FROM MANX STEAM RAILWAY NEWS

ISSUE No. 110 - WINTER 1994

In the late 1950s and the early 1960s Peter Craine, now station master at Ballasalla, and I were members of the I.o.M. Photographic Society; our problem at that time was trying to convince other that a steam engine was a thing of beauty.  Nobody in the island except a hardy few were particularly bothered with the Isle of Man Railway.  It was after all only a means of transport, it had always been there and probably always would.  I was no exception, it had been a part of my life for as long as I could remember.  At school all of the out of town children come into Douglas by train.  When the snow fell it was a case of train boys come home early even though the trains seemed to keep going when all else stopped.  To Peter and I, years later, snow took on a different meaning.  It meant that maybe Cale would be brought out and who would see it first?

Anyone who wielded a camera in the environs of Douglas Station at the time would know how difficult it was to take photographs near the loco sheds.  To put one foot off the end of the platform would guarantee the wrath of Donald Shaw, the locomotive superintendant, and repeated offences would result in eviction from the station.  To find out more information was almost impossible.  We had to resort to subversion.

In 1961 I was living in Glen Vine but Peter still lived alomost ontop of the railway inj Peel Road.  He could smell any unusual activity as Peel Road filled with smoke and we all knew the different sound of whistles.  Despite our friendly rivalry Peter would usually give me a call to say that something was happening.  Railway Terrace was a good place to overlook the station yard and loco shed and quickly see what was going on and we also had our trusty informers!  Mine was Jack Lowney who was the regular driver of No. 4 Mona and our regular meeting place was the Railway Hotel (now the Creek Inn) in Peel.  Many wonderful tales were told over the odd pint or two and the occasional comments like "it might be worth your while being at the top of the Nunnery on Monday" nothing else would be said but the twinkle in Jack's eye would be enough to ensure that I was there.  The system wasnt faultless; I well remember Jack saying to me on one occasion "where were you on Tuesday when we went up the Foxdale Line to pick up the old pointwork?".  That turned out to be the last time a train went up the Foxdale so you can imagine my frustration at being given that snippet of information!

The island doesn't suffer oftern from heavy falls of snow but when we get it and if it comes with a south-easterly gale then we usually know about it.  The winter of 1963 was particularly bad.  There were drifts fourteen feet deep in places between Cronk-Y-Voddy and Ballaugh.  Kirk Michael was cut off during the latter part of February and the Highway Board, for whom I worked, was extremely busy clearing roads for two months.  By this time the Ramsey service was discontinued in the winter.  The ex-County Donegal railcars serving only Peel and Port Erin.  The snow hung about everywhere, particularly in shaded areas.  The railway was no exception and their situation was made worse by the depth of snow in deep cuttings on the Ramsey Line; the railway company were getting anxious as their summer timetable would require the Ramsey Line to be clear.  I was told to "have a look at Closemooar on Tuesday at 8.30 and sure enough No. 15 Caledonia came into sight with F.44 and No. 12 Hutchinson" bringing up the rear.  What a sight!  It is hard to explain the feelings seeing the Cale in steam after it had been elusive for so long.

I was working at the time in the Northern Division of the Highway Board so it was relatively easy for me to keep tabs on progress.  On the 4th March 1963 I knew that the snow clearing had reached the section of the line on the coast near the Devil's Elbow.  Lunchtime saw me looking for signs of activity and I found it at the Jubilee Bridge near Skerisdale.  There was a huge drift on the approach to the bridge which carried the road over the railway on a skew.  Snow had also driven under the bridge and it was quite full.  I had made it, what better reason for my presence than to check to make sure that the road was not affected by the snow clearing activities!

The permanent way gang supplemented by workshop personnel were busy digging blow holes in the drifts to allow the Cale to successfully charge its way through.  I was able to take photos of the Cale positioned some 200 yds. away from the bridge togther with F.44 and No. 12 taking up the rear ready to assist in retrieving No. 15 if it got stuck.  The whole operation was being supervised by Donald Shaw and it was he who gave me the nod that they were about to have a go.  The Cale charged at full speed, stalling uder the bridge but clearing about 100 yds. of the line in the process.  I have one quite spectacular photo of the charge but actually being there has left an indelible memory.  It also was the start of a friendship with Donald Shaw which changed my relationship wih the railway up until the closure of the old Company as we knew it.

Over the next few days work got in the way and I saw none of the activity on the railway.  So you can imagine my feelings when I was told that the day after clearing Skerisdale the Cale was off the road in the cutting at West Berk and the day after that No. 12 Hutchinson damaged its snow plough.  It is a good job that I was in the snug of the Railway when I was told.  There was nothing else for it, I had to drown my sorrows.  Like all fisherman's tales it was the classic one that got away.  The snow came again in the winter of 1964/1965; no sooner had we cleared one lot than more came.  In the course of my work I was very much out in the thick of a blizzard on the 3rd March 1965 and in the vicinity of St. John's.  I was making my way to Foxdale but to my amazement, well over an hour late, were the diesel railcars struggling to get away from the station heading for Peel.  Then, as now, my motto was "carry a camera always".  I was able to record the activity for posterity as eventually Jimmy Kneale got the railcars away but they didn't get very much further stopping somewhere near Ballawyllin.

The following day smoke filled Peel Road and it wasn't from the railcars - it was real smoke.  A call from Peter saw me rushing into Douglas and we were both able to see No. 11 Maitland pulling out No. 15 again and with its fire lit.  The second time in two years, we could hardly believe it!  This time we were told what was happening and even allowed to take photographs outside the loco running shed.  I have some fond memories of the activity in preparing the locos for their work.  The Cale was notoriously difficult to steam and Arthur Caine now in his seventies was brought back to drive ably assisted by Jim Cowle and John Elkin.  On the 5th March I was able to see the Cale charging drifts at Ellenbrook on the south line and took some photos which turned out to be some of the most successful ever for me.  At lunchtime I was at Crosby to see No. 11 appropriately driven by Jimmy Crosby, working on the Peel Line but couldn't stay.  I did take some pictures, but anyone who has seen these pictures will have seen two sets of footprints in the snow.  One set belonged to me, the others to Bill Peters of Manx Press Pictures.  Bill managed to get some good shots of No. 11 on the bend approaching Cooilingel.

Within days the railway was back in business with steam ousting the diesels for a short time on the winter service.  The Highway Board were still clearing snow at the end of the month, with some of the mountain roads being left to thaw naturally and all that after just three days of snow.  Things would never quite be the same again we all knwe the writing was on the wall for the railway as we knew it.  The Cale was in steam during the Ailsa Period and then put into the museum at Port Erin.  Now we await with baited breath for the next exploits.  I wonder will they include snow clearing?

Stan Basnett