Isle of Man Railway rolling stock - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The rolling stock used on the Isle of Man Railway

Isle of Man Railway

The Isle of Man Railway is a narrow gauge steam-operated railway connecting Douglas with Castletown and Port Erin in the Isle of Man. The line is built to gauge and is long...

today is entirely original but the serviceable passenger coaches number 14, out of an original total of 75 carriages. The railway was provided with a variety of stock from different manufacturers over its time, and types of coach were categorised according to a lettering system, with the original four-wheeled coaches being of A, B, C and D types, and so on. The types of stock can be summarised as follows:-

The "A" - "D" Classes

Four-wheeled carriages supplied for the opening of the line to Peel in 1873; these were close-coupled in pairs from the late 1880s. Each class of coach had a different internal layout. "A" class carriages were 17'6" long and the remainder a foot shorter. Class "A" consisted of twelve first class carriages - eleven three-compartment carriages and one saloon. The "B" class consisted of 24 three-compartment third class carriages open above the seat backs. The "C" class (14 built) had two third class compartments and a brake compartment - one coach was later converted to a saloon. The "D" class consisted of a pair of composites arranged 3/1/3, the first class compartment being wider at the expense of the third class passengers.
All these were later converted into bogie carriages by mounting pairs of bodies on bogie underframes supplied by the Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Co. They became known as the "pairs" coaches and were later renumbered into the F50-75 series, see below.

The "F" Class

This class eventually included all bogie coaches on the railway and numbered 75 in total. They fall into several sub-classes.

The "Small Fs"

The initial batch were supplied by Brown Marshalls and became known as the "Small Fs" as they are noticeably smaller in size than the later vehicles being 35 feet long and 9'6" from rail to roof. F1 to F12 were slab sided; F13 onwards had sides that curved inwards below the waist. F7 and F8 were built by Ashbury, and F20 onwards by Metropolitan Railway Carriage & Wagon Co

Metro Cammell

The Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company was a Birmingham, England based manufacturer of railway carriages and wagons, based in Saltley and subsequently Washwood Heath....

. A high proportion of the "small Fs" have a handbrake fitted in a locking housing in one of the end compartments. In addition to the handbrake a lookout window was cut in the end of carriage. This made it possible for a brakeman to ride in this compartment and provide additional braking on heavier trains in the days before continuous vacuum brake. F19 and 20 were the first two "half luggage vans" delivered to the railway, half of the carriage being occupied with three third class compartments and the other half by a luggage compartment complete with guard's look-out duckets. F27 and F28 were luggage vans delivered in 1897, hence their nickname of the "Empress Vans." F28 was the last passenger vehicle built on a wooden underframe to be delivered to the Isle of Man Railway. All of the "small Fs" had the frames concealed by the lower panelling of the carriage bodies, though at various periods where the frames would normally show was indicated with a broad black stripe at the bottom of the lower panels. All had wooden frames.

The saloons

Later carriages of the F class were supplied by the Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage and Wagon Company

Metro Cammell

The Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company was a Birmingham, England based manufacturer of railway carriages and wagons, based in Saltley and subsequently Washwood Heath....

(who had absorbed Brown, Marshalls in 1902) beginning with F.29 in 1905. They were built with wooden bodies on steel underframes, and are 37 feet long and 10'3" from rail to roof. This was the first of the "saloons", all of which survive today, and these are numbered F29-32, F35, and F36, the latter being the Royal Coach and extant in the railway museum

Railway museum

A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives , railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment.See List of railway museums...

at the southern terminus of Port Erin. F.35 is known as the Cardinal's Coach and has similar plush fittings internally; it was converted (together with F.31 and F.32) in the early 1980s to form the "bar set" at which time half the seating was removed and a small bar and chemical toilet fitted, also through gangways to the adjoining coaches. Later, as F.31 was withdrawn for major bodywork attention, F.29 was fitted with a corridor and replaced the former vehicle. The saloons have remained unpopular with loco crews as they are heavy yet do not carry as many passengers as the standard compartment stock. (F33 and F34 (both now scrapped) were three compartment Third-Brake carriages similar to F40-44.)

