Manx Electric Railway
of 78 Cornhill, London
of Isle of Man
The Manx Electric Railway is an electric inter-urban tramway connecting the towns of Douglas, Laxey and Ramsey on the Isle of Man. It connects with the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway at its southern terminus at Derby Castle Station at the northerly end of the promenade in Douglas, and with the Snaefell Mountain Railway at Laxey Station. The route of the tramway is one of scenic beauty and, for that reason, among others, many holiday visitors to the Isle of Man take an excursion on one of the trams. [1]
The line is built to 3 ft gauge and is 17 miles long. It is largely segregated from road traffic, running on roadside reservation or private right-of-way, and is electrified using overhead line at 500 volts direct current. The line provides service throughout the year although the winter service is much less frequent than the summer service.
Originally the service was provided by about two dozen electric tramcars and the same number of trailers, the earliest of which date from 1893 and almost all of which predate 1910. Two of the original three cars that opened the line in 1893 are still in use, and are the oldest electric tramcars still at work on their original line anywhere in the world. The design of Manx tramcars predates any consensus on tramcar design, and as a consequence they have quite distinctive boxy bodies. Most services are operated by a motor car towing a single trailer.
The first section of the line, from Douglas to Groudle Glen, opened in 1893, the line reaching Laxey in 1894 and Ramsey in 1899. The first section of the line was built by the Douglas Bay Estates Ltd., and by 1894 the tramway had been acquired by the Douglas & Laxey Electric Tramway Co. Ltd. which changed its name to the Isle of Man Tramways & Electric Power Co. Ltd. (IoMT&EP) in the same year. The IoMT&EP went into liquidation in 1900 as a consequence of a banking collapse.
1902 The company was registered on November 12th. [2]
The Manx Electric Railway was sold by the liquidator to the newly formed Manx Electric Railway Co. Ltd., which took over the services in 1902. By the late 1950s the Manx Electric Railway Co. Ltd. was itself in financial difficulties, and the company and its assets were acquired by the Isle of Man government in 1957.