Year of Railways
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Year of Railways was a series of special events held on the Isle of Man during 1993 to commemorate the centenary of the opening of the first section of the Manx Electric Railway from Douglas (Derby Castle) to Groudle in September 1893.[1]
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Prior to 1993 the Isle of Man's steam and electric railways were already established as tourism attractions and had put on special events previously such as the 1973 Steam Railway Centenary, the 1993 Year of Railways was used as an opportunity to promote the Island as a mecca for rail and engineering enthusiasts.
Although 1993 was the centenary of the Manx Electric Railway, the events showcased all of the Islands railways and more with intensive activities during three periods. Each of the event periods commenced with "meet and greet" sessions held at Summerland, where organisers, directors, staff and other influential people from the railways were on hand. As well as outlining the event timetables, there were slideshows, question-and-answer sessions and general chat. The majority of the events were simple railway-based activities, although the opportunity was also taken to do things a little differently. They included:
Organised by the staff and friends of the railways including local preservationist groups, and backed up by the island's Department of Tourism and Leisure, which own the railways, these events were hailed both on and off the island as a resounding success. Total visitor numbers for the events were estimated at 35,000, second only at attracting visitors behind the T.T. Races. The success of the year's events paved the way for a period of much interest in the island's railways over the next years, and this was reflected in the array of events between 1994 and 1998 culminating in the 125th anniversary of the railway.
Following the success of the Year of Railways, the lines played host to similar events to celebrate other milestones in the histories of the island's railways.
There were also lower-key events in 1997 and 1999 for the centenary of tram services to Ramsey, but despite their smaller scale they were well attended by visitors.
From 1999, although events still took place annually, they were held on a much smaller scale, usually over a weekend in July or August with fewer one-off events being held. They usually consisted of more straightforward events such as unusual tramcars in operation, double-headed trains, non-passenger vehicles in service. Events such as night photography, slide shows and such, were phased out.
From 2009 the event has been renamed as the "Manx Heritage Transport Festival", and it is intended to hold the event annually over the same period in future: starting on the Wednesday of the last week in July and continuing until the following Tuesday, with events on all railways, and some non-rail events such as vintage bus tours, boat trips, and the like.
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