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43-639: The Foxdale Railway was a 3 ft ( 914 mm ) 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 (the only place where railway crossed railway in

86-684: 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 & Company , Glasgow for an 0-6-0 tank locomotive. This powerful engine, numbered 4, bore

129-540: 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 , a 3 ft ( 914 mm ) narrow gauge , construction began in 1878 and the railway opened for business without formality on 23 September 1879. It was operated by the Isle of Man Railway until 6 November 1880 when the MNR took over the responsibility. In 1881, passenger services started operating through to Douglas using running rights over

172-449: A number of level crossing lodges at Orrisdale (No.1 & No.2) , West Berk and Ballavolley . Several under and over bridges also remain as the trackbed now forms a footpath and bridleway. Of the locomotives, No.3 Thornhill is in private preservation in the north of the island having been purchased in 1978 and removed from the railway; M.N.Ry. No.4 Caledonia was returned service in 1995 and remains in sporadic service, commonly on

215-537: A private dwelling during the 1920s. The last regular passenger train worked the branch in 1940, after which the service was replaced by buses. The line saw troop specials during World War II as well as spoil trains and the occasional passenger service, run due to bus shortages. The last train reported to have used the branch was an engineering working in January ;1960  ( 1960-01 ) which removed rails and other material from Foxdale to be used elsewhere on

258-591: A siding at St John's station in the open air. Download coordinates as: Download coordinates as: 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. It operated between 188 and 1940 though stock movements were recorded as late and 1960,

301-452: A smaller gauge tramway operated by the nearby quarry from which tipper wagons were loaded from a high wall into open wagons; remnants of the high wall remain today. Two 2-4-0 side tank locomotives were ordered from Sharp, Stewart & Company 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 & Company , Manchester to

344-510: Is the dominant gauge on the Isle of Man , where it is known as the Manx Standard Gauge . Modern 3 ft gauge railways are most commonly found in isolated mountainous areas, on small islands, or in large-scale amusement parks and theme parks (see table below). This gauge is also popular in model railroading (particularly in G scale ), and model prototypes of these railways have been made by several model train brands around

387-552: The Foxdale Mines’ Captain . To celebrate the centenary of the Manx Northern Railway in 1979, the coach was restored to its original livery. which it carried until 2001 when it reverted to the standard livery of red and cream. It remains in regular service today. Almost all of the original non-passenger stock was lost, with only one closed van surviving today (Gr.12) which was rebuilt in 2001. Today, many of

430-467: The Manx Northern Railway and the Foxdale line a few months later on 19 April 1905  ( 1905-04-19 ) . The last lead mine in the area closed in 1911 and from then on only spoil trains and the infrequent passenger and general goods services used the line. From 3 June 1912  ( 1912-06-03 ) , tickets were no longer sold at Foxdale Station , the station building being converted into

473-408: The Manx Northern Railway station at St. John's, situated to the west of the IMR station. Later, in 1886, the Manx Northern Railway abandoned this and built a new platform and station building on the alignment of the Foxdale Railway more closely adjacent to the IMR station. Foxdale line trains used this facility until 1927, after which trains reversed in and out of the IMR station. Upon the opening of

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516-530: The Manx Northern Railway . Shortly after the line had opened, the lead mining industry started to decline and in July ;1891  ( 1891-07 ) the Foxdale company went into liquidation . The fortunes of the Manx Northern Railway were closely tied to the Foxdale line due to the terms of the lease being favourable to the smaller concern. Much of the Manx Northern Railway 's freight revenue originated in Foxdale, with loaded wagons of lead being transported to

559-632: The Ultimate Driving Experience days and dining services, whilst the first two locomotives built by Sharp, Stewart & Company , M.N.Ry. No.1 Ramsey and M.N.Ry. No.2 Northern did not survive. A similar replica locomotive exists on the Southwold Railway named Blyth though this example is notably smaller than its Manx descendents. Several of the unusual six-wheeled carriages survive with one accompanying M.N.Ry. No.3 Thornhill in private ownership and two on

602-486: The Foxdale Railway Company Ltd. (registered on 16 November 1882  ( 1882-11-16 ) ) on 16 August 1886  ( 1886-08-16 ) allowing rail access to the lead mining workings around the village of Foxdale . The company had close ties to the Manx Northern Railway (MNR), many of whose directors were also on the board of the smaller company. The line was leased from the outset by

645-574: The Isle of Man unless one counts the 19-inch gauge Great Laxey Mine Railway tunnel under the Manx Electric Railway) 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. Download coordinates as: The terminus structures were identical and both survive today;

