Manx Electric Railway rolling stock explained

This page details the rolling stock on the Manx Electric Railway on the Isle of Man, which is unique insofar as the railway still operates with its original tramcars and trailers, all of which are over one hundred years old, the latest dating from 1906. Save for a fire in 1930 in which several cars and trailers were lost, all of the line's original rolling stock remains extant, though many items have been out of use for a number of years, largely due to the decrease in tourism on the island over the last thirty years. Despite this, members of each class are still represented on site today, though not all are in original form or in regular use.

Motors

Key:	Departmental Use	In Storage	Serviceable	Scrapped	Undergoing Rebuild

No.	Year	Builder	Type	Livery	Seats	Livery Notes	Notes
No.1	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Unvestibuled Saloon	Red, White & Teak	34	House 1930s Style	~
No.2	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Unvestibuled Saloon	Red, White & Teak	34	House 1930s Style	~
No.3	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Unvestibuled Saloon	~	34	~	Lost 1930 Shed Fire
No.4	1894	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Vestibuled Saloon	~	36	~	Lost 1930 Shed Fire
No.5	1894	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Vestibuled Saloon	Red, White & Teak	32	Standard Livery	~
No.6	1894	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Vestibuled Saloon	Maroon, White & Teak	36	Late Edwardian Livery	~
No.7	1894	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Vestibuled Saloon	Blue, Ivory & Teak	36	Original Livery	Rebuilt 2008-2011
No.8	1894	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Vestibuled Saloon	~	36	~	Lost 1930 Shed Fire
No.9	1894	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Vestibuled Saloon	Red, White & Teak	36	Standard Livery	Illuminated Car
No.10	1895	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Vestibuled Saloon	Allover Grey	None	Freight Livery	Rebuilt into freight car, Stored
No.11	1895	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Vestibuled Saloon	~	38	~	Scrapped 1926
No.12	1895	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Vestibuled Saloon	~	38	~	Scrapped 1927
No.13	1895	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Vestibuled Saloon	~	38	~	Scrapped 1957
No.14	1898	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Original Maroon	56	Restored To Original	Rebuilt 2015-2018
No.15	1898	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	56	~	Withdrawn 1973
No.16	1898	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	56	House-Style Livery
No.17	1898	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	56	~	Withdrawn 1973
No.18	1898	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	White & Red	56	~	Withdrawn 2000
No.19	1899	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Winter Saloon	Maroon, Cream & Teak	48	'Original' Livery
No.20	1899	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Winter Saloon	Red, White & Teak	48	Former 1970s Style
No.21	1899	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Winter Saloon	Green & White	48	Nationalisation Livery
No.22	1899	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Winter Saloon	Red, White & Teak	48	Standard Livery	Rebuilt 1991-1992
No.23	1900	I.o.M.T.& E.P. Co., Ltd.	Locomotive	Green & Grey	N/A	I.o.M.T. & E.P. Co.	Withdrawn 1994 & Stored
No.24	1898	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	~	56	~	Lost 1930 Shed Fire
No.25	1898	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	56	~	Withdrawn 1996
No.26	1898	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	56	~	Withdrawn 2009
No.27	1898	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Yellow, Red & White	N/A	Non-Standard Livery	Withdrawn 2003
No.28	1898	E.R.T.C. Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	56	~	Withdrawn 1970
No.29	1904	E.R.T.C. Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	56	~	Undergoing Rebuild 2019-2020
No.30	1904	E.R.T.C. Co, Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	56	~	Withdrawn 1971
No.31	1906	E.R.T.C. Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	56	~	Withdrawn 2002
No.32	1906	United Electric Car Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Green & White	56	Nationalisation Livery	~
No.33	1906	United Electric Car Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	56	House-Style Livery
No.34	1995	Isle of Man Transport	Diesel Locomotive	Yellow & Black	~	Non-Standard Livery	Departmental Use

Trailers

Key:	Departmental Use	Withdrawn & Stored	Serviceable	Lost 1930 Fire	Undergoing Rebuild

