It may seem that is has only just started but the Manx Electric Railway has now stopped running for another year with the last services operating on Sunday 30th October. But before it ended there was still time for another special event with the Winter Transport Festival taking place giving people another excuse to enjoy the best that the MER can offer (as well as the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway which played a full part in the event – the first time its been able to be a major part of a special event since 2019).
Amongst the highlights of the Transport Festival for the MER was an intensive timetable on the very last day of operations. This saw 17 departures from Derby Castle during the day with a varied selection of trams running including both of the original motors (1 and 2), three Tunnel Cars and a couple of Winter Saloons. Sadly the weather was a little inclement on this day but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of those who had made the efforts to attend the event.
The previous day there was a special tour, the Crossover Explorer. This saw Tunnel Car 5 (a replacement for the advertised no. 1 due to poor weather) cover a lot of unusual track on the MER. Track covered included Derby Castle Groudle Siding, Onchan Head Crossover, Groudle Crossover, Ballamenagh Crossover, Fairy Cottage Crossover, Laxey Car Shed Crossover, Laxey Station Refreshment Siding, Dumbell No. 1 Crossover, Ballaskeig Crossover, Queen’s Valley Crossover, Ramsey Station Crossover arrival and departure roads.
A few lasts for the season’s record books saw Winter Saloon 22 work the last evening service (on Friday 28th October) whilst the last working of all was Tunnel Car 9 which ran the 1640 Ramsey to Derby Castle.
Now that 2022 is over attention will turn to 2023 which looks set to be another milestone year for the Isle of Man’s Railways. With the Manx Electric Railway celebrating 130 years and the Steam Railway 150 years, the Summer Transport Festival is extended to a full week and runs from 23rd to 30th July 2023. There is also a special 130th anniversary event on Sunday 10th September and the 150th anniversary of the Steam Railway will be celebrated on Saturday 1st July.
Saturday 29th October saw the Crossover Explorer Tour take place. Using Tunnel Car 5 it traversed many rarely used crossover and other sections of track. One of the crossovers covered was at Groudle as seen here.
The intensive service on Sunday 30th October was greeted by poor weather but that didn’t deter things too much – with 1 even allocated to service despite the lack of covered accommodation for the driver.
19 runs past Howstrake with Mail Van 4 in tow.
Storm clouds gather over Douglas as 7 climbs away from the town on its way north. (All Photographs courtesy of Manx Electric Railway Online)
- Thanks to Manx Electric Railway Online for the information and photos contained on these pages. To keep up-to-date with all the latest news from the MER visit the Manx Electric Railway Online Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/manxelectricrailway.