Isle of Man Railway - History

History

The 15.5 mile line from Douglas to Port Erin is the last remaining part of the former 46 miles (74.0 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. The remains of the breakwater are still visible at low tide in the village.

A third line was built in 1878-1879 by a separate company, the Manx Northern Railway which ran from St John's to Ramsey. A further short line was constructed from St John's to Foxdale in 1885 to serve the lead mines there. Although it was built by the nominally independent Foxdale Railway, the line was leased to and operated by the Manx Northern. The loss of the mineral traffic from Foxdale and competition for the Douglas-Ramsey passenger traffic from the Manx Electric Railway placed the Manx Northern Railway in financial difficulties. It was taken over and operated as part of the Isle of Man Railway in 1904.

During the mid-1920s the Isle of Man Railway formed a bus subsidiary which operated most of the Island's bus services, and helped the railway to remain profitable into the 1960s. 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 1965 season but was briefly revived when the Marquess of Ailsa obtained a lease and reopened all three routes for a final time in 1967. Both the Peel and Ramsey lines shut following the 1968 season, but Ailsa continued to operate freight services between Peel and Milntown until mid-1969, and passenger service on the South Line for three more seasons quitting after the 1971 season.

Empty Coaching Stock workings continued on an occasional basis between Douglas and St. John's until 1975 for the retrieval of stored stock between seasons. The permanent way on the Peel and Ramsey routes as well as the Foxdale line was lifted in 1975. The old Railway Company operated services between Douglas and Port Erin after Lord Ailsa took his five-year option, beginning in 1972 through the centenaries of the Peel and Port Erin lines in 1973 and 1974 respectively. Then in 1975, Port Erin line operated only from its southwestern terminus to Castletown, extending to Ballasalla in 1976, and returning to Douglas in 1977 - the last year in which the railway was operated by the Railway Company. Following nationalisation the railway has been operated seasonally by various government departments and continues to run in summer season, for many years opening for the Easter Weekend until the end of September, though more recently it has been open between February and November,