Manx Electric Railway rolling stock

Company Crest

This page details the rolling stock on the Manx Electric Railway on the Isle of Man, which is unique insofar as the railway still operates with all of its original tramcars and trailers, all of which are over one hundred years old, the latest dating from 1906. Save for a fire in which several cars and trailers were lost in 1930, all of the line's original rolling stock remains extant though many items have been out of use for a number of years, largely due to the decrease in tourism that the island has experienced over the last thirty years. Despite this, members of each class are still represented in situ today, though not all are in original form or in regular traffic.

Motorcars

M.E.R. "Tunnel" Class Car No. 6

Original Cars 1-3 the original trio of tramcars dating from 1893, two of which remarkably remain in regular service passenger today

Tunnel Cars 4-8 known as "tunnel cars" for their elongated appearance, there were the first enclosed cars and date from 1894

Illuminated Car 9 converted into an illuminated car for the line's centenary in 1993, the final of the "tunnel" cars

Cattle Cars 10-13 unpopular and not in service for long, only one of these cars now remains, in rebuilt form as a cattle car

Toastracks 14-18 the first set of open toastracks dating from 1898, all of which have survived and are still extant

Winter Saloons 19-22 these cars date from 1899 and form the mainstay of the service fleet roday, with all four in operation

Paddleboxes 24-27 the "paddlebox" cars are so-called due to their unusual footboards that are built to accommodate protruding bogies

Toastracks 29-31 a further batch of three open toastracks supplied to the railway, capable of hauling two full trailers

Toastracks 32-33 the final batch of cars and the most powerful supplied to the railway, capable of hauling two full trailers

Trailers

Restored M.E.R. Trailer No. 37

Lightweight Trailers 36-39 these trailers were the first supplied to the railway for the 1893 opening

Bulkhead Trailers 40-41 two 1930-built cars, in replacement for those lost in a disastrous fire at the car sheds

Toastrack Trailers 42-44 these three trailers all remain in service, commonly in use with the winter saloons

Bulkhead 45-48 a batch of four crossbench trailers from 1898, one of which is now a flatbeg wagon

Lightweight Trailers 49-54 only one of these trailers remains in regular service having been restored to near original condition

Disabled Trailer 55-56 one of which was converted to form the railway's first and only disabled access trailer

Winter Trailers 57-58 the line's only two enclosed or "winter" trailers, used latterly on the "steam on the electric" events

Royal Trailer 59 the royal saloon, now mounted on bogies was originally a four wheel carriage

Toastrack Trailer 60 a one-off order from 1896, usually paired off with ratchet car 16 which carries the same livery

Toastrack Trailers 61-62 the last two trailers, delivered with and used in service by the final motor cars, 32 and 33 more recently

Others

Car No. 34 (Snaefell No. 7 Maria)

Car 34 originally built as Maria for the Snaefell Mountain Railway in 1995, this is a replica of an original 1895 car

Locomotive 23 something of an oddity, the railway's only electric locomotive, currently in store and privately owned

Bord na Móna in 2008 and refurbished on-island for further use on the railway

Bord na Móna in 2008 and refurbished on-island for further permanent way use on the railway

Bonner Wagons road-rail dual purpose wagons dating from the earliest days of the line, none of which are extant today

Aachen 1010 bought for use but never converted, spending much of its life as a storage car at the railway's depot

Lisbon Tram meter-gauge Lisbon tramcar bought for conversion but never implemented, now in off-site storage on the island

Drednought Trailers bogie flat wagons used for a variety of non-passenger purposes, now all scrapped.

See also

• Heritage railways in the Isle of Man
• Transport on the Isle of Man
• Manx Electric Railway

References

• Mike Goodwyn (1993). Manx Electric. Platform Five. ISBN 9781872524528. 
• Keith Pearson (1992). 100 Years Of Manx Electric Railway. Leading Edge. ISBN 0948135387. 
• Robert Hendry (1978). Manx Electric Album. Hillside Publishing. ISBN 0950593303. 
• Norman Jones (1994). Isle Of Man Tramways. Foxline Publishing. ISBN 1-870119-32-0. 

Sources

• Manx Manx Electric Railway Fleetlist (2002) Manx Electric Railway Society
• Island Island Images: Manx Electric Railway Pages (2003) Jon Wornham
• Official Tourist Department Page (2009) Isle Of Man Heritage Railways