Rail transport in the Isle of Man
The Isle of Man has a rich transport heritage and boasts the largest narrow-gauge railway network in the British Isles[1] with several historic railways and tramways still in operation. These operate largely to what is known as "Manx Standard Gauge" (3 ft [914 mm] narrow gauge)[2] and together they comprise about 65 miles (105 km) of Victorian railways and tramways. The Isle of Man Railway Museum in Port Erin allows people to find out more about the history of the Manx railways, and was until 1998 accompanied by a similar museum in Ramsey, which was dedicated to the history of the electric line, but this was closed and converted into a youth club. The steam railway to the south of the island, electric to the north and mountain line to the summit of Snaefell, the island's only mountain, are all government-owned, and operated under the title Isle of Man Railways, as a division of the island's Department of Infrastructure. The lines at Groudle Glen and Curraghs Wildlife Park are both privately owned but open to the public.[3]
Railways and tramways of the Isle of Man | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Principal stations and interchanges only
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lines
[edit]The lines listed in the table are or have been open to the general public. Most of the major lines had/have "Manx Standard Gauge" of 3 ft (914 mm).
| Name | Opened | Closed | Gauge | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isle of Man Railway | 1873 | — | 3 ft (914 mm) | 15.5 miles (24.9 km) | Peel line closed 1969 |
| Manx Northern Railway | 1879 | 1905 | 3 ft (914 mm) | 47 miles (76 km) | Taken over by the Isle of Man Railway in 1905. Last tracks used 1969. |
| Foxdale Railway | 1886 | 1905 | 3 ft (914 mm) | 2.25 miles (3.62 km) | Taken over by the Isle of Man Railway in 1905. |
| Snaefell Mountain Railway | 1895 | — | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) | 5.5 miles (8.9 km) | |
| Groudle Glen Railway | 1896 | — | 2 ft (610 mm) | 0.9 kilometres (0.56 mi) | No service 1962 to 1983 |
| Manx Electric Railway | 1893 | — | 3 ft (914 mm) | 17 miles (27 km) | |
| Douglas Bay Horse Tramway | 1876 | — | 3 ft (914 mm) | 1 mile (1.6 km) | |
| Great Laxey Mine Railway | 1877 2004 |
1929 — |
19 in (483 mm) | 0.25 miles (0.40 km) | Former mine railway, reopened in 2004 as a tourist heritage railway |
| Upper Douglas Cable Tramway | 1896 | 1929 | 3 ft (914 mm) | 1.57 miles (2.53 km) | |
| Douglas Southern Electric Tramway or Marine Drive railway | 1896 | 1939 | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | 4.7 miles (7.6 km) | |
| Douglas Head Funicular Railway or Douglas Head Inclined Railway[4][5][6] | 1900 | 1954 | 4 ft (1,219 mm) | 450 feet (140 m) | Passenger incline railway |
| Port Soderick Cliff Lift[5][7][6] | 1896 | 1939 | 4 ft (1,219 mm) | 217 feet (66 m) | First Falcon Cliff Lift sold to Port Soderick and re-erected there in 1896 |
| Laxey Browside Tramway[6] | 1890 | 1906 | 5 ft (1,524 mm) | 300 feet (91 m) | |
| Queen's Pier Tramway, Ramsey | 1882 | 1971 | 3 ft (914 mm) | 0.424 miles (0.682 km) | Restoration works under way[8] |
| Orchid Line, Wildlife Park, Ballaugh | 1992 | — | Various | Miniature railway | |
| First Falcon Cliff Lift, Douglas[9] | 1887 | 1896 | 4 ft (1,219 mm) | 218 feet (66 m) | Sold and became the Port Soderick Cliff Lift |
| Second Falcon Cliff Lift, Douglas[9][10][5][6] | 1927 | 1990 | 5 ft (1,524 mm) | 129 feet (39 m) | Track and installations still in place but overgrown. |
There have been various other railways on the Isle of Man that have never been open for public transport, such as those in the various mines around the island. Among these are/were:
- Glenfaba
- Glenfaba Brickworks Tramway[11]
- Knockaloe branch line, owned by the IMR, for Knockaloe Internment Camp internees and supplies
- Peel Harbour Tramway, construction railway, 3 ft (914 mm), steam locomotives, built 1864 or 1865 and dismantled 1873.[7]
- Incline railway connecting to the Peel Harbour Tramway, self-acting incline.[7]
- Corrin's Hill, 3 ft (914 mm) horse-drawn construction railway connecting a stone quarry to the incline railway.[7]
- Garff
- A second Laxey Mine tramway, 3 ft (914 mm), horsedrawn, on the lower washing floor, constructed around 1865 and lasted until at least 1918[7]
- Middle
- Douglas Breakwater Crane Railway
- Douglas Holiday Camp[7]
- A construction railway to the Injebreck Reservoir, 3 ft (914 mm), built 1899, length 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) from Hillberry to the Reservoir, worked with steam locomotives.[7]
- Rushen
- Port Erin Breakwater Railway, a construction line for the Port Erin Breakwater. 7 ft (2,134 mm), steam traction, built 1864.
