Ramsey is a coastal town in the north of the Isle of Man. It is the second largest town on the island after Douglas. Its population is 7,845 according to the 2016 Census. It has one of the biggest harbours on the island, and has a prominent derelict pier, called the Queen's Pier. It was formerly one of the main points of communication with Scotland. Ramsey has also been a route for several invasions by the Vikings and Scots.
The Snaefell Mountain Railway is an electric mountain railway on the Isle of Man in Europe. It joins the village of Laxey with the summit of Snaefell, at 2,036 feet (621 m) above sea level the highest point on the island. It connects with the Manx Electric Railway (MER) in Laxey. The line is 5 miles (8 km) long, is built to 3 ft 6 in gauge and uses a Fell Incline Railway System centre rail for braking on the steep gradients. It is electrified using overhead wires at 550 volts direct current, with bow collectors.
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 western town 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.
St John's is a small village in the sheading of Glenfaba in the Isle of Man, in the island's central valley. It is in the House of Keys constituency of Glenfaba & Peel, which elects two MHKs.
Foxdale consisting of the districts of Upper and Lower Foxdale on the A3 Castletown to Ramsey Road with the junction of the A24 Foxdale to Braaid road and the A40 The Hope road in the parish of Kirk Patrick in the Isle of Man.
Ballabeg Station is a diminutive request stop near the village of Ballabeg in the south of the Isle of Man, on the island's steam railway, the sole remaining section of the former network which covered 46 miles across the island. There is another station with the same name, but serving a different village, on the Manx Electric Railway to the north.
The Level is a seasonally operated request stop on the Isle of Man Railway located in the sheading of Rushen on the Isle of Man. This is the sole remaining section of the railway which once spanned over 46 miles with lines to Peel in the west, Ramsey in the north and the mining village of Foxdale in the centre of the island.
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.
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 line to Port Erin which forms part of the southern terminus.
The rolling stock used on the Isle of Man Railway today is entirely original but the serviceable passenger coaches number 14, out of an original total of 75 carriages. The 3 ft gauge railway was provided with a variety of stock from different manufacturers over its time, and types of coach were categorised according to a lettering system, with the original four-wheeled coaches being of A, B, C and D types, and so on. The F prefix encompassed all bogie vehicles including conversions from the A-D series. Letters G-M denoted goods stock. N referred to ex-Manx Northern Railway 6 wheel carriages. The types of stock can be summarised as follows:-
The Foxdale Railway was a 3 ft narrow gauge branch line which ran from St. John's to Foxdale on the Isle of Man.
This article details each of the lines operated by the Isle of Man Railway, including the original line to Peel in the west, opened in 1873, followed by the Port Erin line the following year, as well as the Manx Northern Railway's line between St John's and Ramsey and the Foxdale Railway's line between St John's and Foxdale.
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.
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.
One of the characteristics of the Isle of Man Railway are the numerous level crossings and farm crossings along the various routes; many smaller crossing places are marked only by gates the criss-cross farm land and provide access to individual private roads which connect 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, as one might expect, 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.
Foxdale Station was the southern terminus of the Foxdale Railway in the Isle of Man.
Gob-Y-DeiganRailway Station was a station on the Manx Northern Railway, later owned and operated by the Isle of Man Railway; it served a beach near Kirk Michael in the Isle of Man and was an intermediate stopping place on a line that ran between St. John's and Ramsey.
Balladromma Beg Halt is an intermediate stopping place on the Manx Electric Railway on the Isle of Man.
Majestic Halt is a request stop on the Manx Electric Railway on the Isle of Man and is the third stopping place on the line.
