Manx Northern Railway - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Manx Northern Railway (MNR) was the second common carrier

Common carrier

A common carrier in common-law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport...

railway built in 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...

. It operated as an independent concern only from 1879 to 1905.

History

When the people in the town of Ramsey

Ramsey, Isle of Man

Ramsey is a town in the north of the Isle of Man. It is the second largest town on the island after Douglas. Its population is 7,309 according to the 2006 census . It has one of the biggest harbours on the island, and has a prominent derelict pier, called the Queen's Pier. It was formerly one of...

realised their town was not going to be incorporated into the newly promoted 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...

(IOMR) network in the 1870s it was left to them to promote their own railway as a link with the rest of the island. The rugged geography of the east coast forced the Manx Northern Railway into an indirect route - first westwards to Kirk Michael and then south to St John’s

St. John's, Isle of Man

The village of St John's is a small village on the A1 Douglas to Peel road in the central valley of the Isle of Man.Tynwald Hill, the original assembly place for the Isle of Man parliament, Tynwald, is the scene of the annual ceremony when the laws of the Isle of Man are proclaimed in English and...

where a junction could be made with the Isle of Man Railway’s Peel to 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...

line which opened in 1873.

Built to a common Manx

Isle of Man

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...

of 3 ft 0 in (914 mm), construction began in 1878 and the railway opened for business without formality on 23 September 1879. It was initially operated by the Isle of Man Railway until 6 November 1880 when the MNR took over the responsibility. In 1881, passenger services started operating through to Douglas using running rights over the tracks of the Isle of Man Railway.

Some impressive engineering works were required on the west coast section of the line including the bridging of the deep Glens of Wyllin and Mooar. An embankment high on the cliffs south of Glen Mooar, the ‘Donkey Bank’ was an unending maintenance problem and a drain upon the line's profitability. In an attempt to stabilise the track, this section possessed the only part of the Manx railways to have its rails mounted in chairs. The rest of the system had the rails directly spiked to the sleepers.

In the northwest, near Jurby, the MNR had a halt purely for the use of the Bishop of Sodor and Man

Bishop of Sodor and Man

The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese covers the Isle of Man. The see is in the town of Peel where the bishop's seat is located at the Cathedral Church of St German, elevated to cathedral status on 1...

at Bishop’s Court. A simple wooden bench comprised the station's entire facilities at His Grace’s personal stop.

The northern part of the line was flat compared to the coastal section and was characterised by numerous hand-worked level crossings. These were so close together in places that the protecting signals for one crossing stood beside the previous crossing up the line. A distinctive lattice girder bridge, the ‘basket bridge’ was built over the Sulby River near Ramsey. It was renewed in 1914.

The MNR possessed the only dockside track on the railway system allowing direct transfer between the railway and sea-going vessels. This line, at Ramsey, opened in 1883 and closed in 1952. Various schemes to emulate this in Douglas were often raised but the work was never undertaken.

