The Douglas Bay Horse Tramway

Hi Andrew, The new tram sheds have been in use for a few months now.... and very nice they are too! The relay was held up for a short time by some defective welds which necessitated digging up the new concrete and some 'complications' caused by previously unrecorded services under the roadway at the Broadway intersection. A section of track and cable from the Upper Douglas Cable Tramway (like San Francisco's) closed in the 20's also resurfaced. I believe that the new track is currently at the spot where it takes a jiggle across the road. There's probably more info at https://www.facebook.com/dbhtonline I recently purchased Barry Edwards' recent book 'One Horse Power - The Douglas Bay Horse Tramway from 1876' which includes a plan of the new track layout and I can thoroughly recommend it.
Cheers,
Ray.

 

Thanks Ray.

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Indeed. Whilst I regret the loss of the old depot from a historic point of view, it must be conceded that the new building is very nice! Forgive my ignorance, but what was the reason for demolishing the old building?

 

The exterior of the new building is, actually, a fairly close copy of the ground floor of the original (1895) building. In 1935 a first floor was added to the building to provide office accommodation and that is the one with which we became familiar. Unfortunately the original structure wasn't really up to the extra load and by 2016 the building was deemed to be life expired. Whilst we, as enthusiasts, may not like some of the recent changes to the track layout etc. I think IoM Rlys have got it 'right' with this building and shows that the long term future of the tramway is assured. After all it is only 4 years since Douglas Corp. announced that they wished to get rid of the entire tramway - which caused me to create this thread in the first place. Thanks for your interest.
Ray.

 

Not at all - thank you for keeping us up to date and patiently answering all our questions! I only regret that it has been so long since I actually had the opportunity to visit the island. I am eager to see all the recent developments for myself.

 

Video of the Horse Tramway over the Heritage Transport Festival, including the tram cavalcade on the Friday.

 

Judging by where you filmed the Cavalcade from, am I right in thinking you were near the red phonebox at the bottom of Summer Hill Road?

 

Yes, pretty much right on the junction of the Summer Hill/Summer Hill Road.

 

Nice one. I was the slightly mad photographer sitting on top of the phone box!