About fifty other minor tramways, in the various mines, quarries and sand pits, or on RAF gunnery lines, existed on the island.[7]
Use in film
[edit]
The BBC adaptation of The Ginger Tree in which it doubled for communist Russia using the carriage shed at Douglas, lineside scenes and (No.11 Maitland was painted matte black for this production and remained in this guise for the remainder of the 1989 season) as well as being the subject of a 1988 BBC documentary as part of the Train Now Departing... series in an episode called "Steam in the Isle of Man". Other television credits include an adaptation of The Legend of the Tamworth Two, the television movie Stiff Upper Lips and the long-running travelogue show Wish You Were Here...? which featured Sir Norman Wisdom. In more recent times Great Coastal Railway Journeys has showcased the railway as well as Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure
No Limit (1935 film) - Quarterbridge Crossing, Braddan Bridge?
I See A Dark Stranger - Union Mills railway station, List of townlands of County Kerry (Glenderry), Laxey railway station
Douglas Bay Horse Tramway - Danger Point 1971/1973, Port Erin Breakwater Railway?
S.O.S. Titanic - Peel railway station?
Groudle Glen Railway - List of Lovejoy episodes (season/seies 1, episode 4 "Friends, Romans and Enemies" 1986)
Douglas Bay Horse Tramway? - List of ChuckleVision episodes (season/seies 9, episode 8 "Loch Aye" 1997)
Owd Bob (1998 film) - Bulgham-bay-halt, Dhoon Glen Halt?, Laxey railway station
Thomas and the Magic Railroad - St John's railway station, Castletown railway station
I Capture the Castle (film) - Port St Mary railway station
Five Children and It (film) -- Douglas Railway Station, Castletown railway station
Keeping Mum - Foxdale railway station (foxdale school)
Belle (2013 film) - Isle of Man Railway level crossings and points of interest (Glenfaba Mill?)
Robot Overlords - Douglas Railway Station & sheds/workshops
See also
[edit]
- Isle of Man
- List of heritage railways
- British narrow gauge railways
- Mountain railway
- Transport in the Isle of Man
- Sodor
References
[edit]- ^ Herring, Peter (2004). Yesterday's Railways. David & Charles. pp. 270–272. ISBN 978-0-7153-1733-4.
- ^ Railways in the United Kingdom
- ^ The Manx Steam & Model Engineering Club Archived 16 March 2011 at archive.today
- ^ The Isle of Man Railways: The Douglas Head Railway
- ^ a b c Marine Drive
- ^ a b c d Isle of Man Cliff Railways
- ^ a b c d e f g h The Industrial Archaeology of the Isle of Man Archived 21 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Ramsey Queen's Pier - National Piers Society". 20 March 2016.
- ^ a b Turner, Keith (2002). Cliff railways of the British Isles. Usk: Oakwood. pp. 141–142. ISBN 0853615942.
- ^ Falcon Cliff
- ^ The Isle of Man Railways: The Glenfaba Brickworks Tramway