy compartment.

By the autumn of 1914, Ambulance Train Number 13 was carrying wounded soldiers from the ports to local hospitals.

It operated throughout the war years and was finally decommissioned in 1919.

On a steam train journey to Dundalk, Charles Friel from the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland takes up the story.

Location: Dundalk, County Louth. Latitude: 54.001666 Longitude: - 6.412986
Image of No 13 Ambulance Train near Omagh, circa 1915
Image copyright Railway Preservation Society of Ireland