Douglas Bay Horse Tramway
| Douglas Bay Horse Tramway Raad Yiarn Cabbyl Vaie Ghoolish |
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| Roofed Toastrack No. 35, Loch Promenade | |
| Locale | Douglas, Isle of Man |
| Terminus | Derby Castle / Victoria Pier |
| Commercial operations | |
| Name | Douglas Bay Horse Tramway |
| Built by | Thomas Lightfoot |
| Original gauge | 3 ft (914 mm) |
| Preserved operations | |
| Owned by | Isle of Man Government |
| Operated by | Isle of Man Railways |
| Stations | Various (Hail & Ride) |
| Length | 1.6 miles (2.6 km) |
| 7th August 1876 | "Official" Opening |
| 2 January 1900 | Takeover, Douglas Corporation |
| 30 September 1927 | Winter Service Terminated |
| 28 September 1939 | Closed For Duration |
| 1 May 1946 | Seasonal Services Resumed |
| Preservation history | |
| 9 August 1956 | 80th Anniversary |
| 7 August 1976 | Centenary Parade |
| 7 August 2011 | 135th Anniversary |
| Headquarters | Banks Circus |
| Website | |
| www |
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The Douglas Bay Horse Tramway on the Isle of Man runs along the seafront promenade for approximately 1.6 miles (2.6 km), from the southern terminus at the Victoria Pier, adjacent to the Sea Terminal, to Derby Castle, the southern terminus of the Manx Electric Railway, where the workshops and sheds are located. It is a distinctive tourist attraction.
The tramway was built and initially operated by Thomas Lightfoot, a retired civil engineer from Sheffield. His service was introduced in 1876 between the bottom of what is now Summer Hill and the bottom of Broadway in the centre of today's promenade adjacent to the Villa Marina. In the earliest days the track was expanded, and passing loops and long crossovers added so that by 1891 the line ran double track the entire length of the promenade, much as it does today. From opening it has operated every year, except for a period during the Second World War.,
In 1882, Lightfoot sold the line to Isle of Man Tramways Ltd, later the Isle of Man Tramways & Electric Power Co. Ltd, which also owned the Manx Electric Railway. The company went into liquidation in 1900 as a consequence of a banking collapse. The tramway was sold by the liquidator to Douglas Corporation (now Douglas Borough Council) in 1902. Since 1927 the tramway has run in summer only.
In 2015 Douglas Borough Council partnered with Isle of Man Transport to introduce the 'Ticketer' system as used across the Island's other public transport systems. On board a Ticketer hand-held unit connects with the island-wide contactless Go Cards and individual tickets can also be purchased.
In January 2016, Douglas Borough Council confirmed that the tramway had run for the last time the previous September and that they had closed it as it was not financially viable. The tramway had made a loss of £263,000 in 2015.
After an online petition attracted more than 2,000 signatures, the House of Keys established a committee to look into ways of retaining the iconic horse trams. A press release from the Department of Infrastructure issued on March 24th 2016, and reported by Manx Radio, and Isle of Man Newspapers, indicated that the Isle of Man Heritage Railways division of DoI would be operating the Horse Trams during the 2016 summer season.
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Wikipedia