Hi everyone. Stop No4 on our Isle of Man Adventure: Snaefell Mountain Railway. The SMR meets with the MER at Laxey, allowing a cross-over between the two. Arriving aboard MER Winter Saloon No22 at 2:10pm, we swiftly boarded the 2:15pm departure for the summit of Snaefell. The railway is 3ft 6" gauge and runs for a distance of 5 miles up some pretty fearsome gradients. The tram cars are electrically powered but, rather than a trolley pole, bow collectors are used to receive the 550v DC current. The tram cars are very traditional inside. Ours was No6, of 1895 vintage...
The climb out of Laxey is pretty severe, once you've crossed the main road with bells sounding. The tramcar slowed down on the first section, allowing passengers to see and photograph the Laxey Wheel. This is the largest working water wheel in the world, built in 1854 to pump water from the local mines. Its quite a sight...
Having passed the Laxey Wheel, Tramcar No6 continued up the hill...
The gradients can be seen here as we climb further up. The mast in the very distance is the summit station where the SMR terminates...
The trams head up the hill using normal adhesion, which is amazing really on some of these gradients, some as steep as 1 in 12. However, the SMR is fitted with a 'Fell' centre rail, which aids braking on the way down. Runners beneath the car provide a sort of dynamic brake, whilst grips are also provided in case of emergency...
Bungalow Station is the intermediate stop, after which the trams continue on for the summit. The main road past the station must be alive during the TT races...
The journey to the summit took the usual 30 minutes, where tramcar No6 came into contact with sister tram No1. No1 was fully overhauled in 2011 and now carries the original colour scheme and lettering arrangement. Today it was on a school trip working...
The summit post is slightly higher than the SMR station, so a short walk beckoned...
I'm not quite sure what this walk is called...
At the top of the climb, well over 2000ft up, we surveyed the murky but impressive views. Eddie remarked that this was the first time he'd seen anything but fog from the top of Snaefell!...
Another view of the island...
The summit station can be seen below, at 2034 feet above sea level...
John & Eddie were trying to work out what they could see...
Tramcar No1 duly departed but before this could happen No6 had to shunt back out of the way. No1 is seen descending the first section of the hill...
Tramcar No6 stands at the top of Snaefell, ready to go back down...
During our 20-minute stop at the top there was a typical grumbling: 'Eddie the Cake' had purchased the most expensive cake in the world, or so he proclaimed. I think we are perhaps a captive audience 2000ft up a mountain! The tram soon departed back down towards Laxey with a good compliment of passengers aboard. One thing that was interesting about the tram was that, due to its completely wooden body, the whole thing was shaking in the mountain breeze. You could physically see the body revolving around the closed door in front of us! Wouldn't fancy this in a gale!...
Soon enough, after a pleasant descent, No6 brought us back into the pretty station area at Laxey. No1 was already there and waiting to head off for stabling...
The Snaefell is another very nice railway. The gradients are certainly formidable and yet the trams seem to cope with them no problem. Another great journey. At this point we joined the 3:55pm departure on the MER towards Derby Castle, as seen in the previous post. Onto the next!...
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