The Hurst Nelsons

These two vehicles were built for the Manx Northern Railway

Manx Northern Railway

The Manx Northern Railway was the second common carrier railway built in the Isle of Man. It operated as an independent concern only from 1879 to 1905.- History :...

by Hurst Nelson

Hurst Nelson

Hurst, Nelson and Company Ltd was a railway rolling stock manufacturer based in Motherwell, Scotland. The company also built many railway wagons, as well as trams for several local authorities.-Products:...

in 1899 and numbered F.37 and F.38 upon the takeover of the MNR by the IMR in 1905. They were the first passenger vehicles on steel underframes to enter service on a Manx railway. Externally they are not terribly different from the other "Big Fs" and they and the Foxdale coach were allocated numbers in the "F" class upon take-over. Remaining stock inherited from the Manx Northern Railway was either given the "N" prefix, or, in the case of non-passenger stock, a small "r" was added to the title, as explained below. Both of these carriages were purchased off-island by a private collector

Collecting

The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world...

in 1975 and remain out of the public gaze to this day.

The Foxdale Coach

Yet another oddity is this carriage, this time originating from the Foxdale Railway

Foxdale Railway

The Foxdale Railway was a branch line which ran from St. John's to Foxdale on the Isle of Man.-History:The line was officially opened by the Foxdale Railway Company Ltd. on allowing rail access to the lead mining workings around the village of Foxdale...

. It was built by the Oldbury Railway Carriage and Wagon Co in 1886 for the small branch to Foxdale; this is a true survivor of the system and is still in operation today. Distinctive from the other stock, it too carries lookout duckets and has an extra large guard's compartment, useful today for disabled passengers. It was converted into a camping coach by Lord Ailsa when he ran the line from 1967 and painted into a non-typical blue/yellow livery. However, in 1979 to mark the occasion of the centenary of the Manx Northern Railway

Manx Northern Railway

The Manx Northern Railway was the second common carrier railway built in the Isle of Man. It operated as an independent concern only from 1879 to 1905.- History :...

, the carriage was painted into M.N.R. livery and re-numbered No. 15 for a spell, before reverting to fleet livery of purple lake and regaining the fleet number F.39. She now carries the standard "blood and custard" livery which was re-adopted in 1999.

The "Big Fs"

Built to the same larger profile as the Saloons, and numbered F.40 - F.49, these still provide the backbone of the service fleet today. The first five vehicles were half luggage/guard compartment and half (i.e. three compartment) passenger accommodation, as were F33 & F34, and the final one, F.49 is the only representative of the half-luggage variety to remain in service today, though F.43 survives but is in store, unlikely to be rebuilt in the near future. F.45 and F.46 have five passenger compartments and one guard's compartment (one coach at the Port Erin end, the other at the Douglas end) whilst F.47 and F.48 have six third class passenger compartments. The survivors are in everyday service and have rarely been out of traffic since their arrival on the island. They all carry the standard red and cream livery.

The "Pairs"

See classes A-D above; between 1909 and 1926 the bodies of the four wheel coaches were mounted in pairs on to bogie underframes supplied by Metropolitan. Latterly, some were used for schools traffic but some were only used on Tynwald Day

Tynwald Day

Tynwald Day is the National Day of the Isle of Man, usually occurring on 5 July.On this day the Isle's legislature, Tynwald, meets at St John's, instead of its usual meeting place, Douglas. The session is held partly in the Royal Chapel of St John the Baptist and partly in the open air on the...

, the railway's busiest day of the year. With all events taking place at St John's which was the hub of the railway network, this traditionally saw every item of usable rolling stock in service, but through the 1950s this demand declined. By this time they were painted in a utilitarian all-over brown colour scheme. Some remained in service into nationalisation times, carrying an all-over purple livery and the yellow stick-on "Isle of Man Railways" lettering, applied in the early 1980s. Of note is F.75, (now in the Museum in Port Erin) half of which is the original "Governors' Saloon" used on opening day to carry the official party, the other half being the converted C class saloon. By the 1990s all but one of these coaches had been withdrawn (F.66 being the last survivor in service, withdrawn in 1999) but since this time and following a total rebuild, F.54 has re-entered service and can be seen in traffic on the railway today, though the new body is in one piece, without any evidence of its orogin as a pair. Many have been reduced to bare frames, some for a short-lived container scheme in 1967 (the discarded bodies were dumped as St John's) and ten of these frames were sold to the Festiniog Railway in 1975 and some have been used for new coaches on that line. Some frames remain on the IMR as service vehicles. The surviving pairs carriages are mostly in poor condition and have been surrounded by a certain amount of controversy in recent years, having been removed from the railway for storage. The Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association

Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association

The Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association is a railway preservationist group dedicated to the continued operation of the Isle of Man Railway on the Isle of Man Since its inception in 1966 the group have provided volunteer workers and a watchdog role and commenced its own project in the...

have campaigned for their retention on the railway. Some are now in the carriage sheds at Douglas and Port Erin, some at Port St Mary.

"N" class carriages

For its opening in 1879, the Manx Northern Railway ordered fourteen carriages from Swansea Carriage and Wagon. These were 30 feet (9.1 m), six-wheel carriages built on Cleminson's patent underframes - five feet shorter than the Isle of Man Railways "small Fs." Cleminson's patent enjoyed a brief vogue in the late 1870s as an alternative to bogie carriages. The Southwold Railway

Southwold Railway

- External links :* * * *...

which opened the same year as the Manx Northern also used Cleminson's patent underframes from its passenger stock, and also for some high capacity freight wagons. The North Wales Narrow Gauge, and West Donegal Railways also used the system on coaches, and a Cleminson wagon survives on the Festiniog. Two of the Manx Northern "N" class carriages were built as firsts; two as composites; and ten as either third class or third-brake carriages. The first class carriages were arranged as three small saloons and seated 42. The composites were arranged 3/1/1/3 - the third class accommodation being arranged conventionally, and the first class as saloons. They seated 28 first class passengers, and 20 third. The thirds were conventional compartment carriages. The third class carriages must have been quite cramped internally as the compartments were only 4'10" wide - ten inches less than was the case with the IMR bogie carriages. Both of the composites and about half of the third class carriages were built with handbrake wheel in an end compartment that could be locked away when not in use and the compartment used for passengers. Two of the third class carriages were damaged in minor collisions, or suffered underframe failure before the Manx Northern was taken over by the Isle of Man Railway. Twelve of the class passed to the IMR's ownership in 1905. J.I.C. Boyd ("The Isle of Man Railway" Oakwood Press, 1967) states that the original intention was to number them into the "F" series, hence the numbers 40 to 51, but as they were six wheelers the decision was made to give them the prefix "N" - the next available letter in the IMR's coding system - to distinguish them from the bogie carriages. After 1914, the "N" class carriages seem to have been little used except on Tynwald Fair days. It is not sure when they fell into disuse. For many years they were stored in a siding behind St. John's station carriage shed. Two of the "N" class carriages survive on the line today, one - the body of former first carriage N41 - was for many years the mess hut at Douglas

Douglas, Isle of Man

right|thumb|250px|Douglas Promenade, which runs nearly the entire length of beachfront in Douglasright|thumb|250px|Sea terminal in DouglasDouglas is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,218 people . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and a sweeping...

station, the other - composite carriage N43 - was a resident of the Port Erin museum until it was rebuilt in 1998 when it was placed in store but not returned to the completed museum. Despite being owned privately it remains on the railway. A third - a third class carriage - is in private preservation in the north of the island together with a Beyer Peacock locomotive, No. 14 "Thornhill (Ex-Manx Northern). Regrettably, none of the surviving Cleminsons is on public display. Of the other nine carriages, one was withdrawn in the 1920s and used as a Mess Room at Douglas station

Douglas Station

Douglas Station can refer to:* Douglas College Station, Canada* Douglas, Falkland Islands...

and was later replaced by the body of N41, the other eight were scrapped in the 1970s; some after being damaged in a fire in 1975 which also destroyed most of the 1876 batch of wooden bogie carriages.

