Isle of Man Railway

The Isle of Man Railway (IMR) is a narrow gauge steam-operated railway connecting Douglas with Castletown and Port Erin on the Isle of Man. The line is built to RailGauge|36 gauge track and is 15.3 miles (24.6 km) long. It is part of what was a much larger network that once served the westerly town of Peel, the northern town of Ramsey and the small mining village of Foxdale and at one time the lines covered in excess of 46 miles which was a considerable amount on an island as small as the Isle of Man. Despite now being in government ownership, it still uses the original historic rolling stock and locomotives and there are few concessions to modernity.

Summary history

The line from Douglas to Port Erin is the last remaining part of the former 46-mile (74-km) system owned by the Isle of Man Railway Company, formed in 1870. Its first line, from Douglas to Peel, was opened on 1 July 1873, and was followed by the Port Erin line on 1 August 1874. Initially the Port Erin line had been planned to terminate at Castletown however the construction of deep water docking facilities at Port Erin caused an extension to the line - a few years after completion, the dock was destroyed by heavy seas and the idea of deep water vessels abandoned there. A third line was built in 1879 by a separate company, the Manx Northern Railway which ran from St. John's to Ramsey. It was taken over and operated as part of the Isle of Man Railway in 1904.

Following the closure of the County Donegal Railways in 1960, the Isle of Man Railway purchased the CDR's two most modern diesel railcars, which were then largely used on the Peel line.

The whole system closed after the 1966 season but was briefly revived when the Marquess of Ailsa obtained a lease and reopened all three routes for a final time. Both the Peel and Ramsey lines shut following the end of the Ailsa lease in 1968 and the permanent way on these routes as well as the Foxdale line was lifted in 1974. For some years after, the Port Erin line operated only from its southwestern terminus to Castletown but finally service through to Douglas was again resumed.

Ownership and operation

The railway is now marketed under the title of "Isle of Man Steam Railway," which is owned and operated by Isle of Man Transport as part of the Department of Tourism and Leisure of the Isle of Man Government. It had previously been marketed as simply "Isle of Man Railway" until closure in 1967, then in the late 1960s and early 1970s as the grand "Isle of Mann Victorian Steam Railway Company Limited"; when nationalised in 1978 it fell under the banner of "Isle of Man Railways" along with the Manx Electric Railway. Certain items of stock were changed to read "Isle of Man Passenger Transport" in the mid 1980s, but this was reverted to "Isle of Man Railways" again in the 1990s. A change in management style in 1999 ensued, and the islands trains, trams and buses were presented under the banner title of "Isle of Man Transport". The electric railway was greater affected by this change, with a series of non-historical and somewhat overly-modern liveries etc., but in 2007 this was changed and the railway is marketed once more as the "Isle of Man Steam Railway" although in keeping with the historical aspect, the coaches and locomotives carry original names and transfers.

The line described

From Douglas station the line climbs heavily for a few miles, reaching its summit prior to Santon Station (588' demarked by a summit board visible from the passing train) and then runs down heavy gradients towards Ballasalla, with interesting sea-cliff views to the east. After Ballasalla the line runs on relatively flat land. Travellers can see views of Bradda Head and Milner's Tower on the stretch from Castletown to Port Erin. Port Erin station has a cafe providing refreshments. The majority of the line runs through countryside, with only small stretches being close to built-up areas. Many people start or end their journey in Port Erin, a Victorian sea-side resort, or in Castletown, the ancient capital of the Isle of Man. Ronaldsway Halt, located between Ballasalla and Castletown stations, and a few hundred yards walk from the airport, allows travellers the possibility to travel to or from the Isle of Man Airport by steam train. There are also several farm crossings and rural request stops along the pictureque line.

Post-nationalisation developments

When the railway was nationalised in 1978 Bill Jackson was appointed as the first manager. Although not liked by the preservationists and supporters, during his time in office much progress was made, although the negative developments overshadow his tenure in office. These include the loss of the large railway yard at Douglas and unpopular re-build on No. 12 "Hutchinson" to name but two. Upon his retirement in 1987 he was replaced by Robert Smith whose style was totally different and it was during his years that many changes were made. Smith masterminded the "Year of Railways" in 1993 and the subsequent celebrations that followed. In his time the rolling stock returned to original "purple lake" livery and Nos. 10, 15 and 1 (in that order) were returned to service. When he resigned in 1999 he was replaced by David Howard, with previous bus experience at various UK operators and rail experience from his time at Tyne and Wear Metro and was more inclined to a corporate approach and the railway had to follow suit. His time in office, finishing in 2006, will be remembered for the thrust on health and safety issues, the abundance of high visibility clothing on staff, warning signs, etc., as part of a Government wide drive on the issue. During his time in the role the Manx government commissioned a study to see if it would be worthwhile to operate commuter services to help relieve the road traffic congestion in and around Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man. The result of the study was a recommendation against such development. Nevertheless almost all of the entire line has been relaid in the first few years of this century as part of the Department of Transport's IRIS sewerage sceme, with the line's numerous level crossings converted from manual to automatic operation at the same time, saving the railway the additional cost of employing crossing keepers, at all but one crossing.

After the resignation of David Howard, the Department of Tourism and Leisure's Director of leisure, Mike Ball, stepped in as acting director of public transport and in early 2007 the leisure and public transport divisions of the department combined into "service delivery", Mike Ball becoming "Director of service delivery" under the minister Adrian Earnshaw appointed in November 2006

The railway today

There are currently seven engines in operational condition and it is usual for 2-3 of these to be in steam at one time; these are locomotive numbers 4 "Loch", 8 "Fenella" (privately owned but on loan), 10 "G.H.Wood", 11 "Maitland", 12 "Hutchinson" 13 "Kissack" and 15 (now reverted to her original Manx Northern No.4) "Caledonia". In terms of rolling stock, there are around 11 coaches in service and with many more in store.

See also

* Isle of Man Railway stations
* Isle of Man Railway locomotives
* Isle of Man Railway rolling stock
* Isle of Man Railway level crossings and points of interest
* Port Erin Railway Museum
* Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association

*Rail transport in the Isle of Man
*British narrow gauge railways

External links

* [http://www.iombusandrail.info/ Isle Of Man Transport & Isle Of Man Railways Site]
* [http://www.iomguide.com/steamrailway.php Isle Of Man Guide - Steam Railway]