The Upper Douglas Cable Tramway was a tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

 line serving all points between the southern end of the promenade and the upper part of the town of 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...

 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 opened on 15 August 1896 and closed on 19 August 1929.

History

Douglas Corporation, the local authority responsible for the area, persuaded the Isle of Man Tramways & Electric Power Company to build a line serving the hilly area of Upper Douglas in return for an extended franchise to operate the horse tramway

Douglas Bay Horse Tramway

The Douglas Bay Horse Tramway is a horse-drawn tramway in Douglas on the Isle of Man. The route runs along the seafront promenade for approximately , from a southern terminus at the Victoria Pier, adjacent to the Sea Terminal to a northern terminus at Derby Castle, the southern terminus of the Manx...

. The line was built to 3 feet (914.4 mm) gauge. Douglas Corporation acquired the tramway in 1902 after the collapse of Dumbell's Bank and the section south of the depot in York Road was closed as it was felt that the gradient made it too dangerous to operate. The service was downgraded to seasonal in 1922. After the line closed, the tracks remained in place until they were lifted in 1932. In January 2000, work in connection with the IRIS scheme unearthed the terminal cable pit at Broadway.

Route

Both termini were on Douglas Promenade, at the Clock Tower and Broadway. The line followed a U shaped route serving Victoria Street, Prospect Hill, Buck's Road, Woodbourne Road, York Road, Ballaquayle Road, and Broadway. There was a set of points connecting with the horse tramway at the Clock Tower. A proposed link to the horse tramway at Broadway was not built.

Rolling stock

There were fifteen trams on the system.

• 67 Built 1911 by Milnes Voss. Crossbench car.
• 68 Built 1909 by Milnes Voss. Crossbench car.
• 69 - 70 Built 1907 by United Electric. Crossbench cars.
• 71 - 78 Built 1896 by G. F. Milnes. Crossbench cars. No 77 rebuilt as saloon in 1903, No. 78 rebuilt as saloon in 1904.
• 79 - 81 Built 1911 by G. F. Milnes. Saloon cars.

After the closure of the line, two of the cars, No. 72 and No. 73 were turned into a bungalow at Jurby

Jurby

Jurby is a parish in Micheal Sheading in the Isle of Man and has, according to the 2006 census 659 , residents.It is largely an agricultural district on the north-north-western coast of the island but also has an industrial park on the old RAF Jurby Airfield.The parish is one of three divisions of...

. Both vehicles retained their bogies. They had been built by G. F. Milnes in 1896. In 1976, these two vehicles were rescued by the Douglas Cable Car Group, and a restoration carried out using the best of both cars. The tram now bears the number 72 on one end and 73 on the other, it has been converted to work by battery power and is sometimes seen running on the horse tramway.

Stamp

The Upper Douglas Cable Tramway featured on a 13p stamp issued by the Isle of Man Post

Isle of Man Post

The Isle of Man Post Office , which formerly used the trading name Isle of Man Post, operates postal collection, ancillary mail services, philatelic goods and delivery services and post office counter services on the Isle of Man.-History:...

Office in 1988.