Douglas Southern Electric Tramway

Douglas Southern Electric Tramway Jiass Raad Yiarn Lectragh Dhoolish
The course of the tramway
Locale	Douglas, Isle of Man
Terminus	Port Soderick
Commercial operations
Name	Douglas Southern Electric Tramway
Original gauge	4 ft 9 1⁄2 in (1,460 mm)
Preserved operations
Operated by	Douglas Southern Electric Tramways Co., Ltd.
Stations	4 (Plus Loops)
Length	4.5 miles (7.2 km)
Commercial history
Opened	2nd September 1896
Preservation history
Route map Legend [v · d · e]Douglas Head Marine Drive Electric Tramway Harbour Ferry Incline Railway Douglas Head Tollgate Pigeon Stream Depot Farm Loop Wallberry Loop Wallberry Viaduct Horseleap Viaduct Little Ness Loop No 1 Little Ness Loop No 2 Little Ness Depot Whing Loop Coolebegad Loop Keristal Loop No 1 Keristal Loop No 2 Port Soderick Cliff Lift This route map: view · talk · edit

Douglas Southern Electric Tramway was a standard gauge tramway which ran from the top of Douglas Head on the Isle of Man to the nearby resort of Port Soderick^[1] atop the cliffs via a number of spectacular viaducts and bridges.^[2]

Overview

The preserved tram at Crich

It was opened in 1896 and operated until 1939, never re-opening after the war and was largely lifted and destroyed by 1955 with one of the power cars being retrieved for preservation at the National Tramway Museum at Crich in Derbyshire where it resides to this day. There is little left of the line as it was, save for the grand castellated entrance to the Marine Drive itself. The tramway's sheds and workshops were located mid-way along the line at Little Ness, together with the power station for generating the electricity but this was filled in and now provides a car park. Owing to a number of serious landslides the roadway has been closed for several years, but in the 1960s the local authority of Douglas Corporation attempted to rejuvenate the area by introducing a bus service on the coastal route which was short-lived, owing to further landslides which made the road unsafe. Today parts of the route can be used by motor traffic, but a stretch north of Little Ness is open to pedestrians only. The route of this unique lost railway provides a spectacular view of the Irish Sea, and forms part of the Isle of Man's coastal footpath Raad ny Foillan (Way of the Gull), created in 1986.

References

1. ^ 54°07′44″N 4°32′28″W / 54.129°N 4.541°W / 54.129; -4.541
2. ^ Douglas Head Marine Drive & Electric Tramway by A.M.Goodwyn pp3 Manx Electric Railway Society (1993)(1st Edition) J.W.Lambert & Sons Ltd

Coordinates: 54°08′38″N 4°28′16″W / 54.144°N 4.471°W / 54.144; -4.471