The Manx Electric Railway is an electric interurban tramway connecting Douglas, Laxey and Ramsey in the Isle of Man. It connects with the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway at its southern terminus at Derby Castle at the northern end of the promenade in Douglas, and with the Snaefell Mountain Railway at Laxey. Many visitors take an excursion on the trams. It is the oldest electric tram line in the world whose original rolling stock is still in service.
The Isle of Man Railway (IMR) is a narrow gauge steam-operated railway connecting Douglas with Castletown and Port Erin on the Isle of Man. The line is 3 ft narrow gauge and 15+1⁄2 miles long. It is the remainder of what was a much larger network that also served the small western hamlet of Peel, the northern town of Ramsey and the small mining village of Foxdale. Now in government ownership, it uses original rolling stock and locomotives and there are few concessions to modernity.
Colby railway station is a small railway station on the southern edge of the village of Colby in the south of the Isle of Man served by the Isle of Man Railway; it forms part of the sole remaining section of the network which once covered over 46 miles island-wide.
Santon Railway Station is a request stop near Newtown in the parish of Santon, Isle of Man; it forms part of the sole remaining line of the Isle of Man Railway which once encompassed over 46 miles of network and retains its original station building. The halt sometimes plays host to Santa's Grotto each December as part of the railway's Santa Trains service although between 2010 and 2013 it was not utilised for this purpose. The railway station is situated off the A5 Port Erin to Douglas road, between the railway stations of Ballasalla and Port Soderick.
Castletown Railway Station is an intermediate station on the Isle of Man Railway on the Isle of Man forming part of sole remaining section of the once extensive network that operated across the island. The station is the busiest of the railway's intermediate stations, being the closest to a number of local visitor attractions. In peak season service trains often pass here, making the station one of the railway's more active stopping places. The station occupies a site within walking distance of the main town and is in close proximity to the local playing fields.
Port St Mary Railway Station is a station in Port St Mary in the south of the Isle of Man and is served by the Isle of Man Railway, having first opened in 1874 when the line to nearby Port Erin was completed. It forms part of the sole remaining section of the railway which once covered a network of some 46 miles across the island. The station is less than a mile away from the terminus and has no passing loop or run-round facilities, but a siding serving the goods shed was lifted in the 1979 but reinstated in 2002 at the same time as the whole of the permanent way was replaced along the line. When reinstated, the siding was not connected to the imposing goods shed, however in the winter of 2007/2008 rail connections were restored. A second siding which once served the rear of the shed was removed in 1974 and has not been replaced. Both sets of facing points were on the northern approach, the second lifted siding running parallel to the shed access as far as the exterior loading platform.
Port Erin Railway Station is the western terminus of the Isle of Man Railway in the village of Port Erin on the Isle of Man; it is the sole remaining outer terminus of the railway. Until 1968 there were termini at both Peel and Ramsey in the west and north of the island respectively. This station was the second established terminus of the Isle of Man Railway: the first opened at Peel in 1873.
The Manx Northern Railway (MNR) was the second common carrier railway built in the Isle of Man. It was a steam railway between St John's and Ramsey. It operated as an independent concern only from 1879 to 1905.
The Isle of Man Railway Museum in the village of Port Erin in the Isle of Man is a small museum of the history of the Isle of Man Railway from its founding in 1873 to the present, including the now-closed lines that served Peel, Ramsey and Foxdale, and the remaining open line between Douglas and Port Erin.
The Isle of Man has a rich transport heritage and boasts the largest narrow-gauge railway network in the British Isles with several historic railways and tramways still in operation. These operate largely to what is known as "Manx Standard Gauge" and together they comprise about 65 miles (105 km) of Victorian railways and tramways. The Isle of Man Railway Museum in Port Erin allows people to find out more about the history of the Manx railways, and was until 1998 accompanied by a similar museum in Ramsey, which was dedicated to the history of the electric line, but this was closed and converted into a youth club. The steam railway to the south of the island, electric to the north and mountain line to the summit of Snaefell, the island's only mountain, are all government-owned, and operated under the title Isle of Man Railways, as a division of the island's Department of Infrastructure. The lines at Groudle Glen and Curraghs Wildlife Park are both privately owned but open to the public.
The Foxdale Railway was a 3 ft narrow gauge branch line which ran from St. John's to Foxdale in the Isle of Man. The line ran 2+1⁄4 miles (3.6 km) from an end-on junction with the Manx Northern Railway west of St. John's, then passed to the north of the Isle of Man Railway station before curving south and crossing the IMR's line from Douglas via an overbridge to the east of the station. The line had a fairly constant incline through Waterfall(s) Halt, the only intermediate station, to the terminus in Upper Foxdale. The tracks extended beyond Foxdale into the mine workings area.
Peel Railway Station was a terminus on the Isle of Man Railway; it served the town of Peel in the Isle of Man and was the final stopping place on a line that ran between the city of Douglas and the town. It was part of the Island's first railway line.
St John's Railway Station was on the Isle of Man Railway (IMR), later merging with the nearby station of the Manx Northern Railway (MNR); it was the junction of lines to Douglas, Peel, Ramsey and Foxdale. It was close to Tynwald Hill. The station began life in 1873 as the penultimate stop on the Peel Line, the island's first passenger railway line; it consisted of a simple wooden waiting shelter with accommodation for the station master, and a passing loop. This layout remained until the arrival of the new line from the north in 1879 when a second station was established, later merging with the existing one. The station was the hub of the island's railway network, where the lines to Douglas, Peel, Ramsey and Foxdale met.
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 the terminus of a line that ran between St. John's and this station, which was the railway's headquarters. The station opened to traffic on 23 September 1879
Onchan Head Halt was once the first official stopping place on the Manx Electric Railway on the Isle of Man and is less than one mile from the southern terminus of the line.
Port Soderick is a small hamlet to the south of Douglas, capital of the Isle of Man, once famed for its pleasure grounds and beach. In later years there have been various attempts to rejuvenate the area, all of which have been unsuccessful to date. It still has a station on the steam railway.
One of the characteristics of the Isle of Man Railway is the numerous level crossings and farm crossings along the various routes; many smaller crossing places are marked only by gates that criss-cross farm land and provide access to private roads connecting the farms to the main roads. Being largely rural in nature the railway has many of these scattered along the existing South Line, and there were many more on the closed sections of the railway. These can be summarised as follows, along with other points of interest along the line not covered in the Isle of Man Railway stations section:-
Ramsey Station serves the town of Ramsey in the Isle of Man; it is the northern terminus of the Manx Electric Railway. It was formerly known as Ramsey (Plaza) Station after the nearby Plaza cinema, now demolished and turned into a car park. Today it is often also known as Ramsey Tram Station and signage to this effect adorns the station, despite the line being described as a railway. It should not be confused with Ramsey's former station on the Isle of Man Railway.
Groudle Glen Station is the first mandatory stopping point and major station on the Manx Electric Railway which serves the village of Groudle Glen in the Isle of Man, and is situated between Groudle Lane and Eskadale on the route to Laxey and Ramsey.
There have been five cliff railways in the Isle of Man, none of which remain operational. Usually referred to as 'cliff lifts', they were all railways, having wheeled carriages running on weight-bearing rails. The two Falcon lifts served the same hotel at different periods ; the first Falcon lift was moved to become the Port Soderick lift, at the south end of the Douglas Southern Electric Tramway, with the Douglas Head lift at its north end. The Browside lift served the Laxey Wheel.