The "E" class

These were four-wheeled brake and luggage vans fitted with lookout duckets, but otherwise entirely sealed with only two drop-sash windows at the guard's door. None of these vans survive today, and they were effectively made redundant when later passenger coaches had their own braking systems. The primary purpose of the "E" van was to provide luggage accommodation and braking for the original "A" - "D" class most of which did not have their own brakes when supplied in 1873/4. One surviving member of the class sat at the end of the Port Erin arrival platform at Douglas

Douglas, Isle of Man

for many years and retained its pre-war two-tone brown livery. The Manx Northern Railway

Manx Northern Railway

The Manx Northern Railway was the second common carrier railway built in the Isle of Man. It operated as an independent concern only from 1879 to 1905.- History :...

owned a pair of similar vans for use with the "N" class carriages, but these seem to have been scrapped in the 1920s. The possibility of the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association

Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association

recreating one of these vehicles has been mooted in the past but never reached fruition.

"Empress" vans

Two vehicles were supplied to the railway in 1897 and became known as the "Empress Vans" to acknowledge the fact that the year of delivery was Queen Victoria's jubilee year. These are the same length as the passenger vehicles but are entirely closed with no windows, but they have guard's lookout duckets attached; numbered F.27 and F.28 they are both extant on the line today but in a deplorable state and only used for storage purposes. Their busy careers have seen them in use as an ambulance train in conjunction with the T.T.

Isle of Man TT

The International Isle of Man TT Race is a motorcycle racing event held on the Isle of Man and was for many years the most prestigious motorcycle race in the world...

and Manx Grand Prix

Manx Grand Prix

The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course every year for a two-week period usually spanning the end of August and early September. The 'MGP' or 'Manx' is considered to be the amateur riders' alternative to the Isle of Man TT Races held in May and June...

races held annually on the island. They were stored for a number of years outdoors but despite this remain on the railway, having last been used in the early 1990s.

The "G" vans

These were four-wheeled closed vans, a total of 19 on the line. Quite often these were attached to the rear of a passenger train to transport goods to the rural communities that the railway served for many years. Upon amalgamation

Consolidation (business)

Consolidation or amalgamation is the act of merging many things into one. In business, it often refers to the mergers and acquisitions of many smaller companies into much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, consolidation refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a group...

with the Manx Northern Railway

Manx Northern Railway

The Manx Northern Railway was the second common carrier railway built in the Isle of Man. It operated as an independent concern only from 1879 to 1905.- History :...

in 1905 five were inherited and these were distinguished by their horizontal ventilation slats at the tops of the sides, whereas those built to the IMR pattern had round vents in the sides covered by flaps. Today, there remain three in existence, all of which remain on the railway, these are G.1, of the original 1873 batch, Gr.12, (the small "r" prefix denoting that it is ex-Manx Northern stock) which was extensively refurbished in the late 1990s and returned to the railway, and G.19 which saw use for many years by the permanent way crews, distinctive for being fitted with clambour boards for tree felling, and having a small wood stove installed.

The "H" wagons

These 6-ton three-plank open wagons were built to a total of 46. One of these wagons was used (with suitable side rails attached) to carry the military band

Military band

A military band originally was a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music...

to Peel on opening day in 1873. By the time of nationalisation they had all been scrapped. In the late 1990s the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association

Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association

took on the ambitious task of building one of these from scratch. Through a fundraising campaign this was achieved and it is now part of the line's small goods stock but features most prominently in the public eye when it masquerades as a Troublesome Truck for the popular Friends of Thomas event on the railway. It has been given the number H.1. This was the second project undertaken by the supporters, the first being the re-building of a ballast wagon M.78.

The "K" vans

These were cattle carrying wagons, and were ostensibly similar to the "G" class as above but rather than being completely sealed, the top quarter of them was ventilated and featured horizontal rails where the "G" vans had only ventilated slots. Some early ones were originally roofless. None survive today but it has been mooted, for historical purposes, that a supporters' organisation may take on the reconstruction of one of these, so that the railway ultimately has and example of each type of stock in their possession.

