Isle Of Man Steam Railway

Cheers @Mike Buttell . Great gratuitous Sharpie shot there! Turning the "Mannin to Ramsey" question on it's head, is it known whether either Sharpie ever trod the south road?

 

Yes indeed, one of the sharpies is recorded as being at Port Erin for the reconfiguration of the station layout there in (from the top of my head, and I can’t remember which of the two locos it was) 1911.
The IMR abandoned the two Northern sharpies pretty rapidly and they were relegated to works engines

 

I like the situation of a railway locomotive on board a road vehicle on board a ferry. (I do realise it's not unique but it's hardly a frequent event.)

 

There was a time when it was mostly (slightly larger) Beyer Peackock 2-4-0T locos being ferried across the Solent too. Then all that modern Adams stuff turned up!

 

Well we are now back up to 5 of the IOMR in England, albeit temporarily!
Long term though, probably just Nos. 3 & 7 will remain.

 

There will be a group of us from Foxfield in attendance with Beyer Peacock 1827 so I’m sure there will be plenty of inter-railway banter over the weekend.

 

Offloading Fenella at Welshpool, thanks Andy Taylor for the photo

 

Spent a very nice weekend at Welshpool with our No8 Fenella. Had some very positive conversations with folk who had either been to the IOM, were thinking of revisiting (and next year is the ideal time to do that with the anniversaries planned) or had never been but would love to. There was no one who didn’t know where we are, except probably the chap who had definitely been before and could remember the hovercraft journey from Portsmouth. A couple of pics

 

Unusually, two trains crossed at Colby today. No 13 Kissack on the 14:00 x Port Erin service train and No11 Maitland on a Private Hire Dining Train

 

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I believe W11 was the first steam loco to travel on a car ferry to the IoW, in 1975?

Well, a hovercraft journey from Portsmouth to the IoM would certainly be memorable. Somewhat terrifying, I suspect, going round the end of Cornwall..

 

Never been on a hovercraft. My mother described the view on a channel crossing to Calais as like being in a car wash!

You could well be right about No.11 (wow, was it really that long ago?). I was thinking of ferrying as a verb. Before car ferries, or tube stock being craned on and off Ryde Pier, there was Medina Wharf, IMO a boringly sensible way of doing things.

I liked tales of dragging the early locos and stock up the beach. C&N's 2-2-2WT Nos.1&2 were landed at Medham Hard, close to Cowes. No.3 arrived via the same route, but got stuck between ship and shore for a couple of days. I'd need to know more about why the line (more a glorified siding) down to Newport Harbour didn't seem to have been used to land stock.

All the C&N stuff happened while the line was separate from the gradually evolving island network long before any Brading Harbour Improvement and Railway Company came along to spoil the fun!

 

On our trip to Isle of Wight last year, we made a point of using the hovercraft just for the sake of it. You haven't missed much. Not really worth the faffing about at Portsmouth, so I'd advise anyone planning a visit to stay on the train and use the easy interchange at Portsmouth Harbour for the FastCat.

 

FastCat is always my preferred route from Pompey. Portsmouth Harbour Station literally couldn't be better placed and rail access from Ryde Pier Head to the IWSR is blissfully straightforward.

It's still not my favourite crossing though .... that'd be the Lymington-Yarmouth ferry. It's further from where I live, involves the M27 (I loath motorway driving with a passion!), takes the longest of all the Island ferry routes and lands you the other end from the IWSR ..... but who cares? If time's not pressing, M27 aside, it's a far, far nicer dive, you get to see West Wight and the crossing itself is something of a mini-cruise.

 

Some shots from the first day on the IoMSR during my recent trip to the Island.
2022-04-25 1 IoMR 13 'KISSACK' ELLENBROOK e by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 3 IoMR 13 'KISSACK' CROGGA c by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 3 IoMR 13 'KISSACK' CROGGA b by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 4 IoMR 4 'LOCH' SANTON a by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 4 IoMR 11 'MAITLAND' SANTON a by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 4 IoMR 13 'KISSACK' + 4 'LOCH' SANTON a by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 4 IoMR 13 'KISSACK' SANTON e by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 4 IoMR 13 'KISSACK' SANTON l by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 4 IoMR 13 'KISSACK' SANTON o by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 6 IoMR 13 'KISSACK' CASTLETOWN a by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 6 IoMR 11 'MAITLAND' CASTLETOWN c by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 7 IoMR 11 'MAITLAND' BALLAKAIGHEN aa by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 7 IoMR 11 'MAITLAND' BALLAKAIGHEN g by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2022-04-25 8 IoMR 11 'MAITLAND' PORT ST MARY b by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

 

Looking forward to seeing the place myself in a few weeks time, having not been there since 1995.....

 

1995 was my last visit before this year's.

 

Fantastic set of pictures

 

Just in time for the busiest week of the TT festival Small F carriage F15 (1894) re-entered service yesterday. This carriage last ran in 1998 and after a long period in storage underwent a major rebuild on Island including new wheelsets, bogie bolsters (wooden) and extensive bodywork. F11 (1881) is currently having a similar rebuild whilst its 'twin' F10 is 'spare' awaiting similar. 'Pair' F63 (the bodies date back to 1873) is currently at Stanegate for a full rebuild similar to F62 which re-entered service last year. It is hoped that, as these carriages return to service, we will be able to make up three 6 car sets plus the diner.

Trains are running to timetable S this week which requires all 3 available locos (4,11 & 13) to be in service. The Commuter Club train is also running Mon - Thur (Friday is Senior Race Day - a Bank Holiday here) which means you can have a full breakfast on the way to work and drinks on the way home!

Cheers,
Ray.

 

Over the years, we all develop our favoured vantage points and photographers are no different in that regard, so it's really good to see a set of photos from someone who knows which way to point a camera (i.e. not me!!) giving us an additional perspective on the line.

Super piccies @Spamcan81 and thanks so much for sharing them.