Area Groups
At the time the group was formed there was much support for the retention of the railway both on and off the island and area groups quickly sprouted up across the country, with members of the island committee regularly travelling to meetings on the mainland to provide updates, slide shows, film shows and get-togethers. Groups existed in Greater London, Manchester, Liverpool/Merseyside, Northern Ireland and the Midlands at one time or another but latterly, there was just one, the "Mainland Area Group". It was this group that were responsible for the building of two wagons for the railway. The "M" class of wagon numbered nearly 80 and were part of the Isle of Man Railway's stock of goods vehicles; by the time of nationalisation of the line in 1978 when the Isle of Man Government took responsibility, there were very few examples left in existence; one (numbered M.70) had been left to rot for many years and was resident in a siding at Santon station for many years. It was this vehicle that was used as a template for a project undertaken by the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association in 1997, resulting in the presentation to the railway of M.78. This wagon is now part of the railway's historic fleet of vehicles and bears plaques denoting its origins. Together with H.1 (the next project by the group) these two wagons now form the Troublesome Trucks for the Friends of Thomas weekend that takes place on the railway annually.
The "H" class of wagon were part of the goods fleet of the Isle of Man Railway and consisted of a four-wheel two-plank construction; these had all be scrapped by the time the railway was nationalised in 1978 but in 1999 the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association took on the ambitious task of building one of these vehicles from scratch. Through a fund-raising campaign this was achieved and the wagon is now part of the rolling stock of the railing and has been numbered "H.1", being the re-used number of the first vehicle of the class, long since destroyed. This was the second project undertaken by the supporters, the first being the building of a similar vehicle M.78. By the year 2000 the area groups had dwindled down to a few members, too far scattered in location to warrant regular meetings and was disbanded.
The possibility of reforming one of the area groups has been mooted in the past, primarily so a group of enthusiasts may take a more hands-on approach on the railway to further make advantage of the good working relationship that the group now has with the railway's management; a number of possible ideas have been floated and it is hoped that a group of volunteers may one day be allowed to have an active role on the railway once again, as it did in the early years of the association's existence. 2010 saw a return to volunteering when, as part of the railway's Rush Hour event over the May Holiday Weekend members manned the signal box at Douglas and provided guides for tours of the railway's workshops and running sheds for the first time in a number of years.
Read more about this topic: Isle Of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association
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