There is often some criticism of how late details of special events are announced but that is not something which can be levelled against plans for the 125th Anniversary of the Manx Electric Railway as the full itinerary of events have been released – 12 months before they take place! A full eight days of events will take place between Saturday 1st and Saturday 8th September 2018.
There are so many highlights planned during the eight days so jumping straight into the plans:
Saturday 1st September
* Motorman lessons
* Cars 1, 2, 32 and 33 on the timetabled service
* Parallel run to Groudle using cars 1 and 2
Sunday 2nd September
* Family entertainment and village market
* MER car 1, Snaefell car 1 and Douglas Horse Tram 1 at Laxey Station with photographic opportunities
* Guided tours of Laxey and Snaefell tram sheds
* Travelling Post Office with commemorative first day covers
* Evening slideshow and talk
Monday 3rd September
* Special tram with two open wagons
* Official launch of restored Ratchet car 14
* Parallel run from Ramsey to Douglas using 1 and 2
Tuesday 4th September
* Derby Castle workshop tours and museum open
* Night photography at Derby Castle yard with four open crossbench trams posed
* Re-enactment of mail collection from lineside mail boxes
* Special tram with two trailers
Wednesday 5th September
* Cars 1, 2 & 3 running shuttles to Groudle. Groudle Station building open and manned.
* Tunnel cars on timetabled service
* Trams 14 and 16 on special evening service to Ramsey
* Special tram with three wagons
Thursday 6th September – Special Timetable
* Trams operating to a 1975 Timetable
* Tram line up at Derby Castle before services commencing in the morning
* Unusual combinations
* Four goods wagons out on service
Friday 7th September (Anniversary Day) – Special Timetable
* Anniversary plaque unveiling at Groudle Station
* Cavalcade of trams through Laxey Station
* Special anniversary timetable
* Illuminated tram and trailer on the timetabled evening service
Saturday 8th September
* MER Mystery Tour
* Open trams in service (subject to weather)
* Unusual combinations
* Horse tram cavalcade and evening service
As with all events of this nature – especially more so when there is still 12 months to go! – everything is subject to availability and operational constraints.
Hopefully with the advance notice of these events it will encourage a lot of visitors to the Isle of Man and there won’t be any clashes of events with anything else taking place on the mainland.
Sadly of course there is a clash with the Traditional date for the Trans Lancs bus rally and so Heaton Parks busiest day and the exhibition. Worse still is the clash on the Island with the Back of the Manx GP motor bike racing week which will cause great problems with hotels etc. for the first few days. That is a MER problem it was the same in 1993 and indeed other Electric Centenaries the pioneers never took the TT and GP into account when building the MER and SMR etc. Bad planning 125 years ago!
What mainland? Mann is the mainland. The uk is a separate country from the Isle Of Man, so therefore cannot possibly be considered the mainland.