Stations

Ramsey
Ramsey railway station
Ramsey Station was a station on the Manx Northern Railway, later owned and operated by the Isle of Man Railway; it served the town of Ramsey in the Isle of Man and was final stopping place on a line that ran between St...
Lezayre
Lezayre railway station
Lezayre was a station on the Manx Northern Railway, later owned and operated by the Isle of Man Railway; it served the village of the same name in the Isle of Man and was an intermediate stopping place on a line that ran between St...
Sulby Bridge
Sulby Bridge railway station
Sulby Bridge was a station on the Manx Northern Railway, later owned and operated by the Isle of Man Railway; it served the village of Sulby in the Isle of Man and was an intermediate stopping place on a line that ran between St. John's and the northern town or Ramsey.-Description and history:Sulby...
Sulby Glen
Sulby Glen railway station
Sulby Glen was a station on the Manx Northern Railway, later owned and operated by the Isle of Man Railway; it served the village of Sulby in the Isle of Man and was an intermediate stopping place on a line that ran between St...
Ballaugh
Ballaugh railway station
Ballaugh was a station on the Manx Northern Railway, later owned and operated by the Isle of Man Railway; it served the village of Ballaugh in the Isle of Man and was an intermediate stopping place on a line that ran between St. John's and the northern town or Ramsey.-Description:There is now...
Kirk Michael
Kirk Michael railway station
Kirk Michael was a station on the Manx Northern Railway, later owned and operated by the Isle of Man Railway; it served the village of Kirk Michael in the Isle of Man and was an intermediate stopping place on a line that ran between St. John's and the northern town or Ramsey.-Buildings:The station...
St Germain’s
St. Germain's railway station
St. Germain's was a station on the Manx Northern Railway, later owned and operated by the Isle of Man Railway; it served the small village of the same name in the Isle of Man and was an intermediate stopping place on a line that ran between St. John's and the northern town or...
Peel Road
Peel Road railway station
Peel Road was a station on the Manx Northern Railway, later owned and operated by the Isle of Man Railway; it served the area known as Poortown in the Isle of Man and was an intermediate stopping place on a line that ran between St...
St John’s
St. John's railway station
St. John's Railway Station was a station on the Isle of Man Railway, later merging with a neaby station of the Manx Northern Railway; it served the village of St...
Waterfall
Waterfall railway station
For the railway station in Sydney, NSW, Australia, see Waterfall railway station, SydneyWaterfall Halt was the only intermediate station on the Foxdale Railway on the Isle of Man.-Facilities:...
Foxdale
Foxdale railway station
-Route:...

The Foxdale Railway

A separate undertaking, 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...

, was promoted by the MNR and worked by them from opening in 1886. This line branched southwards from St John’s

St. John's, Isle of Man

and allowed lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

and silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

ores

Orés

Orés is a municipality in the Cinco Villas, in the province of Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Cinco Villas. It is placed 104 km to the northwest of the provincial capital city, Zaragoza. Its coordinates are: 42° 17' N, 1° 00' W, and is...

from the mines at Foxdale

Foxdale

Foxdale is a village located at the heart of the Isle of Man. The village falls within the sheading and constituency of Glenfaba and is currently represented in Tynwald and the House of Keys by David Anderson MHK who was elected in 2001 and again in 2006. The village is served by Patrick Parish...

to be delivered directly to the dock side in Ramsey.

Locomotives

Two 2-4-0

2-4-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels....

side tank locomotives were ordered from Sharp, Stewart and Company for the opening of the line. Numbered 1 and 2, they were named Ramsey and Northern respectively. In 1880, the MNR acquired a third locomotive from Beyer, Peacock and Company

Beyer, Peacock and Company

Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway Locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Gorton, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer and Richard Peacock, it traded from 1854 until 1966...

to a design similar to those used on the Isle of Man Railway. Given the number 3 and named Thornhill, it was built alongside the IOMR

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...

’s engine number 7 – Tynwald – in Beyer, Peacock’s Manchester works. In 1885 it was realised that a much more powerful locomotive was required for working the mineral traffic on the Foxdale Railway. This time they turned to Dübs and Company

Dûbs and Company

Dübs & Co. was a locomotive works in Glasgow, Scotland, founded by Henry Dübs in 1863 and based at the Queens Park Works in Polmadie. In 1903 it became part of the North British Locomotive Company.-Preserved locomotives:...

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

for an 0-6-0

0-6-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels...

tank locomotive. This powerful engine, numbered 4, bore the name Caledonia. When they were taken into 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...

stock, they were renumbered as a continuation of the then IOMR series. Thornhill became number 14 and Caledonia became number 15. Ramsey and Northern were allocated numbers 16 and 17 respectively but never bore them in service. After very little use by the IOMR they were scrapped in 1923 and 1912.

