As previously reported on these pages the workshops at Derby Castle have been very busy over the winter period with repaints aplenty underway ahead of an exciting year of new looks for various cars in 2017.
The latest major progress has been on Tunnel Car 6 which has been sanded down and the first coats of paint have now started to be added. Green may be the colour of choice for 2017 but 6 is receiving more traditional colours with its livery dating from the Manx Electric Railway Company era.
Other repaints this winter have included Crossbench’s 16 (returning to traditional colours) and 32 (receiving the nationalised green livery) with Winter Saloon 21 also becoming green along with Trailer 62. All in all there will be a new look for a number of cars in the fleet adding to interest for enthusiasts visiting the island.
Away from the workshops and a number of infrastructure projects have been continuing. Probably the most significant is at the northern terminus of the line as in 2017 services will not be running quite as far. As has been reported for many years a major redevelopment of Ramsey Station is on the cards and this means that the station area is no longer available for trams to run into. To this end a temporary terminus has been constructed the other side of the road close to where Ramsey car shed used to be (which itself has been demolished having been out of use for a couple of years and said to be in a poor state of repair). It is expected that when MER services resume on 9th March this temporary terminus will be in use but for how long remains to be seen.
* All the latest news and photos from the Manx Electric Railway can be found on the Manx Electric Railway Online Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/manxelectricrailway/.