Douglas Bay Horse Tramway - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Douglas Bay Horse Tramway is a horse-drawn

Horsecar

A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...

tramway in 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...

on the Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

. The route runs along the seafront promenade for approximately 1.6 miles (2.6 km), from a southern terminus at the Victoria Pier, adjacent to the Sea Terminal

Douglas Harbour

Douglas Harbour is located near Douglas Head on the southern end of Douglas, the capital town of Isle of Man. It is the island's primary commercial shipping port.-Description:...

to a northern terminus at Derby Castle

Derby Castle railway station

Derby Castle Terminus is the southern terminus of the Manx Electric Railway, serving the northerly end of the town of Douglas, Isle of Man. It is located on the north side of Douglas and is not the only railway station in the town, Douglas Station on the Isle of Man Railway is located on the south...

, the southern terminus of 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...

, where the workshops and sheds are also located.

History

The tramway was built and initially operated by Thomas Lightfoot, a retired civil engineer

Civil engineer

A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...

from the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

city of Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

. His service was introduced in 1876 and the line has run every year since, except for a period during the Second World War.

In 1882, Lightfoot sold the line to Isle of Man Tramways Ltd, which came later to be known as Isle of Man Tramways & Electric Power Co. Ltd. (IoMT&EP) and also owned the Manx Electric Railway. The IoMT&EP went into liquidation

Liquidation

In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...

in 1900 as a consequence of a banking collapse. The horse tramway was sold by the liquidator

Liquidator (law)

In law, a liquidator is the officer appointed when a company goes into winding-up or liquidation who has responsibility for collecting in all of the assets of the company and settling all claims against the company before putting the company into dissolution....

to Douglas Corporation, which took over the services in 1902.

Since 1927 the service has run in summer only and it remains in place as one of the most distinctive features of the island's tourist market. The tramway is now owned and operated by the Douglas Borough Council, as successor to Douglas Corporation.

Other transport services now long since closed around the island's capital include the Falcon Cliff Lift

Falcon Cliff Lift

Falcon Cliff Lift is a closed, gauge cliff railway just off the promenade at Douglas on the Isle of Man which was built to serve the Falcon Cliff Hotel on the clifftop above...

, Cunningham's Camp Escalator

Cunningham's Camp Escalator

Cunningham's Camp Escalator is a moving chairlift which last operated in either 1968 or 1969 depending on sources. It served the huge holiday camp on Victoria Road in Douglas on the Isle of Man and ran from a point some distance from the promenade to the camp itself...

, Douglas Head Funicular Railway

Douglas Head Funicular Railway

Douglas Head Funicular Railway was a short line consisting of two cars that ran from the foot of Douglas Head on the Isle of Man to a site near to the Camera Obscura on the head itself...

and the Upper Douglas Cable Tramway

Upper Douglas Cable Tramway

The Upper Douglas Cable Tramway was a tram line serving all points between the southern end of the promenade and the upper part of the town of Douglas in the Isle of Man...

Description

The route consists of gauge

Rail gauge

Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...

track, is double-tracked throughout, and is not segregated from other road traffic, with both tracks running down the middle of the road. Service is provided by 23 tramcars and some 45 horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

s provide the motive power.

There have been several types of tramcars in operation over the years, and happily at least one of each type has been retained over the years as an example. The majority of the services are maintained by the "closed toastracks" but the winter saloons and open toastracks are also in semi-regular service. In the summer months trams are stored outdoors overnight adjacent to the nearby Terminus Tavern public house, but there is also a purpose-built tramshed where they are stored in the winter months.

Service Fleet

The tramway operates a regular number of cars from each type of class depending on the weather, with the roofed toastracks most often being used; the winter saloons are retained for inclement weather and the fully open toastracks for high summer. A selection of these can usually be seen outside the tramcar depot where they are stored in the summer months.

No. 1 - winter saloon, second car to be given this fleet number
No. 18 - rebuilt winter saloon, now double deck car appearing in peak season
No. 21 - "long" (extended) open toastrack with advertisement boards
No. 27 - enclosed winter saloon
No. 28 - enclosed winter saloon
No. 29 - enclosed winter saloon
No. 36 - roofed toastrack, in regular operation carries Black Horse Finance
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Banking Group plc is a major British financial institution, formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. As at February 2010, HM Treasury held a 41% shareholding through UK Financial Investments Limited . The Group headquarters is located at 25 Gresham Street in London, with...

adverts
No. 37 - roofed toastrack, in regular operation carries Atholl Car Hire adverts
No. 40 - "long" (extended) open toastrack carries Hilton Hotel & Casino
Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Hilton Hotels & Resorts is an international chain of full-service hotels and resorts founded by Conrad Hilton and now owned by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast...

adverts
No. 43 - roofed toastrack, in regular operation carries Going For Gold: Britain In Bloom
Britain in Bloom
RHS Britain in Bloom, supported by Anglian Home Improvements, is the largest horticultural campaign in the United Kingdom. It was first held in 1963, initiated by the British Tourist Board based on the example set by Fleurissement de France. It has been organised by the Royal Horticultural Society ...

adverts
No. 44 - the royal tram, in red white and blue paint scheme, in traffic summer 2011
No. 45- roofed toastrack, in regular operation carries Atholl Car Hire adverts

Stored Fleet

In addition to the regularly used trams, there are a number of cars that see little use but are kept in the sheds adjacent to the station; these cars are in a number of styles and are maintained to a high standard by the staff but see very rare outings along the promenade, being out of favour compared to the fleet which carry advertising boards along their lengths.

No. 12 - open toastrack with lamp standards on ends and large fleet numbers
No. 33 - roofed toastrack, in regular operation but carrying no advertisements
No. 34 - roofed toastrack, in regular operation but carrying no advertisements
No. 39 - "long" (extended) open toastrack, currently carries no advertising panels
No. 42 - "long" (extended) open toastrack, complete with ornate hanging lamps on bulkheads, no adverts

Jurby Tramcars

Several cars were stored off-site for a number of years having been moved to a transport museum in the north of the island for display purposes in 2009; of these, one car now serves as a souvenir shop in much the same way as is did when located at the tramway terminus for a number of years. The remaining cars are stored at the museum but as they are privately owned no further work has been carried out to them.

No. 11 - an open toastrack, in private ownership and not used for many years
No. 22 - "umbrella" car, converted to shop in the 1970s, now function as such at the museum
No. 47 - roofed toastrack, remains in 1970s condition and privately owned

Other Tramcars

No. 14 - sole surviving original double-decker, on loan to Manx National Heritage
Manx National Heritage
Manx National Heritage is the national heritage organisation for the Isle of Man. It was established in 1951 as the Manx National Trust, and its legal title is the Manx Museum and National Trust.-Overview:...
No. 35 - roofed toastrack, carries Manx National Heritage adverts, on display at horses' home
No. 46 - restored to original condition and displayed on the mainland until scrapping in 2001
No. 49 - sole surviving convertible car, privately owned and in store off site (Baldrine)

External links

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