Vintage road and rail steam on the Isle of Man

Posted by Chris Graham on 15th August 2024

We report on the interesting vintage road and rail steam that gathered on the Isle of Man recently for a special photographic week.

Vintage road and rail: There’s 15 years between these two northern-made products that were so successful in their individual fields, seen at Port St Mary railway station. (Photo: Mark H Hughes)

The last week in April saw a world-wide transport photographic week take place on the Isle of Man, which saw vintage rail and road steam take precedence. This included the rarely seen Isle of Man Highways 1921 Fowler DN1 compound ex-tar spraying 10-ton steam roller No.15810, under custodian, James Mandrel. The engine looked tidy and was a credit to James.

The crew had a great time and enjoyed the warmest place on the day! (Photo: Mark H Hughes)

The many photographers used the engine with Tom Attwood’s 1920 Foden 5-ton wagon No. 10320, which had been brought over to the island especially for the charter by Brian Allison. Brian returned after the famous TT races in mid-June to bring the Foden back to the mainland.

The engines are posed for the many photographers taking part in the charter. (Photo: Mark H Hughes)

As for the weather, that was just perfect, particularly for the three days the road steamers were used in conjunction with the railway, based at Port St Mary. The rail engine on show was 2-4-0 1905 Beyer Peacock No. 11 Maitland. The locomotive was a regular engine on the Isle of Man Railways, and was seldom out of service over the years, but was finally withdrawn after 2007.

Even a Fordson E1A Major was called in to be part of the day and is seen getting instructions as to where he was wanted as the Foden’s safety valves lift. (Photo: Mark H Hughes)

It had a new boiler from the Severn Valley Railway and the frames were restored by Alan Keef in 2017. The parts were moved to the Statfold Barn Railway for reassembly. Painting took place in 2020 and the engine returned to the railway on 6th January, 2022. We thank top photographer Mark H Hughes for kindly sending us some pictures of his adventures on the island while with the charter.