688-542: The Manx Northern Railway ordered fourteen six-wheeled coaches built to the Cleminson system , a first on the island and using a complex system of six-wheeled arrangement whereby the middle set were not fixed. This arrangement allowed the outer wheels to pivot and the centre pair to slide from side to side, thus allowing the coaches to negotiate tight curves more easily than a rigid wheelbase. Expensively constructed, they proved to be troublesome in traffic, so much so that after

731-538: The amalgamation with the Isle of Man Railway Company they saw little further service, occasionally being used for school traffic. A number of examples survive in preservation (see below). For the Foxdale branch a special bogie coach with enhanced braking capabilities was constructed by the Oldbury Carriage & Wagon Company in 1886. It was a composite coach with a guard’s compartment, three third class compartments and one first class compartment specially for

774-438: The diminutive mid-way request stop, named either "Waterfall" or "Waterfalls" (with or without the "s" depending on timetable issues), was served only by a small shelter and was briefly fitting with a siding. There were also at one early time plans to extend the line to join with the Isle of Man Railway 's Port Erin line at Ballasalla Station , but these came to nothing, plans were however drawn up for this arduous route. At Foxdale

817-470: The fortunes of the line this never came to fruition. Goods stock was commonly used on the line, these being from both the Manx Northern Railway and later, after amalgamation, the Isle of Man Railway . After the merger the familiar Beyer Peacock locomotives of the Isle of Man Railway also served the line with photographic references showing No.1 Sutherland , No.4 Loch , No.5 Mona , No.6 Peveril , No.7 Tynwald and No.8 Fenella all at work on

860-425: The harbour in Ramsey and coal and mine supplies ferried back to the mines. The Manx Northern Railway operated the line on behalf of the liquidators until, following an investigation by a Tynwald committee, the Isle of Man Railway (IMR) took over all operations on the Manx Northern Railway including the Foxdale line on 26 February 1904  ( 1904-02-26 ) . The IMR was then authorised to purchase both

903-513: The line was extended beyond the limits to serve the mine workings with temporary track, notably for use transporting spoils for use in creating the Royal Air Force base at Andreas in 1940. The railway had a lucrative contract for providing these spoils and it proved to be the last purposeful work carried out on the line, spoils being taken for onward travel along the north line to be used in runway construction. The railway initially used

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946-443: The line was lifted by 1965. The Milntown Railway ( 54°19′16″N 4°22′55″W  /  54.321°N 4.382°W  / 54.321; -4.382 ) was a short 3 ft ( 914 mm ) narrow gauge spur off the ex-Manx Northern line just south of the terminus at Ramsey, Isle of Man . It was constructed only in the final year of operation for the purposes of transporting fuel oil from Peel to Ramsey by rail. The siding

989-459: The line, leading to a theory that only the smaller locomotives were used on the branch as well as occasionally the six-wheel carriages. 3 ft gauge railways Three foot gauge railways have a track gauge of 3 ft ( 914 mm ) or 1 yard . This gauge is a narrow gauge and is generally found throughout North , Central , and South America . In Ireland , many secondary and industrial lines were built to 3 ft gauge, and it

1032-459: The name Caledonia . When they were taken into IOMR 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. For the opening of passenger services,

1075-402: The network in the early 2000s, they were converted to 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) metre gauge . Manx Northern Railway 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. When

1118-422: The nickname "the back of the moon". The Manx Northern Railway purchased a more powerful locomotive to work goods services over the branch and its steep gradients which was given the name Caledonia owing to the company chairman's Scottish ancestry. It was the only locomotive purchased for the line and remains extant and operational on the remaining south line of the railway today. Similarly, only one carriage

1161-509: The odd ballast train continued to collect mine waste up to the early 1960s. The Ramsey route had a brief boom between the wars and after 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 former Manx Northern Railway closed for 1968 along with

1204-578: The original IOMR Douglas-Peel line. One of the last services was the transport of fuel oil from the electricity generating station at Peel to the one at Ramsey, for which a special siding was laid. The last oil train ran in April 1969. The track was lifted in 1974 and the Glen Wyllin and Glen Mooar viaducts were dismantled in 1975. The majority of the six-wheeled coaching stock was also lost at this time, having been stored out of use for many years on

1247-415: The people in the town of Ramsey realised their town was not going to be incorporated into the newly promoted Isle of Man Railway (IOMR) network in the 1870s 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

