The Port Erin Railway Museum in the village of Port Erin in the Isle of Man is a small display that shows the history of the Isle of Man Railway through exhibits and visual displays which chart the history of the railway from its opening in 1873 until the present day, covering the now-closed lines that served Peel, Ramsey and Foxdale as well as the remaining line to Port Erin to which it forms part of the southern terminus.
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The museum is situated beside railway station which is the southern terminus of the railway, on Station Road in the village. It is housed in a converted bus garage that once belonged to the Road Services, itself a division of the old railway company. Since rebuilt in 1998 part of the old goods shed has been incorporated into the complex, the other locomotive shed still being used as a workshop to maintain the locomotives and for overnight storage purposes. The museum is accessible from the station platform off the train, or by car parking in the nearby car park.
Exhibits in the museum include two engines and two coaches as well as other equipment from the railway. The royal carriages, as used by HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 1963 and by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1972, are preserved in the museum. There is also a large display of photographs, posters and other memorabilia. In addition to the framed exhibits of old posters and the like, further displays are mounte on the walls of the station building itself in the waiting room and booking office. These were once part of the museum and donated by a preservationists group when the facility was first opened.
The museum was first opened in 1975 when the Isle of Man Road Services (a subsidiary of the railway company) relocated to their new garage which is still extant today at the foot of the main platform. The building, consisted of metal frame and asbestos cladding and for this reason was extensively rebuilt in 1999, since which time it has included a souvenir shop which is housed in the old goods shed; prior to this, the locos were kept overnight in this goods shed, the original loco shed being used only to store unservicable locomotives.
The souvenir shop is in the entrance/exit to the museum itself and has a small range of memorabilia, etc., a fraction of what was available in the boom of the centenary seasons in the 1990s. A nominal admission price is charged for entry and the opening times tie in with the operational dates of the railway itself. The shop is in the old goods shed and features a station-type building as a staff/store room as well as old luggage trolleys and framed displays before entering the museum proper.
Since it originally opened in 1975, the railway museum has housed a variety of major exhibits; notably two of the locomotives incarcerated here have been removed, overhauled and returned to service, these being No. 1 Sutherland and Manx Northern Railway No. 4 Caledonia the latter of which remains in traffic; the main features are currently (2011) as follows:
The current exhibit Mannin has been an attraction since the museum opened in 1975 and was only removed for one season in 1998–99 whilst the structure of the musueum building received attention; since returning it has been turned to face chimney-first to Douglas and is no longer rail-connected. Prior to its restoration, funded by the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association No. 4 Loch of 1874 was a main exhibit, being replaced by No. 6 Peveril when the former was removed to be restored.
The museum is open daily throughout the summer months, at the same time as the railway which is usually between March and the beginning of November each year. A small admission price is charged for entry.
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