Isle Of Man Steam Railway

A short group trip to the IoM and here are a few images I managed, including the C17 at Castletown:

 

Once part of Collection X the restoration of MNR No.16 (later IMR F37) approaches completion and it was out for a test run yesterday evening.
M.N.Ry. No.16 was built in 1899 by Hurst-Nelson of Motherwell and is one of only two bogie carriages supplied to the Manx Northern Railway the rest being Cleminson 6 wheelers. It will enter traffic later in the season. Photos courtesy IoMSRSA.
Ray.

 

Absolutely stunning. I do hope there will be an opportunity to see it running with Caledonia before the latter goes out of ticket.

 

Wow, that looks great, well done, guys. I guess I am not the first to think it, but I see a photo opportunity coming with the above, the Foxdale coach and the teak finish Cleminson in the same train, hauled by, you guessed it, Caledonia.

 

Agreed that would be a super MNR set. Plus, maybe MNR 15 if it’s serviceable and not forgetting F38 when restored.

 

Lovely images !

I've not seen her out on the line, just up close in workshops, and I'm back home on the mainland now.
I agree that MNR 16 aka F37 looks stunning - I'm very pleased at how she's turned out !

 

Hats off to you!! All the three coaches you've done are excellent, as F37 was stored inside it seems, was the restoration a bit less involved than F62/3 which had spent a lot of time outside and were basically run into the ground?
PS, they can get a bit touchy if you say the mainland, we are all from "Across"

 

tbh, I sometimes say "Big Island" instead.

No, I think 37 was actually worse than either of 62/3 !
Different repairs were required in all three carriages tbh.
The main two problems with 37 were a) water penetration into the many roof sticks - we had to replace them all and b) the cill frame was kaput but it had also been well over-worked before leaving for Collection X

 

I think 37 should be put up for the HRA carriage restoration awards

 

I notice that the programme for this year's Transport Festival (28th July--2nd August) is now available:

https://www.iombusandrail.im/heritage/events-and-experiences/manx-heritage-transport-festival-2026/

The newly-restored F.37 is advertised as featuring in service trains throughout the week, but there is no word on locomotive allocations for the steam railway.

I wonder whether our friends on the Island can tell us whether Caledonia is likely to be running? I'd be keen to see her before her boiler certificate expires. (Especially so having missed seeing her running on my last visit in 2023--thwarted by a broken spring!)

 

No special source of info - but I know Cale has been on Dining Train duty recently ...

 

Well the people involved would have to write and submit a bid to the HRA for that to happen. Often though projects completed largely by contractors don't do well as volunteer ones unfortunately.