1290-583: 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 had the only dockside track on the railway system, allowing direct transfer between the railway and sea-going vessels. This line, at Ramsey, opened in 1883 and closed in 1952. Various schemes to emulate this in Douglas were often proposed but

1333-408: The railway, the Manx Northern Railway ran some services from Ramsey to Foxdale, but passenger traffic on the line was always light and these services gave way to local shuttles between St. John's and Foxdale. Latterly, passenger services consisted of a loco and one coach. The coach used was specifically made for the branch and survives today (see The Foxdale Coach ). The line was officially opened by

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1376-474: The railway: one without its running gear and another in private ownership having spent 1976–1998 in the Isle of Man Railway Museum at Port Erin Station which is now off-island. Two further examples of six-wheeled stock survive off-island in a private collection, and the sole two bogie carriages built in 1899 by Hurst-Nelson also remain in existence. The unique Foxdale Coach survives in regular traffic on

1419-585: The residence of well-known station master George Crellin until his death in 1976 after the railway closed. The station at the other end of the line is extant; it was used as a youth club for local children for a number of years before becoming the home of the Foxdale Heritage Centre; it also served for a period as the headquarters of the Manx Flux Co., Ltd. The stanchions of the former viaduct remain and there are still some rails visible in

1462-502: The road at the outer terminus. The famous "scissors" crossing behind the station is still said to be in situ, although unknown to most people as it is buried underneath a bank of hardcore from the mines. Foxdale may have the distinction of being the station on the Island's closed network which has most of its original station trackwork surviving. For several years after trains ceased the area was surrounded with mines "deads" leading it to gain

1505-446: The south line having been restored in 1979, 2012 and 2023, and a goods Van Gr. 12 which was rebuilt in 1997 and remains on the line, withdrawn in 2023 when it was replaced by restored Van G.1 . As part of the annual transport festival a genuine Manx Northern Train has operated in recent times. Many smaller items survive in use on the railway today, such as signal levers and various point levers inherited in 1905 and transferred around

1548-436: The station buildings along the line survive and have been converted to form a variety of uses including a village fire station, several private dwellings and museum displays. There are no railway structures remaining at Ramsey but buildings do survive at Lezayre , Sulby Glen , Sulby Bridge , Ballaugh (goods shed only), Kirk Michael and St. Germain's as well as remnants of the viaducts at Glen Wyllin and Glen Mooar and

1591-418: The system. The rails were finally removed during the mid-1970s and much of the route is now a designated public walkway . The viaduct beyond St. John's was removed in 1975 and a further bridge along the line later as part of road-widening scheme. Only the overbridge at St. John's Station remains in situ today, as do both terminus buildings. The station building at St. John's is now a private dwelling having been

1634-411: The tracks of the Isle of Man Railway. Some significant engineering works were required on the west coast section of the line, including the bridging of Glen Wyllin (at Kirk Michael ) and the nearby Glen 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. To try to stabilise the track, this section

1677-470: The work was never undertaken. The Manx Northern Railway was not independent for long. In 1905, it became part of the Isle of Man Railway Company when that company took over the operation of the entire system, nearly 47 miles of track. 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

1720-591: The world, such as Accucraft Trains (US), Aristo-Craft Trains (US), Bachmann Industries (Hong Kong) , Delton Locomotive Works (US), LGB (Germany) , and PIKO (Germany) . The Ferrocarril de Sóller and the Tranvía de Sóller are located on Majorca in the Balearic Islands . The other railways of the Majorca rail network were also 3 ft ( 914 mm ) gauge, but with expansion and reconstruction of

1763-493: Was a direct spur off the main line and was on a very tight curve directly into the yard that it served. Short-lived, it did however have the distinction of being the reason for one of the last trains to travel over the line in April 1969 prior to lifting. A spur from Ramsey Station served the town's harbour and ran for nearly a mile along the quay at various lengths over the years, and included small sidings to serve vessels. A short line north of Peel Road Station which served

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1806-417: Was purchased, the unique Foxdale Coach which too is a remarkable survivor and remains in use on the railway today. The two are often paired to make a recreation Foxdale Line train during the railway's annual events periods each summer. There were initial proposals for a second locomotive to the same design as Caledonia , to have been named Atlas in conjunction with a proposed extension south but owing to

1849-616: Was 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. Between Kirk Michael and Ballaugh , 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. The northern part of the line was flat compared to the western coastal section, and had numerous hand-worked level crossings . These were so close together in places that

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