Groudle Glen Railway
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| Official Crest of the railway | |
| Locale |
 Isle of Man
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| Terminus | Lhen Coan and Sea Lion Rocks |
| Coordinates | 54°06′14″N 4°15′07″W / 54.1039°N 4.2519°WCoordinates: 54°06′14″N 4°15′07″W / 54.1039°N 4.2519°W |
| Commercial operations | |
| Name | Groudle Glen Railway |
| Preserved operations | |
| Stations | 2 and 1 halts |
| Length | 0.9 km |
| Commercial history | |
| Opened | 1895 |
| Closed | 1962 |
| Preservation history | |
| 1982 | Restoration commences |
| 1983 | Short section opens for Santa Train |
| 1986 | Official re-opening |
| 1987 | Sea Lion returns |
| 2007 | 25 Years since the re-opening |
| 2013 | Brown Bear appeal launched |
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The Groudle Glen Railway is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway north of Douglas in the Isle of Man which is owned and operated by a small group of enthusiastic volunteers and operates on summer Sundays; May to September and Wednesday evenings in July and August along with a number of annual special events.
The line was built in the late Victorian era in response to increasing demand for transportation down Groudle Glen brought on by the introduction of the Manx Electric Railway. The headland was developed, with a zoo being created and the railway being built. The 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge line ran from the upper part of the glen, Lhen Coan, to the zoo at Sea Lion Rocks. The line opened on 23 May 1896 and started with one engine, called Sea Lion, and three coaches. The engine was built by W.G. Bagnall Ltd. of Castle Engine Works, Stafford. The line became so popular that a further engine, Polar Bear, and additional coach stock was purchased. The railway operated very successfully until the outbreak of the First World War when all services ceased and the associated zoo was closed. When the line re-opened the locomotives were overhauled and returned to service but by 1921 they had been replaced with battery-operated engines. These proved troublesome and after proving inefficient and costly, they were dropped, the original steam locomotives being overhauled and returned to service. The railway once again closed during the Second World War and the zoo closed for good, it being reported that the animals had been released! A landslide during the war years ensured that services could not return to the original terminus.
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Wikipedia