Whilst most of us are still waiting to find out what is going to happen in 2017 Isle of Man Railways are going one step further by already announcing some outline details of what they will be doing to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Manx Electric Railway – in September 2018!
We have already reported that a week long celebration will take place between Saturday 1st and Saturday 8th September 2018 but at that point it was very much a keep these dates free arrangement and the promise that more details would come, and come they have although we weren’t quite expecting it to be this early!
Amongst the highlights announced are the visit of Douglas Bay Horse Tramway no. 1 to Laxey – where it will run alongside the other no. 1s from the MER and Snaefell Mountain Railway respectively – whilst there will be a cavalcade of MER trams through Laxey Station. Also planned is a full parallel run using MER 1 and 2 all the way from Ramsey to Douglas and we are promised an illuminated tram – presumably no. 9 – and trailer. The summer 1975 timetable will be run for just one day, there will be an intensive Groudle service and there will also be open days, evening photography and photographic tours. And if that isn’t enough for you there are plans for much more!
We will keep you posted in the run up to the event over the next 18 months but it already looks as if it is shaping up to be an excellent and packed event.
And if it is still far too early to think about 2018 for you don’t forget that there are still two major transport events to enjoy in 2017 on the Isle of Man. First up will be Rush Hour on the Railways which takes place between 14th and 17th April and will include behind the scenes tours plus the return to service of freshly repainted Crossbench motors 16 and 32 running special workings with photo stops. In addition there will be intensive services on the MER and the use of some rare motors in service. A full preview of this event will follow closer to the event but in the meantime you can download the leaflet from the Isle of Man Railways website https://www.gov.im/media/1355085/rush-hour-festival-of-stream-2017-dl-16pp-web.pdf.
The Manx Heritage Transport Festival then takes place between 26th and 30th July which will once again include plenty of action across Isle of Man Railways with several cars on the MER having enjoyed repaints over the winter and green is definitely the colour of 2017. Again we will provide more details closer to the event.