Isle of Man by Rail
A photographic compilation from the late 1990's

The Isle of Man is great for a family holiday
This is Douglas harbour

And this is Douglas station

As number 12 departs for Port Erin

The first station is Port Soderick

Santon next
Timeless Isle of Man

Two more Santon views

As numbers 10 and 11 pull away

Ballasalla, where many trains cross

And Castletown station, amazing with its gravel platform and a canopy of trees

Ballabeg, truly an Isle of Man gem

And Port St. Mary as number 1 leads the way

Bobby was the stationmaster here for many years, operating his gates and manning the ticket cabin by his crossing

Port Erin station with number 10 and Manx Northern loco Caledonia

Port Erin based engines, in this case number 4, face towards Douglas

Port Erin is a superb terminus to this really friendly railway

Another Port Erin scene

The main shed is at Douglas

And it is sometimes possible to look around

Today, at the back of the shed, is number 9

And sometimes there are evening line ups as, nearest the camera, number 6 has a rare outing

But in Douglas no family holiday is complete without hailing a horse tram

All impressively relaxed as fares are collected from the running board on busy Douglas Prom

At Derby Castle both horse and driver's change ends

The stable are nearby

And here, once again, one can sometimes look around

A lot happens at Deby Castle and it is here that the Manx Electric Railway also has its base

The trams between Douglas and Ramsay are amazing

But riding the toastrack trailers is best of all

The cliffs between Laxey and Dhoon Glen are unbelievable and a world class railway "must do"

Groudle Glen now, as the crew of the illuminated car change ends

And here, if you are lucky, the Groudle Glen Railway will be operating

For a ride to the cliffs at Sea Lion Cove

But the connecting station everybody seeks is Laxey

For from Laxey mountain trams climb to the summit of Snaefell

With amazing views all the way

Spectacular indeed!

Back in Laxey there is always something happening

Here the Laxey Stationmaster controls the movements of 1 and 2, the oldest working tramcars in the world