Groudle Glen Railway

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Groudle Glen Railway
Lhen Coan Railway Station
Lhen Coan Railway Station
Route of the Groudle Glen Railway
Route length: 0.9 km
Gauge : 610 mm ( 2 foot track )
Legend
End station - start of the route
 Lhen Coan
Stop, stop
 Lime Kiln Stop
Station without passenger traffic
 Headland loop turnout
   
 Headland
End station - end of the line
 Sea Lion Rocks

The Groudle Glen Railway is a 0.9 km long tourist narrow-gauge railway on the Isle of Man, northeast of the capital Douglas with a gauge of 610 mm.

Historical phase

When it opened in 1896, it was already used for tourist purposes, namely to bring holidaymakers down to the Groudle Glen valley, which can be reached with the Manx Electric Railway , to a zoo that was founded at the same time on Sea Lion Rock on the steep coast. Operation began with a steam locomotive and three passenger cars. Due to the increasing number of passengers and the corresponding economic success, a second steam locomotive and additional wagons were bought.

During the first and also later the second world war, operations were stopped.

In 1921 the steam locomotives were replaced by battery- powered electric locomotives, but these proved to be so fragile that the steam locomotives were reactivated after a few years.

Decline

During the Second World War, part of the route was buried in a landslide. The zoo was abandoned at the beginning of the war. After the war, the company did not reopen until 1950, but it was greatly reduced and there was no fixed timetable. In the summer season of 1962, the locomotive used failed and rail operations were stopped. One of the two locomotives went to the Amberley Working Museum in West Sussex and the other was parked in Loughborough . The railway line became a footpath. Part of the building was demolished.

Recommissioning / resuscitation

In 1982 the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association decided to reactivate the small train. At Christmas 1983, a first section could be driven again. The railway was officially reopened on May 23, 1986. The reactivated first locomotive, the "Sea Lion", has been in service again since 1987. Instead of the second one in the museum, a replica is on duty. Further historical locomotives and replicas have been added.

  • "Sea Lion" with train, 1910

  • Lhen Coan Railway Station in 1971

  • Train with Sea Lion at Sea Lion Rocks station

  • Train with battery locomotive Polar Bear and guest locomotive with vertical boiler.

swell

  • Tony Beard, Groudle Glen Railway: Its History & Restoration , Ed .: Groudle Glen Railway, 1994
  • Tom Heavyside, Douglas - Laxey - Ramsey: including the Groudle Glen Railway , Narrow Gauge Branch Lines, Middleton Press, West Sussex, UK, 2010, ISBN = 9781906008758
  • David Hyland Smith, The Groudle Glen Railway , Plateway Press, Brighton, 1989, ISBN = 1871980003
  • Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association, Manx Steam Railway News 1966

Web links

Commons : Groudle Glen Railway  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 54 ° 10 ′ 40.5 ″  N , 4 ° 25 ′ 20 ″  W.