Isle Of Man Steam Railway

Thanks Ray, that was my guess. It does make for an enjoyable ride.
I've sometimes wondered how best to describe the IoMSR and MER, in a way they're not really heritage railways as they've never really shut and had to be rebuilt/reopened. I think of them as the Island's main lines.
Martin

 

We do describe them as "Heritage Railways" but they are not 'preserved' as such. They are part of the National Transport system that just happens to be using, mostly, the original equipment and doing the job it was designed to do - taking tourists and locals around the Island.
Ray.

 

Surely neither the U.K. Light Railway Act nor any other UK legislation or regulations would ever have applied in the Isle of Man.

 

That has been forbidden for a long long time now

 

what further clarification do you need?
I have not seen this happen for over 40years and it would be in contravention of at least the last three rule books

 

Ramsey on the Electric had gravity shunting - but I assume that is slightly different.

(On that subject, is there any news on when/if Ramsey station comes back? and why it was shut in the first place?)

 

More from Facebook, Nos. 9 and 5 double heading a single (presumably very heavy) carriage into Port St Mary Station. Also they appear to be pushing something in front of them.

 

The social distancing restrictions on the Isle of Man were lifted as of yesterday and, apart from the borders being closed, life here is slowly returning to normal. The 7 1/4"g. Orchid Line at the Wildlife Park will re-open on Thursday but AFAIK no details have yet been released about opening any other Heritage Railways here. At the moment the IMR is severed at Rifle Range between Port Soderick and Santon as advantage was taken to relay this section with concrete sleepered CWR whilst the railway was shut down. The work is due to finish "by the end of the month".
There were signs of recovery at Douglas yesterday as these photos courtesy of the Heritage Railway Volunteers show. Further photos can be found at https://www.facebook.com/hrviom/
Cheers,
Ray.

 

Sorry if this has already been mentioned (couldn't find anything recent), but will No.6 be joining the decontamination list?

 

We appear to be running two parallel threads, one for the Isle of Man Steam Railway, and another exploring the fascinating topic of fly and other methods of shunting. I'm as guilty as anyone for contributing to 'thread drift' but to avoid confusion could I please ask members to continue the shunting discussion on a new thread ? Pretty please!
As regards No6 Peveril, I believe the plan is for it to be decontaminated (likely last) before returning to Port Erin Museum. I did mention it in post #272 but it may have been lost in the 'thread drift'.
Keep safe,
Ray.

 

If the borders are still closed, does this mean no tourists on the steam railway, or is there a significant interest from islanders?

 

Because we are locked in and the weather has been unusually good many of us have had a 'stay-cation' - the campsite in my village was packed last weekend and the Wildlife Park was very busy yesterday when I called in. The schools re-open tomorrow so there are likely to be less families looking for 'something to do' but a significant number of locals use the train/tram for a day out or to go shopping in Douglas (Tesco is adjacent to the IMR station). A lot of locals buy a residents season ticket for one or all railways which is good value for money - 75 quid for all lines and half that for us 'oldies'. The majority of customers on the dining trains and monthly commuter trains are likely to be locals. Numbers will, obviously, be down without the visitors but I expect we'll hear something 'concrete' about re-opening shortly.
Cheers,
Ray.

 

Must've gone past your post [#271] at least 3 times checking for that info, so cheers for that .... what can I say ... I'm evidently going blind as well as daft!

Following all the TLC expended on it's (jolly nice) cosmetic restoration, fingers crossed the decon process doesn't set all that hard work back close to square one.

 

Ray
Was that a small tamper in front of the 2 locos above?
Any details as to what it is?
Thanks.

 

Hi Bryan,
I think it's a tamper but not sure if it's ours or the contractor's. Maybe you can I.D. it from this photo from the HRV's Facebook page.
Cheers,
Ray.

 

Thanks Ray.
According to On Track Plant https://www.ontrackplant.com/otp/153202
It is owned by the IOM and has been on the railway for a while.

What is the HRV?

 

We are the Heritage Railways Volunteers (see https://www.facebook.com/hrviom ) There are a couple of dozen of us on the Steam Railway with a similar number on the Manx Electric and support the railways' own staff by acting as stewards on special trains, workshop guides, restoring rolling stock and other exhibits etc.- really doing the jobs the railways can't pay staff for. We don't do any of the paid staff's jobs but help out as required. We do our PTS with their staff, they insure us and supply some items of uniform and Hi-Vis.
We don't have memberships or committees just a co-ordinator to act as a link with the Dept. who seem to appreciate our help. Hope this answers your question.
Ray.

 

Whilst the Government Railways remain closed at present, Laxey Mines Railway opened yesterday, Groudle and the Wild Life Park Today 5th July. There are track replacements taking place on the Govt lines and cable laying alongside the steam railway which will keep it out of action for a few weeks yet I think.

 

CCXTV is currently showing "Railways of the Isle of Man" - filmed a while ago!
Ray.

 

Being the exciting young accountant about town that I am, I have been re-reading Hendry and Hendry's "Manx Northern Railway" for I think the fourth time. One of the Appendices to the book includes a table of the charity's financial performance from 1877 to 1900. I believe it to be an original company document prepared for the purposes of valuing the railway ahead of its disposal. It's a gold mine of information and being an accountant, I've copied it into a spreadsheet and started playing around with it. I've started adjusting the figures for inflation and looking at ways of displaying the data in a more accessible fashion. I don't know if this has already been done or if it is of interest to anyone but myself, but I thought I'd mention it.

The railway's reputation seems a little harsher than they deserved, they seem to have made an operating profit in every year of independent operation. The problem was the cost of financing the railway through so much debt and, to a lesser extent, through preference shares. Had the railway been wholly funded through ordinary share capital it would have delivered a small return. I think most of the directors and shareholders were keen supporters of the north of the island generally (i.e. the directors seem to have been supportive of the electric railway because they saw the benefit to their home region. That being so, they may have regarded it as a success on that basis.

The railway even seemed able to survive competition with the electric railway, but buses and the collapse of the mines would, I think, have finished them by the 1920's at the latest and it would, perhaps, have been much less likely that the Isle of Man Railway would have bought the line. In that case there would be no colour photos and certainly no film of the line to survive to us.