Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association

Beginnings

Formed in 1966 when the future of the Isle of Man Railway hung in the balance, this group provided a watchdog role over the railway until it was eventually nationalised in 1978 when the future of the remaining section from Douglas to Port Erin was assured. In 1966 however, the railway did not operate any services for the first time in its history which dates back to 1873 when the line to Peel was opened. In 1967 however the full network (save for the Foxdale Railway which had closed back in 1940) was reopened thanks to the intervention of the Marquess of Ailsa who ran services until 5 September 1968 when the lines to Peel and Ramsey were closed for good. This was a period of concern for the supporters' association but the future of the line to Port Erin was assured and trains ran on this southern line in 1969 and have happily done so ever since.

Volunteering

In its time the association has undertaken many supportive projects on the railway, from the basic painting and maintenance of level crossing gates (which were controversially replaced with automated barriers in 2001), general tidying up of stations along the line, etc., but by 1978 when the railway was nationalised the role of the group decreased somewhat. An ambitious attempt to fully restore a steam locomotive (No.9 "Douglas", built by Beyer Peacock at their Gorton Foundry in 1896) was aborted and so in 1982 the association began the ambitious restoration project of the Groudle Glen Railway which, since that time has been re-opened in its entirety and now operates at weekends and certain evenings in the summer months. The railway is owned and operated by volunteers.

Railway projects

Since the organisation's inception it has always had a pro-active role on the railway; prior to the nationalisation in 1978 they undertook tasks on the line such as the re-painting of station buildings, tending to flower beds at the stations, upkeep of the level crossing gates, etc. After the government took ownership the association took on more of watchdog role and ultimately took on their own major project in the resurrection of the Groudle Glen Railway in 1982 but recent projects on the railway have included:-

• Re-Build Of Wagon "M.78"
• Complete Build Of Wagon "H.1"
• New Injectors For No. 4 "Loch"
• Cosmetic Restoration Of Loco No. 6 "Peveril"
• "Unloch Your Cash" Appeal For No. 4 "Loch"
• Provision Of Water Tanks For No. 15 "Caledonia"
• New Injectors For No. 13 "Kissack"

The association have also been vocal in their support of the completion of the re-build of the Ex-County Donegal railcars which presently are in store uncompleted at Douglas station. They attend regular meetings with the relevant government department and in 2003 a preservation policy was put in place thereby securing the future of the line in a way sypathetic to its origins, ensuring that they are consulted when any major projects are considered by the railway's management.

H.1

The "H" class of wagon were part of the goods fleet of the Isle of Man Railway and consisted of a four-wheel two-plank construction; these had all be scrapped by the time the railway was nationalised in 1978 but in 1999 the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association took on the ambitious task of building one of these vehicles from scratch. Through a fundraising campaign this was achieved and the wagon is now part of the rolling stock of the railing and has been numbered "H.1", being the re-used number of the first vehicle of the class, long since destroyed. This was the second project undertaken by the supporters, the first being the building of a similar vehicle M.78.

M.78

The "M" class of wagon numbered nearly 80 and were part of the Isle of Man Railway's stock of goods vehicles; by the time of nationalisation of the line in 1978 when the Isle of Man Government took responsibility, there were very few examples left in existence; one (numbered M.70) had been left to rot for many years and was resident in a siding at Santon station for many years. It was this vehicle that was used as a template for a project undertaken by the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association in 1997, resulting in the presentation to the railway of M.78. This wagon is now part of the railway's historic fleet of vehicles and bears plaques denoting its origins. Together with H.1 (the next project by the group) these two wagons now form the Troublesome Trucks for the Friends of Thomas weekend that takes place on the railway annually.

Quarterly journal

Since its inception in 1966, the association has produced a quarterly journal Manx Steam Railway News which contains news, views, historical articles and photographs. Initially this took the form of a foolscap-sized newsletter but the format was changed to an A5 sized booklet early on which is the format it maintains today. Apart from a spell in the 1980s and 1990s when it was produced and edited on the mainland, the magazine is produced entirely on the island and reaches a membership of approximately 1,000 four times a year. In 1992 the magazine celebrated its century (one-hundredth issue) with a colour cover, something which had only been seem three times previously, one of those being for the centenary of the railway in 1973. Since 2002 the outer covers of the magazine have been in full colour for each issue whilst internal photographs and images remain in black and white.

Links

[Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association][1]