Isle Of Man Steam Railway

Just hope I’m not over the age limit if and when

 

The 2022 season was due to end on Oct 30th but has now been extended with a weekend only, one-train service through November.
Ray.

 

An interesting move, and one to tie in with the attempt to attract out of season visitors by our tourist department (the Manx National Heritage sites are also staying open)
The chance to take a trip into Douglas and back on a weekend day will be most welcome. Hope it is judged to be a success.

 

Wow! How long has it been since regular services operated that late in the year? Obviously, I'm with @Mike Buttell in hoping for heavy demand .... but I also hope someone has their finger on the pulse to see where the breakdown between residents and visitors lies. I'm getting a strong impression the 'home market' could well be ripe for some further development. Is the Dining Set (at least) heated?

Of interest, are those standard services, or is on-board catering on offer?

 

No mention of catering in the release.
The dining set is heated though.
We ran a shoppers train for a few years on a Friday back in the 1980’s and the old steam heating was brought back into use for that in the bigger F coaches, it worked well too, although the guards compartments where I usually was positioned had no heating pipes and several overcoats were necessary

 

That sounds like a job best suited to the Donegal Railcars, if ever there was one!

I'm seeing the IoM Steam Packet ad a lot on You Tube at the moment. Does anyone mind a gratuitous plug? Tough .... here's the url to their YT channel anyway!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO...PCoWinID=2f0d4de7-edd0-454b-a6ca-afb2058a06a1

 

Unlike the U.K. trains (and trams) were running normally on 'Fraggle Rock' today - even the 'dobbins' and those new fangled electric thingymabobs. Guides from the Heritage Railways Volunteers gave Douglas station, signal box and workshop tours this morning as part of the MNH 'Heritage Open Days' programme . IMR loco No.11 Maitland was working out of Port Erin with MNR No.4 Caledonia the Douglas based loco. IMR No.4 Loch was in the running shed and No.13 Kissack was in the workshops. It was too nice a day to go straight home afterwards so I took the 2.10 MER tram to Ramsey. Unfortunately we left behind time and lost further time at Groudle inspecting the car after hitting a branch brought down by yesterday's gale. On arrival at Ramsey the previous car was still there as its air brake compressor had failed. Apparently the plan was for car 22 to take all the passengers back while car 7 left its trailer behind and came back empty on the handrake only. So just another day!
Ray.

 

how is the work on Mona coming along, not seen an update on the blog for a while, looking forward to seeing her

 

As Ray said, the volunteers group played host to the annual Manx National Heritage Open Day events today (we have another tomorrow)
These events are usually quite different to the usual enthusiast based events, and attract mostly a “local” audience, including children, so the questions and items of interest to the groups can be unusual.
My group included around 5 children with their guardians and a couple of blokes well into their late 70’s (at least)
Always a pleasure to do these and the challenge of pitching to such a wide age range was quite rewarding
Here are my lot at the entrance to the workshop looking out at the 11:50 train storming out of the station. It’s not a view that can usually be had and they were all in awe of it

 

What a fabulous picture - it captures the essence of what railway preservation is all about really well. Well done! It might be worth posting it in the Railways and People thread as well.

Peter

 

Seen from Douglas signal box which was open as part of our Heritage Open Day tour IMR No.11 Maitland makes a spirited departure on the 11.50 to Port Erin earlier today.
Ray.

 

Is there any news of progress with Mannin ? Thanks..

 

I called in last week and not a lot has been happening on site but I believe that the driving and pony truck wheels are having work done on 'The Adjacent Island" as is the boiler.
The main area of concern is the thinness of the top of the valve chest which has suffered from considerable corrosion. Drill, and other tests have been carried to determine the thickness of the remaining casting in order to decide on the best way forward. Unfortunately No.16's cylinders are bigger than all the other Beyers' for which patterns and, indeed, spare castings are available.
Ray.

 

Could this delay Mannin's return to traffic in that case Ray? on another note, any news on Mona?

 

Personally speaking I always thought that it was pure WIBN to think that it would be ready for IMR 150. It's probably another of those "It'll be ready when it's ready". No.5 is much the same but work is expected to re-start once the running season is over.
Ray.

 

cheers for the info Ray, Mannins return is exciting and whenever it happens i imagine it will be quite a special moment for everyone involved, i look forward to the pictures when it does happen, same with Mona as well, it’ll be great to see her gleaming again

 

From a 'non-traffic-requirements' point of view, aren't we still over three years off No.16's big anniversary? Not even time for livery wibble yet, surely?

I'll confess the prospect of No.5 looking properly loved for the first time since Lord Ailsa's time is one I'm greatly looking forward to as well.

 

Anyone know what’s happening with Thornhill

 

Enough to know not to ask! Now the ex-County Donegal Railcars on the other hand ....

We're a right 'orrible lot, aren't we? The Supporter's Assoc FB page is giving us progress reports on Mona and the G Van, we've had news on an extended season, the most extensive rebuilds of the operating fleet in many moons (was I the only one who wondered about the SVR lettered boiler behind Corris No.10 at Keefe's open day?) ..... and it still ain't enough!!

You want the moon on a stick, you lot do, sez he, like he's not just as bad!

 

what was the lettering, completely missed that?

if it wasn’t for the facebook pages i’d know nothing, it’s great they share so much, love the daily pics we get and all the info on their projects