Douglas Southern Electric Tramway ( Manx: ''Raad Yiarn Lectragh Jiass Ghoulish'') was a standard gauge tramway between the top of

Douglas Head Douglas Head (Manx: ''Kione Ghoolish'') is a rocky point on the Isle of Man overlooking Douglas Bay and harbour. Views extend to include Snaefell Mountain and Laxey. General Until 1870, the headland was owned by The Nunnery Estate when Sir ...

on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

and the nearby resort of

Port Soderick Port Soderick ( glv, Purt Soderick) is a small hamlet to the south of Douglas, capital of the Isle of Man, once famed for its pleasure grounds and beach. In latter years there have been various attempts to rejuvenate the area, all of which have b ...

. The route ran atop the cliffs and crossed a number of viaducts and bridges.''Douglas Head Marine Drive & Electric Tramway'' by A.M.Goodwyn pp3 Manx Electric Railway Society (1993)(1st Edition) J.W.Lambert & Sons Ltd

Overview

Douglas Southern Electric Tram - 2010-05-08

The tramway was opened in 1896 by the

New General Traction Company The New General Traction Company Ltd was registered on 24 March 1896 as an investment company with a focus on tramways and railways. New General Traction Company was based at 20 Bishopsgate Street Within, London. The officers of the company were: ...

and operated until 1939. It never reopened after the war, and was largely lifted and destroyed by 1955. One of the motor cars was retrieved for preservation at the

National Tramway Museum The National Tramway Museum (trading as Crich Tramway Village) is a tram museum located at Crich (), Derbyshire, England. The museum contains over 60 (mainly British) trams built between 1873 and 1982 and is set within a recreated period vill ...

Crich Crich is a village in the English county of Derbyshire. The population at the 2001 Census was 2,821, increasing to 2,898 at the 2011 Census (including Fritchley and Whatstandwell). It has the National Tramway Museum inside the Crich Tramway Vil ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, where it resides to this day. There is little left of the line as it was, save for the

castellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

entrance to the Marine Drive itself. The tramway's sheds and workshops were located mid-way along the line at Little Ness, together with the power station for generating the electricity but this was filled in and is now a car park. The roadway has been closed for several years owing to a number of serious landslides, but in the 1960s the local authority of Douglas Corporation attempted to rejuvenate the area by introducing a bus service on the coastal route. However, it was short-lived owing to further landslides which made the road unsafe. Today parts of the route can be used by motor traffic, but a stretch north of Little Ness is only open to pedestrians. The route of this railway provides views of the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

, and forms part of the Isle of Man's coastal footpath ''

Raad ny Foillan ' ( en, The Way of the Gull) is a coastal long distance footpath in the Isle of Man. Because it is a closed loop around the coast, it can be walked in either a clockwise or an anti-clockwise direction. Route and history The ' starts and finishe ...

'' (Way of the Gull), created in 1986. There exists a film of a ride on this tramway in 1902 made by

Mitchell and Kenyon The Mitchell & Kenyon film company was a pioneer of early commercial motion pictures based in Blackburn in Lancashire, England, at the start of the 20th century. They were originally best known for minor contributions to early fictional narrative ...

and available at th
film
British Film Institute]. The journey has been described as a white knuckle ride.

Locations

References

{{coord, 54.144, -4.471, display=title, region:IM_scale:5000_type:landmark Tram transport in the Isle of Man

Douglas Southern Electric Tramway Douglas Southern Electric Tramway ( Manx: ''Raad Yiarn Lectragh Jiass Ghoulish'') was a standard gauge tramway between the top of Douglas Head on the Isle of Man and the nearby resort of Port Soderick. The route ran atop the cliffs and crossed ...