Isle Of Man Steam Railway

According to the latest IOM steam railway supporters journal regarding 16 quote “ Boiler work is progressing well at the Severn Valley and the wheels have returned to Douglas complete with new tyres and crank pins. No other news to report on the frames”
On 14, this is a private matter and I don’t have any info, and as I’m not in that loop I’m not likely to get any

 

Might be a good time to catch up on the rest of the steam fleet
No1. Sutherland, is in Port Erin Museum
No2. Derby, only the pony truck remains
No3. Pender, MOSI Manchester not currently on display as far as I know at present
No4. Loch, in service
No5. Mona, undergoing cosmetic restoration by the IOMSRSA**
No6. Peveril, currently in Port Erin Carriage shed, cosmetically restored by IOMSRSA 2022***
No7. Tynwald, frames only survive in private ownership off Island
No8. Fenella, stored out of use presently in Douglas
No9. Douglas, recently announced cosmetic restoration by IOMSRSA**
No10. G H Wood, frames receiving attention at Alan Keef prior to rebuild
No11. Maitland, in service
No12. Hutchinson, boiler and frames at Severn Valley, next to be returned to service
No13. Kissack, undergoing work at Douglas workshops prior to 2023 season starting
No14. (ex MNR3)Thornhill, left the island 2021, privately owned, no further info
No15. (ex MNR 4) Caledonia in service
No16. Mannin see previous post
**Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters Association
***temporary storage whilst trackwork in museum is being replaced

 

thanks for the info, so 16 is well on the way to returning then, i suppose more info to come on this later on in the year. Am I right in presuming that no. 12 will also return to traffic this year then or will 16 return first?

 

The last I heard was that No.12's overhaul will re-commence after services re-start in March and, as Mike says will, hopefully, return to traffic later this year. No.16 is still some way off.
Ray.

 

Long time no post [ I've been busy ! - you'll probably soon find out on what ...]

So, I wonder where F37 is ?
{cackles and rubs hands together}

 

Hello,

Elsewhere on the forum there has been a discussion regarding locos that have never been on a lowloader- and I asked the question about the IOM locos.

It prompted me to wonder- how did the locos originally get transported to the IOM- are there any pictures or information regarding this?

Best Regards

Chris

 

I'm not aware of any photographs but the locos were shipped in a semi-dismantled state (after being steam tested at Gorton) as, in 1873, there was no crane in Douglas capable of lifting a complete loco. The parts were taken to the IMR workshops to be re-assembled by the accompanying Beyer Peacock fitter. By 1901 when the locos for the West Baldwin Reservoir Tramway arrived there was a steam crane on the Battery Pier capable of lifting a complete loco as seen below.
Ray.

 

Good luck with that move !
Would give the modern H&S wallahs the screaming ad-dabs !

 

A 13 3/4 ton loco 5' up in the air on a wooden wheeled cart hauled by a single cylindered W&S traction engine over single lane dirt roads up to St.George's Bridge depot .... what could possibly go wrong?
Ray.

 

Clearly they need to wear hi-viz ...

Tom

 

Flat cap and a Woodbine, that's PPE Victorian style.
Ray.

 

...bowler hat...

 

You should check out what Road Engines and Kerr got up to, ditto William Kerr and Company of Mavisbank. The activities of their one off Burrell Road Locomotive 3419 "Clyde" are something else. People have been trying to find this missing engine for decades and there have been attempts to re-create it. Nothing needs to go wrong with staff who really know what they are doing. Yes, people could lose toes and have leg injuries because of the shearing off of the tops of the setted streets of Glasgow, but there again the City was most reluctant to ensure that the roads and infrastructure were suitable for the traffic that had to pass over it. Traffic which earned so much money for the City and others and provided so many jobs.

 

I think those likely looking lads would show the H&S man where the door is…

 

Not sure why H&S folk get such a hard time......

Some of us are actually very pragmatic, and work/have worked doing some really high risk, potentially quite deathy work in the past.

There are some pillocks out there, but you could argue the same about any profession.

My goal (when my H&S hat is on) is just to make sure people go home safe to their families at the end of the working day.

Chris

 

I've never been directly involved in H&S as such, but obviously it should be everyones concern. I spent my career sitting at a desk for 95% of the time and my manager did once accuse me of not taking H&S seriously enough when I simply assessed everything he asked me as low risk. I pointed out that I had previously been involved in operational railways and workshops, and therefore been working around large lumps of very heavy moving machinery. I was also a sub-aqua diver and helped train others in the sport. So, in comparison, anything office based was always likely to be low on my risk assessment.

 

Because those of us of the older generation got on perfectly well without them, using common sense. Just as we got on with 4 or 5 people in Human Remains (what used to be called the Personnel Dept.) in big organisations - whereas now there are hundreds of them. And things had been like that for 100s of years.

 

Accident and injury rates were higher.

 

And there they are!

Health and Safety bingo answers number 1 & 2!

The major difference these days is its no longer seen as acceptable for people to be injured or killed in the workplace- we had over 2000 deaths attributed to asbestos related illness last year......we can thank the H&S profession for reducing that and working to eliminate asbestos in the workplace.

This set of statistics demonstrates we must be doing something right as well I would suggest.......

https://www.statista.com/statistics...s-at-work-great-britain-by-employment-y-on-y/

Chris

 

Meanwhile back on the IMR ........
At Port St. Mary goods shed work continues on the cosmetic restoration of No.5 Mona built for the opening of the South line in 1874. The main task of the last 2 Saturday working parties (both of us!) has been to fit the multitude of bolts which fasten down both ends of the boiler to the frames. Other jobs have been to permanently fasten down the cab and attach various fittings as they are cleaned down and polished or painted. Further info./photos can be found at https://restoring-mona.blogspot.com/
The aim is to have the loco finished well before the start of IMR 150 on July 1st. The 2023 timetable is due for release any day now and will be quickly followed by the full programme of events for IMR 150.
Ray.