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Orchid Line miniature railway Isle of Man

Discussion in 'Miniature Railways' started by marshall5, Dec 6, 2020.

  1. marshall5

    marshall5 Well-Known Member

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    The other railway with which I'm involved is the Orchid Line operated by the Manx Steam & Model Engineering Club in the Curraghs Wildlife Park. The multi-gauge track is around 1km long and could, perhaps, be described as a figure 8 and a folded over figure of 8. Unlike similar gauge railways in the U.K. we are not exempt from the IoM Railways Act and operate, and are inspected, in the same way as the Island's 'big railways'. All our passenger trains have continuous automatic vacuum brakes and we have automatic block signals with Spad alarms. We run on Sundays and Bank Holidays from late March to early November as well as on Thursdays in the school holidays. On a busy Thursday in August this year we carried over 800 passengers in 4 hours! Of course members can run their own locos at any time. The 'diesels' that now bear the brunt of public passenger carrying are owned by the Club but all the steam locos are owned by individual members and can range in size from 1/3 full size on 7 1/4" g. down to 1/16 scale on 3 1/2" g. We are a registered charity and all monies are 'ploughed back in' so the last project was to have a new 2 road carriage shed built this spring and we are currently relaying the oldest section of line, which has had 30 yrs of use, with new 6lb rail.
    Hopefully, when all this Covid business is over, we can look forward to seeing our U.K. visitors again. In the meantime we can be followed on https://www.facebook.com/ManxSteamModelEngineeringClubMsmec
    There are several Orchid Line videos on Youtube.
    Ray.
    IOM Rlys group visit Orchid Line 26 July.jpg 4 locos at orchid line.jpg IMG_0197 (3).JPG IMG_1181.JPG
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2020
  2. Bikermike

    Bikermike Well-Known Member

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    Oooh, that has the most charmingly bonkers PW I've ever seen - a 4-rail double-slip (with one limb being only 3 rails).
    I have never managed to get a ride on it - as I seem to be marshalling on the days it runs when I'm over. It's one of the two railways that I haven't managed to ride on, when I'm over.
     
  3. marshall5

    marshall5 Well-Known Member

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    In case anyone is wondering about our "charmingly bonkers PW" here's a couple of photos. It makes my brain hurt even thinking about how it was designed and built!
    Ray.
    IMG_1008.JPG IMG_1009.JPG
     
    Bluenosejohn and ghost like this.
  4. Bikermike

    Bikermike Well-Known Member

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    Amazing isn't it?

    Australia "we have 3 different gauges of track, it gets complicated"
    Isle of Man "hold my beer..."

    It's definitely on the list this year (assuming we're allowed over)
     
    andrewshimmin likes this.

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