The "M" wagons

Broadly similar to the "H" class as above, with the major noticeable difference being that these have a two-plank side, whereas the "H" class were a three-plank affair. They were intended as Ballast Wagons but found useful for many types of goods traffic, eventually totalling 78 of these wagons on the line, and a couple survived into nationalisation days, one, M.70, being resident on the old goods siding at Santon

Santon (parish)

Santon is a parish of the Isle of Man. It has an area of approximately eight square miles and is the island's smallest parish, located in the sheading of Middle which is composed of the parishes of Braddan, Marown and Santon. Currently the Captain of the Parish is Donald Gelling.The parish church...

Station for many years. M78 also survived. It was this vehicle that inspired the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association

Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association

to commence their first restoration project in the 1990s. The "rebuilt" wagon (M.78) is now part of the railway's historic fleet of vehicles and bears plaques denoting its origins. It is coupled to H.1 as the Troublesome Trucks each September for the Friends of Thomas event on the line.

Breakdown cranes

There were two rail-mounted breakdown cranes. One, buit by Thomas Kiss & Co of Birmingham was scrapped in 1974. The second was built in 1893 by Richard Gibbins & Co of Birmingham and was latterly on display at Station with the remains of the frames of locomotive No.7 "Tynwald" but in 1988 it was removed to a Highway Board depot close to the old station at Crosby

Crosby, Isle of Man

Crosby is a small village 6 km west of Douglas, Isle of Man on the Isle of Man. It has a population of about 900. The River Dhoo flows through the village.-Village:...

on the Peel line for restoration. When this was completed the crane was put on display at Union Mills

Union Mills

Union Mills is a village in the parish of Braddan on the A1, the primary road which connects Douglas and Peel in the Isle of Man, close to the River Dhoo.-History:...

station (which had not been in use since 1968) and it has remained there since.

Ballast hoppers

The railway's first ballast

Track ballast

Track ballast forms the trackbed upon which railway sleepers or railroad ties are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to facilitate drainage of water, to distribute the load from the railroad ties, and also to keep down vegetation that might interfere with the track...

hopper

Hopper car

A hopper car is a type of railroad freight car used to transport loose bulk commodities such as coal, ore, grain, track ballast, and the like. The name originated from the coke manufacturing industry which is part of the steel industry ....

was constructed in-house and built on the frames of "pairs" coach F.65 in 1983 after the bodies had been removed in 1973. It is still in existence today in this form, and indeed carries its fleet number, but has been loaned to the Manx Electric Railway

Manx Electric Railway

The Manx Electric Railway is an electric inter-urban tramway connecting Douglas, Laxey and Ramsey in the Isle of Man. It connects with the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway at its southern terminus at Derby Castle at the northern end of the promenade in Douglas, and with the Snaefell Mountain Railway at...

and now resides at Dhoon Quarry in the special siding that was constructed for the "Steam On Electric" event in 1993 when No. 4 "Loch" operated from Laxey

Laxey

Laxey is a village on the east coast of the Isle of Man. Its name derives from the Old Norse Laxa meaning 'Salmon River'.The village lies on the A2, the main Douglas to Ramsey road. Laxey Glen is one of the Manx National Glens, with Dhoon Glen being located close by...

to the quarry sidings. Another hopper (F70) has since been constructed and is still in use on the railway.

Runners

The railway still has a number of runners and these are based on the underframes of "pairs" coaches and stored mostly on the siding outside Douglas Station known as the Peel Line Siding owing to its location where the Peel Line once spurred off to the right out of the station. In most cases they still carry their "F" class fleet number either painted on, or in some cases just in chalk. How accurate these numbers are after the passage of time is questionable but they remain in use storing rail.

Fish wagons

Five low-sided wagons were built on four-wheeled underframes released from coaches which had been put on bogie underframes ("pairs" coaches). They were numbered in a separate sequence with no letter prefix. They did not survive into the nationalisation era although some excellent photographs of them appear in the many books dedicated to the railway's history and rolling stock. They were labelled "Fish Wagon" at the left-hand side.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

The "A" - "D" Classes

The "F" Class

The "Small Fs"

The saloons

The Hurst Nelsons

The Foxdale Coach

The "Big Fs"

The "Pairs"

"N" class carriages

The "E" class

"Empress" vans

The "G" vans

The "H" wagons

The "K" vans

The "M" wagons

Breakdown cranes

Ballast hoppers

Runners

Fish wagons

See also

External links