Cheshire Scot
Established Member
I recently made a first visit to the Isle of Man out on the 02.15 from Heysham and return on the 19.45 from Douglas which qualifies as a day trip for the ferry fare.
Boarding the Manxman at Heysham at around 01.25 I had a cabin for a short night's sleep. The scheduled 06.00 arrival at Douglas was delayed due to thick fog causing the first attempt to enter the harbour to be abandoned with an actual arrival of 06.53 achieved in still pretty thick fog.
I had pre purchased a one day 'go explore' card, valid all IoM Railwys and Bus Vannin services, £22 plus £2 activation fee - can be bought for longer periods or topped up with addiitonal days within a generous time period.
Whilst railways were the main aim I also wanted to use buses to see a bit of the island and try to parallel as much of the former rail network as possible.
Boarding the Manxman at Heysham at around 01.25 I had a cabin for a short night's sleep. The scheduled 06.00 arrival at Douglas was delayed due to thick fog causing the first attempt to enter the harbour to be abandoned with an actual arrival of 06.53 achieved in still pretty thick fog.
I had pre purchased a one day 'go explore' card, valid all IoM Railwys and Bus Vannin services, £22 plus £2 activation fee - can be bought for longer periods or topped up with addiitonal days within a generous time period.
Whilst railways were the main aim I also wanted to use buses to see a bit of the island and try to parallel as much of the former rail network as possible.
- 07.15 bus to Peel via Foxdale, the fog quickly cleared and well before Peel was reached it was sunny - a (very) brief glimpse passing the former Foxdale station building and site. The only other trace of railway was where the line had crossed over Station Road in St Johns - an interesting layout at St Johns back in the day, the Foxdale line had a separate but adjacent station north of the Peel to Douglas line then rising to cross that line and then cross over the road southwards towards Foxdale . I suspect like the Port Erin line most road crossings on the lines to Peel, Ramsay and Foxdale would have been have been level crossings although with now sadly no or minimal trace, perhaps hardly surprising when Peel and Ramsay closed in 1968, and Foxdale in 1960!.
- 08.10 bus Peel to Douglas direct route, quickly losing the sun for the rest of the day, no railway traces other than 'The Railway Inn' at roadside in Union Mills near Douglas - no sign of railway although subsequent investigation shows the station was in a cutting after passing under the road.
- The a timed walk from bus stand G (remote from the main row of bus stands) to the station - 9 mins and I have 14 mins on my return so punctuality is vital.
- I had already picked the date and booked the ferry when I realised the Horse Tramway was not operating on my date but it could have been difficult to fit in, and I had already removed Groudle Glen and Laxey Mines railways from any plans.
- Armed with a generously filled bacon roll I boarded 09.50 Douglas to Port Erin, loco no 2 Lo ch (yes there is a space in the name), load 5 including a coach reserved for Great Rail Journeys! Fog ever present on the coastal side although a bit more distant. By Castletown it was several minutes late, a concern for the return journey, and 6 late at Port Erin where I visited the Museum and walked to the sea front where the cliffs were shrowded in the inevitable fog.
- 12.00 Port Erin to Douglas, same train. Plan Z if it is more than 1 or 2 min late by Castletown I will bale at Ballasalla and catch a bus running just behind it which gives 8 min connection in Douglas but uses the same bus stand as my next trip. It looks OK, just 1 late at Castletown, go for it, then potentially almost snookered by request stop at Santon for one passengerr (otherwise Castletown was the only station with intermediate passengers in either direction). Amazed by how many stations have rusty loops, Castletown the only one operational and an interesting signalling system where all of these loops had just one signal in each direction, maybe 1/4 mile out and controlled by a lever on the respective station platform as demonstrated at Castletown. The low season 4 TPD TT requiring 2 sets expands to a peak TT of 6 TPD by shortening turnrounds and adding one hour plus to the operating day (plus on 4 summer dates a seventh 'dining train' in the evening). One min late arriving Douglas (= 13.06), oops I have forgotten to factor in the walk from train to station entrance so my 9 mins will be 10 and I have 13 mins! Made it!
- 13.19 bus to Derby Castle - noted the Horse route whch had been truncated in 2022 but must cause traffic chaos when running.
- 13.40 Derby Castle to Laxey - power car plus semi open trailer (what would UK HSE make of these open coaches with no restraining aids to prevent people or bags falling out!). Still foggy around the bay but a bit clearer for the route. A spectacular ride.
- 14.15 to Snaefell, single power car single figure pass numbers. Laxey Wheel just visible through the mirk but all of the other views 'announced' were invisible, slighly early at the top with effectively no visibility, no views of Ireland Scotland, Wales or England!
- 14.50 back to Laxey, similar pass load but only me on the short turnround. It cleared a bit lower down.
- 15.40 to Ramsay, just a single power car (the previous one back to Douglas was rammed full with power car plus trailer, crew searching for any spare seats). Ramsay 16.25 for 16.35 bus which I found does not leave from the station but I quickly found the 'Bus Station' which looked more like a bus garage until you get close enough to see three marked bays in front.
- 16.35 bus to Douglas via Peel, some nice coastal views, no fog on the west side, very few railway traces - odd bits where you could see where it had been, and of course the railway went to St Johns not Peel so a couple of route miles missed. A different route through St Johns from the morning trip, which again passed 'under' (no bridge) the Foxdale linel Alighted at the sea terminal stop with an hour to wait for boarding.
- 19.45 Manxmann, arrived Heysham 20 min early and on the road at 23.20 from a 23.30 arrival and home at 00.45.
- Later analysis indicates without my £24 investment I would have incurred £46.10 in rail and bus fares, so very good value.
