Douglas Southern Electric Tramway

Entrance gate to Marine Drive

The Douglas Southern Electric Tramway was a standard gauge overland tram between the summit of Douglas Head on the Isle of Man and the neighboring resort of Port Soderick . The route ran at the top of the cliff and crossed a series of spectacular viaducts and bridges.

The railway line was opened by the New General Traction Company in 1896 and operated until 1939. After the war it did not go back into service and by 1955 the line was largely dismantled and destroyed. One of the railcars was saved for display at the National Tramway Museum in Crich , Derbyshire , where it is still to this day.

The preserved vehicle in the museum in Crich

Today nothing can be seen of the railway systems except the crenellated entrance gate to Marine Drive. The vehicle hangars and workshops were halfway in Little Ness, as was the power station for generating the electricity; but these have long since been torn down, and there is a parking lot there today. The road was closed due to a series of serious landslides, but in the 1960s Douglas Corporation tried to rejuvenate the area and introduced a bus route on the route. However, this was only short-lived due to further landslides, which made the road unsafe. Today parts of the route can be used by motorized traffic, but a section north of Little Ness is only open to pedestrians. The route of this unique submerged railway offers a spectacular view of the Irish Sea and is part of the Raad ny Foillan (German: Way of the Seagull ) around the island, which was created in 1986.

literature

AMGoodwyn: Douglas Head Marine Drive & Electric Tramway . Ed .: Manx Electric Railway Society. (English).

Web links

Commons : Douglas Southern Electric Tramway  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Marine Drive on isle-of-man.com with historical images

Coordinates: 54 ° 7 '55 "  N , 4 ° 29" 31.2 "  W.