Ticketing : Excursions (1874-1965)

There is quite a baffling array of different species of excursion tickets and suchlike in an even more bewildering array of glorious technicolour.  The Railway Company has plain  “ Excursions”  and “Pay Excursions”, “Special Excursions”; “Special Day Excursions” and even a “Castletown Excursion” which did not go to Castletown but included admission to an exhibition in Douglas!


The Manx Northern Railway had. ordinary excursions (Figs. 97-100), and some tickets (Fig. 102) possibly. contemporary with the “Castletown Excursion”; with both railway portions headed Return and the central portion being Admit To Exhibition; the outward journeys to the loft of the ticket instead of the right as is customary.: - • : • The did rather well with some First :lass Day Excursions (Fig. 105) • .proving that two halves don't make one yholo for you. can tear off tha out-ward'half and also the return half and still have plenty loft in the middle to admit you to Glen Wyllin1 •.The H.N.R. had sone other colourful tickets to Kirk Michael (17f.-3.. 101) which although not labelled excursion, had the • outward half endorsed including admission to Glen Wyllin (or Glen Wyllian if the spirit so moved them!); presumably the outward half of the ticket would be clipped at Kirk Michael Station and collected on entry to the Glen.  

 

The 1914 Isle of Man Railway Guide Book described two conducted tours from Douglas; No.1 Tour on Mondays and Wednesdays being by rail to St. Johns, thence by hoof (human) via the Foxdale Valley and the Round Table to rejoin the railway at Colby, fare: Third Class 3/7dmm.  No.2 Tourwas on Mondays and Thursdays by rail to Port St. Mary thence via Cregneish [sic.] and The Chasms to Port Erin; fare 3/6d.  The price of First Class tickets was not stated in the guidebook. Note on (Fig. 125• ' "Conducted Tours Third Class", whe..thir First Class tickets road "Cc::-ducted Tours 1st.. Class* Transfer flat"; •tho.reason for. this is not clear:. Hunting, Shooting, Fishing: The fox. has longbeen extinct on the Island so a trip to Foxdale would be quite unrewardinp for huntsmen and no hUntilig tickets seen to havo'beed issued.' •Shooting Si quite a different matter; special tickets were issued to especial halt - Ballacostain --for tho Douglas Rifle Club and also, I am told, from Castletown for the King William's College O.T.C. (I have not seen any of then): The Rifle Club tickets were issued as per agreement dated 5 May 1902. Tho Third Class ticket (Fit. 121) was white with'a very pale_yellow band on the loft: and a pale grey Wind on tho.rivht thalottersaIRCI overprinted in • red on each half. The First' Claw, ticket was. similar in style - ClasS being in sans serif typeface and the'Return half was Purple and the outward half blue Fishing wan also catered 'for, although anglers spend long periods sitting on the river banks, the three day validity of :- 


The rather complex colour schemes are'ioteh.holow the illustrations. (123-125); the Third Class No.1 tour'was return half.- off white, • • • outward green, with the lines placed as on Fin. 123 but in red. 


.cve 278 :..'July, 1975  • . The "Oastletowq Excursion" (dig. 10?) apart from its title, is odd in • that this Third Class ticket is in colours commonly used for First Class -outward journey white, return yellow with a centre purolc portion for -the Exhibition. The M.N.R. Double "Return" tickets (Fig. 102) althoush•also Third Class were also in the yellow white combination, although in this case the exhibition portion-was yellow and-the rail portions white;• identical tickets ex-Kirk Michael also exist. "The Exhibition" was probably that held-from May to October 1388. The M.N.R. tickets to Kirknichael "Including admission to Glen Ilyllin" series (Fig,101) are odd both in the colours and the-stationS involved; in.each case the top and bottom third were in the sanecolour and the central portion a different colour. First Class ex-St. Johns and Peel Road were yellow with a white centre; 'ex-Ransey green with a red centre; Third Class ex-St. Johns green with a white.centre, ex-Peel Read blue w••h a green centre, ex-Ramsey blue with a white centre.' On tho Third. C ss ex-Ramsey is the reference to Glen Two distinct batches with fairly high numbers and with minor-Printing differences from each other and from the rest of the group have been saen; one of then refers to "Michael" and is most exceptional in having a miniature figure 121 at the-'right hand side of the return half. Peel Road station, being. - roughly in the middle of nowhere, night seen an odd originating station for a trip •Of this nature butin the pre-aUtomobile era people still had legs and thought it nothing extraordinary to walk 1i miles to this -station to get a cheaper fare than if they started at Peel itself. 


1st  Class

Single - White

Return - Yellow / White

3rd Class

Single - Blue

Return - Pink/Blue

Market

Return - Beige / Red

Excursion / Exhibition

Return - Cyan / Beige

Glen Wyllin Excursion

3rd - Blue / White (Horizontal)

1st - Blue / Pink (Horizontal)