No.	Year	Builder	Type	Livery	Seats	Livery Notes	Notes
No.34	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	~	44	~
No.35	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	~	44	~
No.36	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red, White & Teak	44	Plain 'House' Style
No.37	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red, White & Teak	44	Lined 'House' Style
No.38	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	~	44	~
No.39	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	~	36	~
No.40	1930	English Electric Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red, White & Teak	44	Standard	Replacement For 1930 Loss
No.41	1930	English Electric Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red, White & Teak	44	Standard	Replacement For 1930 Loss
No.42	1903	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red, White & Teak	44	Standard
No.43	1903	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red, White & Teak	44	Standard
No.44	1903	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red, White & Teak	44	Standard
No.45	1896	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	None	Black & Yellow	N/A	Non-Standard	Flatbed Trailer
No.46	1899	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red, White & Teak	?	Standard
No.47	1899	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red, White & Teak	?	Standard
No.48	1899	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Blue, Cream & Teak	?	Original Style
No.49	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Maroon, Cream & Teak	44	Restored To Original
No.50	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	44	Plain 'House' Style	Undergoing rebuild^[1]
No.51	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Maroon & White	44	Approximate Original Livery
No.52	1898	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Flatbed	Black & Yellow	N/A	Non-Standard	Flatbed Trailer
No.53	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	White & Red	44	Plain 'House' Style	Last Used Summer 1978
No.54	1893	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	White & Teak, Red Dash	44	Plain 'House' Style
No.55	1904	E.R.T.L. Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	44	Isle of Man Railways (1980s)	Last Used Autumn 1997
No.56	1904	E.R.T.L. Co., Ltd.	Disabled Saloon	Red, White & Teak	Varies	Standard Lined
No.57	1904	E.R.T.L. Co., Ltd.	Winter Saloon	Red, White & Teak	32	1970s style
No.58	1904	E.R.T.L. Co., Ltd.	Winter Saloon	Red, White & Teak	32	Edwardian style
No.59	1895	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Winter Saloon	Blue, Cream & Teak	18	Isle of Man Tramways (As Built)	Royal Trailer
No.60	1896	G.F. Milnes & Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White	44	Standard Lined
No.61	1906	United Electric Car Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Red & White (Teak Dash)	44	Standard Lettered
No 62	1906	United Electric Car Co., Ltd.	Roofed Toastrack	Green & White	44	Nationalisation Livery

Others

Bertie

a contractors' locomotive used when relays were being undertaken, since moved to UK.

Bungle & Zippy

hired second-hand from Bord na Móna in 2008 and refurbished on-island for further use on the railway, since returned to UK.

Bonner Wagons

road-rail dual purpose wagons dating from the earliest days of the line, none of which are extant today.

Aachen 1010

a Talbot/Kiepe bogie car from Aachen’s series 1001-1011, built in 1956-1957 and retired in 1974; bought for use but never converted, spending much of its life as a storage car at the railway's depot.

Lisbon 360

a Brill-Stephenson 1907 bogie car in that city’s unusual track gauge of, bought for conversion to Manx Electric Railway’s almost identical gauge, — conversion never implemented due to clearance difficulties; it was used as a passenger waiting shelter for a spell; vehicle now in off-site storage on the island.^[2]

Dreadnought Trailers

bogie open wagons with removable sides used for a variety of non-passenger purposes, but particularly associated with stone traffic from Dhoon Quarry, now all scrapped. General 12 ton capacity bogie vehicles.

Four Wheel Goods Vehicles

from 1894 onwards the Douglas and Laxey Electric Tramway and its successors operated a fleet of small four wheel goods wagons, mainly of 5 ton, and 6 ton capacity. There were a total of ten opens and eight vans built by Milnes, Milnes Voss, and the MERCo between 1894 and 1912. Some of the vans were painted red and used for mail traffic.

See also

• Heritage railways in the Isle of Man
• Transport on the Isle of Man
• Manx Electric Railway

References

• Web site: Fleet List. Manx Electric Railway. 2019.
• Book: Goodwyn, Mike. Manx Electric. Platform Five. 1993. 978-1-872524-52-8.
• Book: Hendry, Robert. Manx Electric Album. Hillside Publishing. 1978. 0-9505933-0-3.
• Book: Jones, Norman. Isle Of Man Tramways. Foxline Publishing. 1994. 1-870119-32-0.
• Web site: Manx Electric Railway. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120331091921/http://www.gov.im/tourism/attractions/railways/electric_attract.xml. March 31, 2012. Isle of Man Government. 2009.
• Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20090406105706/http://www.mers.org.im/fleetlist.htm. 2009-04-06. Manx Manx Electric Railway Fleetlist. 2002. Manx Electric Railway Society.
• Book: Pearson, Keith. 100 Years Of Manx Electric Railway. Leading Edge. 1992. 0-948135-38-7.
• Web site: Manx Electric Railway Pages. Island Images. 2003. Jon. Wornham.

Notes and References

1. https://manxelectricrailway.co.uk/trailers/no-50/
2. “Lisbon No.360” Manx Electric Railway Online

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