Passenger stock

For the opening of passenger services, the Manx Northern Railway ordered fourteen six-wheeled coaches built to the Cleminson system, a first on the island and using a complex system of six-wheeled arrangement whereby the middle set were not fixed. This arrangement allowed the outer wheels to pivot and the centre pair to slide from side to side thus allowing the coached to more easily negotiate tight curves than a rigid wheelbase. Expensively constructed, they proved to be troublesome in traffic, so much so that in service after the amalgamation with the Isle of Man Railway Company

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...

they saw little further use, occasionally being used for school traffic. A number of examples survive in preservation (see below). For the Foxdale branch a special bogie coach with enhanced braking capabilities was constructed by the Oldbury Carriage and Wagon Co. in 1886. It was a composite coach with a guard’s compartment, three third class compartments and one first class compartment specially for the Foxdale Mines’ Captain. To celebrate the centenary of the Manx Northern Railway in 1979, the coach was restored to its original livery. which it carried until 2001 when it reverted to the standard livery of red and cream. It remains in regular service today. Almost all of the original non-passenger stock was lost with only one closed van surviving today (Gr.12) which was rebuilt in 2001.

Post-Amalgamation

The Manx Northern Railway was not to keep its independence for long. In 1905, of it became part of the Isle of Man Railway Company

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...

as part of an amalgamation that saw the latter company take over the operation of the entire system encompassing nearly 47 miles of track. A depression in the mining industry resulted in the closure of the Foxdale Mines in 1911 with the resultant loss of traffic. Services to Foxdale ceased in 1940 but the odd ballast train continued to collect mine waste up to the early 1960s. The Ramsey route experienced a brief boom between the wars and post World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, but then, in line with the rest of the system, patronage sharply declined. The whole railway system reached a crisis in 1966 when no services operated. After a brief revival when the system was leased by the Marquess of Ailsa

Marquess of Ailsa

Marquess of Ailsa, of the Isle of Ailsa in the County of Ayr, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 10 September 1831 for Archibald Kennedy, 12th Earl of Cassillis. The title Earl of Cassillis had been created in 1509 for the 3rd Lord Kennedy. This title had been...

the rest of the ex-Manx Northern Railway closed for 1968 along with the IOMR pioneer line to Peel. One of the last services was the transport of fuel oil from the electricity generating station at Peel to the one at Ramsey, for which a special siding

Milntown Railway

The Milntown Railway was in fact a short spur off the ex Manx Northern line just south of the terminus at Ramsey and was constructed only in the final year of operation for the purposes of transporting fuel oil from Peel to Ramsey by rail. The siding was a direct spur off the main line and was on...

was laid. The very last oil train ran in April 1969. The track was lifted in 1974 and the two great feats of civil engineering on the line, the Glen Wyllin and Glen Mooar viaduct

Viaduct

A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...

s were dismantled in 1975. The majority of the six-wheeled coaching stock was also lost at this time, having been stored out of use for many years on a siding at St. John's Station in the open air.

Survivors

Today, many of the station buildings along the line survive and have been converted to form a variety of uses including a village fire station, several private dwellings and museum displays. Of the locomotives, No. 3 Thornhill is in private preservation in the north of the island having been purchased in 1978 and removed from the railway; No. 4 Caledonia was returned service in 1995 and remains in sporadic service (although as of 2011 it is undergoing a complete rebuild and is expected to return to traffic in 2012) whilst the first two locomotives built by Sharp, Stewart and Company did not survive. At least one six-wheeled coach has been purchased for preservation as part of a private collection on the mainland but this is not publicly accessible.

Three of the unusual six-wheeled coaches survive on the island with one accompanying Thornhill in private ownership and two on the railway: one without its running gear and another in private ownership having spent 1976-1998 in the Port Erin Railway Museum

Port Erin railway museum

The Port Erin Railway Museum in the village of Port Erin in the Isle of Man is a small display that shows the history of the Isle of Man Railway through exhibits and visual displays which chart the history of the railway from its opening in 1873 until the present day, covering the now-closed lines...

. The unique Foxdale Coach survives in regular traffic on the south line, and a goods van (Gr. 12) was rebuilt in 1997 and remains in use on the line. As part of the annual transport festival a genuine Manx Northern Train has operated in recent times. Many smaller items survive in use on the railway today, such as signal levers and various point levers inherited in 1905 and transferred around the system.

External links

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

History

Stations

The Foxdale Railway

Locomotives

Passenger stock

Post-Amalgamation

Survivors

See also

External links