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Isle of Man Steam Railway

The Isle of Man Steam Railway runs between Douglas, the capital, and Port Erin in the south west of the Island, over a distance of 15.5 miles. Stations on the single track line are:

Douglas--Port Soderick--Santon(R)--Ballasalla-- Ronaldsway Halt(R)--Castletown--Ballabeg(R)--Colby--Colby Level(R)-- Port St Mary--Port Erin (R = request stop)
Other lines to Peel, St Johns, Kirk Michael and onward to Ramsey are long closed and lifted. Some of the trackbeds are now footpaths.

The railway has no turntable, so all departures from Douglas have the loco 'chimney first'. All workings from Port Erin are 'bunker first'.
A typical summer timetable has four trains each way per day at 2 hour intervals departing from Douglas and Port Erin at the same time, passing at Ballsalla.
The railway is owned and operated by the Manx Government as a tourism attraction. Full details of the timetable are on www.iombusandrail.info/imr-steamrailway.html

The main gradients are:
Between Douglas and Port Soderick: 1 in 65/70 for about 2.5 miles
Between Castletown and Ballsalla: 1 in 100/127 for 1.5 miles
Between Ballasalla and Santon: 1 in 80/123/109 for about 2 miles

The locomotives on these recordings are 2-4-0T tank engines built by Beyer Peacock at the Gorton Foundry in Manchester. The recordings follow the track southwards from Douglas.

An invaluable aid to the linesider is:
'Isle of Man Steam Railway. A Guide for Photography Sound Recording and Walking'. R Branson Bean, J Hall, B Hayley

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Riding behind No 4 'Loch' (built 1874) to Port Soderick on the 13:50 departure from Douglas on 24th June 2010:
- The start from Douglas, past the sheds, over the river bridge at the Nunnery, and onto the 1 in 65 gradient
- Passing the road crossing at White Hoe
- Beneath the A25 road at Oakhill
- The final part of the climb past Keristal, before the gradient eases
- Running in to Port Soderick Station.
6:27, 7.4MB

No 12 'Hutchinson (built 1908) takes the 11:50 from Douglas over the Nunnery river bridge on 24th June 2010. Pressure jetting and grinding activities are in progress on the industrial estate just across the river. 0:48, 0.9MB

Near the same location on Sunday morning 27th June. No 10 'G H Wood' (built 1905) approaches the Nunnery bridge with the 09:50 from Douglas. 0:56, 1.1MB

Approaching the end of the 1 in 65 climb, No 4 'Loch' passes Keristal with the 13:50 from Douglas on 22nd June 2010. 1:45, 2.0MB

No 12 'Hutchinson' departs from Port Soderick with the 13:50 from Port Erin. 1:05, 1.3MB



No 4 'Loch' departs from Port Soderick with the 09:50 from Douglas on 24th June 2010. 1:05, 1.3MB

Further down the line, between Port Soderick and Santon, No 4 passes beneath the bridge on the Santon-Port Grenaugh footpath with the 11:50 from Port Erin on 23 June 2010. 1:12, 1.4MB

South of Santon, the line runs directly past the Island's airport at Ronaldsway, making noise from aircraft increasingly difficult to avoid when recording.
'G H Wood' restarts from Ballsalla towards Douglas with the 11:50 from Port Erin. Cables rattle inside lampposts in the wind; a shot is fired at the nearby Turkeyland Quarry. As the train approaches Ballahick crossing, 'Hutchinson' can be heard restarting in the Port Erin direction. As the Douglas-bound train passes the recording position, the sound echoes from nearby houses. 2:01. 2.3MB

Directly adjacent to Ronaldsway Airport lies Ronaldsway Halt, between Castletown and Ballasalla. Aircraft noise here is almost continuous during the week, so this recording of 'Loch' with the 11:50 from Port Erin counts as a success even though a flight takes off immediately after the pass. 1:01, 1.6MB

Weekends are a bit quieter here. 'G H Wood' restarts from Ronaldsway Halt with the 11:50 from Port Erin on Saturday 26th June 2010. 1:26, 1.7MB



'Hutchinson' departs from Port St Mary with the 16:20 from Douglas, on 21st July 2009. 1:00, 1.2MB

'Loch' departs from Port Erin with the 15:50 to Douglas on 24th June 2010. After pulling out of Port Erin, the train accelerates. The sound bounces off houses on the new housing estate nearby. After whistling and passing the footpath crossing between Four Roads and Truggan Road, the regulator is closed for the drift into Port St Mary station.

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