Mike Buttell

Another shot “inspired by”. No5 Mona with a G van and two carriages. The spare coach in the bay platform is an old Gem model in cast white metal and on Tri-ang bogies (thanks to Richard Cole for the Gem coach and the G van)

Just can’t quite get the angle, due to the kipper factory being firmly glued in place, but as near as I can. No12 at the water tower in miniature and the real thing

The little hunslets are really lovely Chris. Have you seen the video of one of them with sound card added?

Foxdale would maybe suit you, small self contained terminus into a fiddle yard. One loco one coach and three open wagons. The station building is easily adapted from an existing card kit, only other building on site is the water tower :-)

Caledonia has been called off Knockaloe duties briefly to bring down the afternoon train from St. John’s

Thanks Gary go on, you know you want to! The Oxford locos are an absolute steal at £19 (plus postage) produced from 3d scans of the actual loco

No12 Hutchinson with a three coach train

Nice film.

The “fun” will start when the trains are separated at St. John’s on the way back, and have to run out for a mile side by side. Let’s hope the victors have a tight grasp on the trophy if they intend to tease the vanquished by waving it out of an open window. **anyone who has done one of my “Closed Lines Bus Tours” will be familiar with that reply ;-)

Boxing Day means it’s Railway Cup Final day, Peel v Ramsey resume the West/North rivalry with the final being played in Douglas so it’s a big day out for the fans. The mid morning train from Peel is strengthened to 5 carriages, and numbers 6 and 12 will take the set up to St.John’s where the Ramsey rake will be added.

Ballast working with No5 in charge breaks the monotony of the usual once a day railcars service, which continues through the winter months

Bonfire Night in Peel, and there is a special train working in from Foxdale. Caledonia taken off track lifting duties on the Knockaloe line to take the excursion. Not too many tickets sold so just the Foxdale coach was needed, apparently there was stiff competition for patronage in the Foxdale district from the Slieu Whallian Witch Rolling event that had been held over from the previous weekend.

To be honest, not even the Locomotive Superintendent knows how the Light Railway Enthusiast Group pulled this one off, but somehow they managed to get permission to have No15 lit and out for a run. The stipulation being that the excursion was to be on the Peel line, the temptation to bribe someone to swing the points at the Foxdale line junction on the North line at St. John’s would surely have been too great.

Tinkering, one of my favourite words / occupations. I’m sure I get more joy from building and subsequent tinkering than I ever do from running the built and tinkered :-)

Second group of pictures, loco No5 Mona (or MO NA) if you prefer in charge

I’ll split the pictures into a couple of posts, but here is the story The winter routine of the once a day Diesel Railcar service has been broken by the visit of the Light Railway Enthusiast Group. Having negotiated with A.M.S. for a steam train to visit all stations on the three main lines (and a bus to Foxdale) the group today find themselves at Peel. The Locomotive Superintendent has been tasked by A.M. with making sure they don’t go anywhere they shouldn’t, so there is no chance of a sight inside the workshops or carriage sheds (any of them) Train Guard Quayle is seen here about to reveal the interior of the first class compartment of the Foxdale Coach, “This door hasn’t been opened since 1940” he lies, whilst turning the key. Several attempts have been made by group members to bribe the train staff to get them into the sheds, all to be met with a sharp intake of breath and a “more than my job’s worth” reply, however we believe one member of the workforce has sold his soul for a bottle of scotch and a months supply of bird seed. With the proviso that any visit is done by torchlight and no cameras.

Nice to see you back tinkering away. one of the most bizarre places to engage in a conversation about model railways must be on the Calf of Man, but good to see you both there. M

Henry happy to try and help, drop me a message and we can exchange by email to make it a bit more private if you like

When the Summer Day Is Over….. Winter timetable in operation, Peel will be lucky to see more than one train a day, and even luckier to see a steam engine before next April. No8 is tucked away inside the loco shed I’m led to believe.

I don’t get the pre WW2 stock out too often (there’s not much of it:-) ) but a couple of runs over the weekend to make sure it’s all ok

On the arrival of the first Man-Tainor in Peel, Sir Phillip congratulates himself on the complete success of the new venture. Now all they have to do is wait for the same crane and lorry that loaded the container at Castletown to make the 15 mile journey to Peel to offload it. “they say that they’ll be here around half three”, the loco crew dismount and head for the Pub. It’s going to be a long day….

No6 Peveril running light engine

Happily his Lordship was in a receptive mood

I’ll have a word with Lord Ailsa and see if we can run a Sunset Special