Douglas Southern Electric Tramway

Douglas Southern Electric Tramway Jiass Raad Yiarn Lectragh Dhoolish
The course of the tramway
Locale	Douglas, Isle of Man
Terminus	Port Soderick
Commercial operations
Name	Douglas Southern Electric Tramway
Original gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Preserved operations
Operated by	Douglas Southern Electric Tramways Co., Ltd.
Stations	4 (Plus Loops)
Length	4.5 miles (7.2 km)
Commercial history
Opened	2 September 1896
Preservation history
Route map Legend Douglas Head Marine Drive Electric Tramway Harbour Ferry Incline Railway Douglas Head Tollgate Pigeon Stream Depot Farm Loop Wallberry Loop Wallberry Viaduct Horseleap Viaduct Little Ness Loop No 1 Little Ness Loop No 2 Little Ness Depot Whing Loop Coolebegad Loop Keristal Loop No 1 Keristal Loop No 2 Port Soderick Cliff Lift

Douglas Southern Electric Tramway was a standard gauge tramway between the top of Douglas Head on the Isle of Man and the nearby resort of Port Soderick.^[1] The route ran atop the cliffs and crossed a number of spectacular viaducts and bridges.^[2]

Overview

The preserved tram at Crich.

Marine Drive, the former route of the Tramway.

The tramway was opened in 1896 by the New General Traction Company 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 at Crich in Derbyshire, where it resides to this day.

There is little left of the line as it was, save for the grand castellated 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 unique lost railway provides a spectacular view of the Irish Sea, and forms part of the Isle of Man's coastal footpath Raad ny Foillan (Way of the Gull), created in 1986.

References

Coordinates: 54°08′38″N 4°28′16″W / 54.144°N 4.471°W / 54.144; -4.471