Association 60th Anniversary  : 1966-2026

The year 2026 will mark the diamond jubilee of the Supporters Association which began life as the fledgling Manx Steam Railway Society back in the dark days of 1966 when the future of the railway hung in the balance.  From its earliest days through until the present time it has maintained a varied presence on the railway which happily today sees a good number of active projects and regular involvement on the railway itself.  Notably in the last few years this has seen the cosmetic restoration of No.5 Mona, full restoration of Van G.1, ongoing work on No.9 Douglas as well as various peripheral voluntary works at Ballasalla Station, The Level, Ballabeg Station and in the Railway Museum.  We have also revisited our works on No.6 Peveril and remain as committed as ever to the railway, aiming to provide further period platform furniture in the future.


Most recently we have been instrumental in ringing in the new year by organising the Whistle-Up event at Douglas Station as part of the Rail 200 commemorations and at present are working on the repatriation of the railways oldest surviving bogie Carriage F.6 which was sold off-island fifty years ago.  We also have further plans for this year but our primary focus is now celebrating the sixtieth anniversary in style next year, the clock is ticking!  And so at this point we would like to open the discussion with our members and visitors to the website for suggestions how we can mark this milestone and would be delighted to hear from anyone with ideas both large and small.  We can be contacted via our Company Secretary who will pass on ideas for discussion by the board.

At the present time we are considering a number of ways of commemorating this milestone; we are in tentative talks with the railway management based upon the success of the Whistle-Up event, of running a special train on New Years Day 2026 to make a memorable start to the year.  As soon as there are any developments with this idea we will be posting them to this website and on our social media.

Ideas Welcomed!


Consideration is being given to a range of items to mark the anniversary and thus far these include the following:-


* 2026 Supporters Calendar

* 60th Anniversary Pin Badge

* Range Of Christmas Cards

* Association History Booklet

* Special Trains & Meetings

* 60th Anniversary Projects

* Commemorative Souvenirs

The season will commence on Thursday 20th March, the full timetable will be posted to our site as soon as it becomes available.  The next edition of our official journal Manx Steam Railway News is also due towards with a deadline for submissions of the end of January and publication as soon as possible thereafter.  Included will be the 2025/2026 subscription renewals.


The dining train leaflet for the 2025 season has been published and bookings are now open with the first excursions taking place on Saturday 29th March - you can view the full itinerary by clicking the image to the right; the usual mix of themed events and popular Pie & Mash