Opening in 1893 between Douglas and Groudle, the Manx Electric Railway celebrated its 125th anniversary with a week long special event at the start of September – and what an event it was! Trams returning to service, cavalcades, intensive services, special tours and behind the scenes tours were all put on in what was one of the best transport events on the Isle of Man in recent years. In this first part of our review of the events we take a look at the first weekend, a weekend which, unfortunately, saw the arrival of heavy rain.
When you have had such a good summer weather wise it is almost inevitable that come one of the biggest tram events in recent years the weather will turn and unfortunately that is exactly what happened over the first weekend of the MER 125 events with heavy rain causing a slight change of plans, particularly on Saturday 1st September.
Saturday 1st September
If there is one thing you can almost guarantee will happen in a special event on the Manx Electric Railway it is a parallel run of trams. Whether it be the oldest trams, the newest or anything in between it is often a highlight of the event and the first parallel run of this event took place on the very first day. This time it was the turn of the oldest trams 1 and 2 (oldest not only in the MER fleet but lest we forget they are also the oldest trams still in regular use on their original line, as recognised by Guinness World Records). Running in parallel from Derby Castle to Groudle – the original 1893 line of course – the pair departed around 0900 in truly dreadful weather running north and then back.
Day one was then meant to progress with not only 1 and 2 but also the newest trams of the fleet – Crossbenches 32 and 33 – in service but the poor weather put paid to this. Instead they were replaced in service by Winter Saloons and Tunnel Cars – along with open trailers just in case there was anyone who wanted to enjoy the delights of an open tram ride along the cliffs!
There was also a standard evening service in operation which saw three single motors – 5, 9 and 19 – in service along the line.
Tram allocations
D1 – 20+47
D2 – 19+42 (vice 32)
D3 – 5+44 (vice 33)
D4 – 7+48 (vice 2)
D5 – 9+60 (vice 1)
UDE – 22
UDE – 6
Parallel run (Derby Castle-Groudle) – 1, 2
Evening service – 5, 9, 19
Sunday 2nd September
And still the rain stayed – and on the day of the big 125th birthday party as well! Laxey Station was the location for the party with much going on to keep the whole family entertained, including fairground rides, live music and vintage vehicles on display. The Ramsey Philatelic Service were also there using Mail Van 4 – which had travelled to Laxey as part of the 0930 Derby Castle – to sell special stamps (there is a complete set of tram stamps released to commemorate the anniversary) along with special commemorative covers.
The centrepiece of celebrations from a tram perspective though was the “Three 1s”, with no. 1 from three different Isle of Man tramways at the station. Obviously Manx Electric Railway and Snaefell Mountain Railway 1 are regular visitors to Laxey but Douglas Bay Horse Tramway 1 less so (indeed its only recorded previous visit was earlier this year as a test for this day!)
There was also the chance to see behind the scenes at Laxey Car Sheds where a number of long withdrawn trams are stored:
Back siding, outside: Freight 26
Back Road, off rails: Loco 23, 27, 25
R3: 28, Tower 1
R2: 31, 34, Tower 52, 21
R1: 50, 30, 26, 54
Tram allocations
D1 – 9+44
D2 – 20+46
D3 – 19+42
D4 – 22+60
D5 – 2+48
Mail – 1+vans 16+4
* Photos from the first two days of MER 125 can be found as part of Gallery 758.