Snaefell, Isle of Man - Mountain Railway, Summit Hotel in 1939 -postcard c.1970s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Snaefell Mountain Railway - Car No. 1 and Summit Hotel, May 1939 
• Publisher: Mann Archaeology Series No. 19 / George S. Hearse, Ramsey
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

There is a spur off the main line above the lower railway station which leads to the depôt where all the rolling stock is housed and maintained; this complex was completely rebuilt in the winter of 1994-95 and officially opened in readiness for the railway's centenary. Also in the depôt is a smaller shed which houses the Air Ministry railcars used to access masts at the summit during the winter months, when the overhead lines are removed from the top section of the line to prevent frost damage.

In November 2010 works commenced on a project to renew several sections of track on the Snaefell Mountain Railway. Works were scheduled for completion prior to the line reopening for the 2011 season.

he line originally opened in 1895, when a wooden "chalet" type building was erected, including a waiting shelter and staff areas. As a result of increased popularity with the Victorian holidaymakers, a larger, brick-built structure was erected at the turn of the century. The original structure was built entirely of wood, and offered only basic facilities to visitors, and such was the popularity of the tramway that it outlived its usefulness within a few years. A replacement stone structure was installed in 1902 and featured castellated turrets and was more Gothic in appearance. It is the replacement building that serves the railway today but it is in much-simplified format, on the same site as the original building. Early views of the railway station and its environs reveal that there were timber boarded walkways leading to various viewpoints around the terminus. The walkways are now built of concrete, with metal handrails. Coin-operated telescopes were also a feature in the heyday of the line and these were reinstated in 2010.

In 1982 a fire gutted the building: it was allowed to burn out owing to the remote location and inaccessibility for the fire brigade. The building was then closed for two years. Owing to the lack of piped water at the summit, each operating day a tram delivers a bowser of drinking water for use in the restaurant. There was also a bar (explaining the one-time title of "Summit Hotel" featured in marketing). The station features a number of small historical displays around its walls which chart the history and construction of the line; and at one time there was also a display of various sideshows, such as a What the Butler Saw machine; these have been removed in recent times and an extensive refurbishment carried out over the winter of 2010–11 in readiness for a "Victorian Extravaganza" event in July.

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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The Snaefell Mountain Railway (Manx: Raad-Yiarn Sniaull) is an electric mountain railway on the Isle of Man in Europe. It joins the village of Laxey with the summit of Snaefell, at 2,034 feet (620 m) above sea level the highest point on the island. It connects with the Manx Electric Railway (MER) in Laxey. The line is 5 miles (8.0 km) long, built to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge and uses a Fell Incline Railway System centre rail for braking on the steep gradients. It is electrified using overhead wires at 550 volts direct current, with bow collectors.

The Snaefell Mountain Railway was closed on Monday 25th September 2017.^[3]

Services operate at regular intervals between April and September, taking 30 minutes for a one-way journey. There is no winter service: the overhead wires on the exposed upper part of the route are dismantled to avoid damage from icing. All passenger traffic is carried in five wooden-bodied electric railcars, built in 1895 and numbered 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. Car 3 was destroyed in 2016. Car 5 was burned out in an accident in 1970 and its body is a replacement built in 1971 to a similar design. The cars were re-equipped in the late 1970s with new bogies to a design based on the original, using motors and traction equipment from withdrawn Aachen trams. Because of the different gauge and the centre rail, vehicles cannot inter-run between the railway and the 3 ft gauge MER. Railway vehicles are occasionally worked to the MER workshops at Douglas by swapping their bogies, and to aid this there is a dual gauge siding in Laxey. The railway is owned and operated by Isle of Man Heritage Railways, a department of the Isle of Man Government.

The main railway station on the line is the interchange with the coastal line at Laxey and this is where all departures and arrivals occur; the only intermediate stopping place on the line is at the mid-way position where the line intersects the Snaefell Mountain Course used by the world famous T.T. races. During race periods, trams terminate either side of the road and passengers connect by means of a footbridge.

Laxey Tram Station (Interchange) The Bungalow Tram Station Snaefell Summit Tram Station