Manx Transport Heritage Festival coming soon
The Manx Heritage Transport Festival takes place from July 24 to July 28 with a host of events such as special tours and walks, classic vehicles, summit dining, a coastal cruise and rail ale available.
The festival will celebrate 140 years of steam in Peel and features five days of unique events.
Amongst the range of events on offer, the restaurant at Douglas station will be serving hearty breakfasts on fireman’s shovels, there will be a travelling post office with special commemorative stamp covers available, and railway art with local artist Michael Starkey.
The Manx Classic Car Club will be displaying a range of vehicles, and a ‘Rail Ale’ trip offers a trip on the steam train, with the onboard bar open and a chance to explore the pubs in Castletown or continue on to Port Erin.
Vintage buses and horse trams will be on display at Derby Castle and there will be a chance to dine on top of Snaefell with the Snaefell summit dinner.
The Terminus photographic tour will visit every principal terminus the Manx Electric Railway has used throughout its 120 year history.
The Groudle Glen and Great Laxey Mines railways will be in operation and guided tours of the Douglas steam workshop and signal box will be available.
There will also be a ‘Fourteen Railways’ coastal cruise aboard the MV Karina, the island’s largest pleasure boat.
Leaving Douglas Bay the ship will head south to Port Soderick and then north to Groudle Bay, with an onboard commentary pointing out the 14 existing and former railways on the island.
A guided walk from St John’s to Peel to celebrate the 140 years of the Peel line will take place on Saturday, July 27, and will explore St John’s Station, Foxdale line, the site of the Knockaloe branch and Peel oil siding.
A full timetable of events can be found on the Isle of Man public transport website, www.gov.im/publictransport