On Wednesday, 15th March, the Committee met Sir Philip Wombwell, the General Manager of the railway. A very useful discussion was held and many subjects of interest to Members of the Society were discussed. The following is a resume of the main points. The railway will re-open on Saturday 3rd June, the first train will leave Douglas at approximately 11.30am.  Four special trains will be run with twenty-seven carriages in all.

These will be marshalled into the outer platforms and five engines will be in steam on the centre road. The first train - for official guests, will be drawn by Maitland and will consist of seven vestibule carriages; the second train will be basically for photographers (at £1 per head) and special arrangements are being made for them to obtain good and unusual pictures; the third and fourth trains will be for the general public at 15/-d and 10/-d per head.

The first train will then proceed to St. John’s where there will be a six minute stop and proceed to Peel for refreshments. The remaining three trains will proceed at approximately fifteen minute intervals.  It is intended that the Peel and Ramsey lines be re-opened this year (the latter with the railcars) and the Port Erin line in 1968. A 21-year lease has been taken on the entire system, with an option to purchase in the 6 to 21 year period. 

Sir Philip made it clear that he wished the Society to play an important role in the working of the railway. As a general policy, all operating staff would be permanent professional employees of the railway, but there would be many opportunities for other types of employment, particularly volunteer labour. There is a great deal of work to be done, much of it requiring special skills, which needs to be done as quickly as possible. Anyone who wishes to help on a voluntary basis should get in touch with the Secretary of the Society.

Re-Opening Day Report

At 11.30am on Saturday, 3rd June 1967, his Excellency the Lieutenant  Governor of the Isle of Man gave the signal that was to start the railway running again, after a period of closure. As symbolic tape was stretched between North and South Line platforms and was broken by locomotive number 15 Caledonia, ex-Manx Northern Railway No.4, driven by the Reverend Teddy Boston, a fellow railway enthusiast. 

The first train departed for Peel at 11.45am, drawn by No.11 Maitland in the control of Hughie Duff, containing amongst others, the Lieutenant Governor, his A.D.C., the Attorney General, many members of the House of Keys, the Railway Directors, not hot the operating and parent companies, our President, Sir Paterson Frazer, our Chairman, Peter Craine. 

Also present were the Mayor and Mayoress of Douglas and the Highland Pipers who had piped His Excellency and Lord Ailsa to the train.  Following this train was the “photographer’s special”, drawn by No.10 G.H.Wood, which departed at noon and was succeeded at fifteen-minute intervals by No.5 Mona and No.8 Fenella containing other members of the society and the general public. Whilst en route champagne was served to His Excellency and the Directors travelling in the first coach, by Lord Strange’s barman “Chiefy” resplendent in white uniform.

The first train arrived at Peel at 12.30pm after a short stop at St. John’s, to be met by the Chairman of Peel Commissioners, Mr. Burden, with whom speeches were exchanged. A champagne buffet was then generously provided by the Commissioners and accompanying music played by the local

silver band.

By the time the “photographers special” had arrived and after a short stay to allow for the arrival of the two following trains, departed for St. John’s where it entered the northern siding to await the non-stop through passage of the returning Directors’ Train, of which excellent photographs could be taken, the sun having by this time appeared to brighten what had been, until then, a rather dull overcast day. By 2pm all special trains were back at Douglas and regular services on the Peel Line were able to commence, followed on Sunday by a special train to Braddan Church for the open-air service, and later by the first train to Ramsey.

Train Movements

Since these events there have been two re-incarnations of interest. The first was on 4th July when late evening running took place to Peel in connection with the Viking Festival, return trains being around midnight, complete with running lights and battery illumination for the Governor’s Coach. The second was on 11th July when regular services were resumed on the South line as far as Castletown, which will be extended to Port Erin as soon as a section of track relaying is complete.

Following the shortage of motive power caused by No.10 being under repair after the accident at Union Mills and No.5 developing a leak in the firebox, it was decided to steam No.15.

On Monday 4th September No.15 took the 2.5pm from Douglas to Castletown, the first passenger working by this engine since 1942.  Enthusiasts appeared with cameras (how the news got about is amazing!) and with much hissing and clanking Caledonia set off up the Port Soderick bank, which was taken at a snail’s pace with only three carriages on.  Port Soderick was reached after 35 minutes and at Castletown the arrival was an hour late but no-one seemed to mind, everyone was delighted with the engine, visitors and enthusiasts alike.  New morning No.15 did two trips to Peel and on 6th two more trips to Peel.

A feature of the services provided by Sir Philip [Wombwell] has been the greater use of the tourist carriages F.29-F.32 and F.35-F.36.  For example, on Wednesdays in August the set of six has been provided for the 10.00am Douglas to Ramsey and 4.14pm return in connection with the cheap inclusive fare of 10/-d, including lunch as the Mooragh Park Café.  (The last of these excursions was run on 13