Manx Northern Railway
The Manx Northern Railway (MNR) was the second common carrier railway built in the Isle of Man. It operated as an independent concern only from 1879 to 1905.
Contents
History
When the people of Ramsey realised their town was not going to be incorporated into the newly promoted Isle of Man Railway (IOMR) network in the 1870’s 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 where a junction could be made with the Isle of Man Railway’s Peel to Douglas line which opened in 1873.
Built to a common Manx gauge of 3 ft 0 in (914 mm), construction began in 1878 and the railway opened for business without formality on 23rd September 1879. From the start, passenger services operated 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 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. Various schemes to emulate this in Douglas were often raised but the work was never undertaken.
The Foxdale Railway
A separate undertaking, the Foxdale Railway, was promoted by the MNR and worked by them from opening in 1886. This line branched southwards from St. John’s and allowed lead and silver ores from the mines at Foxdale to be delivered directly to the dock side in Ramsey.
Locomotives
Two 2-4-0 side tank locomotives were ordered from Sharp Stewart and Co. 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 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’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, Glasgow for an 0-6-0 tank locomotive. This powerful engine, numbered 4, bore the name Caledonia.
When they were taken into Isle of Man Railway 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 MNR order 14 six-wheeled coaches built to the Cleminson system. 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. In IOMR service they saw little further use, occasionally being used for school traffic. A number of examples survive in preservation.
For the Foxdale branch a special bogie coach with enhance 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 MNR livery.
Post-amalgamation History
The Manx Northern Railway was not to keep its independence for long. In 1905, the MNR became part of the Isle of Man Railway.
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 1960’s.
The Ramsey route experienced brief a boom between the wars and post World War II, 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 the rest of the ex-Manx Northern Railway closed for good in 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.
The track was lifted in 1974 and the two great feats of civil engineering on the line, the Glen Wyllin and Glen Mooar Viaducts dismantled in 1975.
Thornhill, Caledonia and the Foxdale Coach survive.
References
- Boyd, J.I.C., (1993) The Isle of Man Railway: Volume 1, An outline History of the Isle of Man Railway including the Manx Northern Railway and The Foxdale Railway, (Pre-1873 to 1904) The Oakwood Press, ISBN 0-85361-444-X.
- Heavyside, T., (2004) Douglas to Ramsey including the Foxdale Branch; Narrow Gauge Lines Series, Mitchell, V. (Ed.), Middleton Press, ISBN 1-904474-39-X
- Hendry, R., (1993), Rails in the Isle of Man: A Colour Celebration, Midland Publishing Limited, ISBN 1-85780-009-5
Railway Stations
- Ramsey
- Lezayre
- Sulby Bridge
- Sulby Glen
- Ballaugh
- Kirk Michael
- St. Germain’s
- Peel Road
- St. John’s
- Waterfall
- Foxdale
See also
- Transport on the Isle of Man
- Heritage railways in the Isle of Man
- British narrow gauge railways
- Worsley Works produces kits of IoMR rolling stock
