One of the Manx Electric Railway Winter Saloons suffered minor damage on Tuesday 4th
September following an incident with a bin lorry in Groudle. The exact circumstances of the incident are not known but what is known is that MER Winter Saloon 19 was on a journey from Douglas to Ramsey when it came to hit a bin lorry on the Groudle Road crossing on King Edward Road, Groudle.
A photo on the Isle of Man Today website (http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/manx-electric-railway-tram-in-collision-with-bin-wagon-1-4901009) shows that the bin lorry came off a lot worse than the tram with a large dent in the front. Almost 80 passengers were on board the tram (which was running with a trailer) but no injuries were reported and they were returned to the Station by bus before the service resumed with the next scheduled departure. 19 received no serious damage with just a few paint scratches on the front corner of the tram.
The Isle of Man Police are now conducting an investigation into what caused the incident.
19 was indeed running over the weekend. 19th century technology wins again 😉
112 year old tram 1, “less than 10 year old” bin lorry 0. Trams built to last – that’s what I like to see. Some red faces in the refuse department though! I wonder how many trams on the mainland would have got away with scraped paintwork in a collision like that? Let’s hope the Manx trams last another 100 years.
I have seen the after effects of a Croydon tram having hit the back of a single decker bus, which had run a red light while trying to race the tram. The engine was smashed out of the engine compartment of the bus by the tram which though it had a damaged windscreen and some dents came off fairly well. I believe the bus was written off.
I trust the bus driver is no longer driving buses!