Old Laxey Sub Station Museum

[display name]

1 minute ago, Non-Believer said:

Annual running costs to Govt are @ £7M -- £8M losses pa. Let's see the breakdown and the business case.

Fat chance of that,they'll be hiding behind the Civil Service Code and all that integrity they have

[doc.fixit]

My big worry is the mercury, is it still there? How will it be disposed off? What security measures are in place to protect the rectifiers from damage or vandalism? Nasty stuff mercury.

[woolley]

2 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

Indeed, which is why I mentioned 90% not all. So part of the discussion would have to involve shorter stretches. Up to Laxey and the mountain max for trams for example.

Tried in 1976. Total disaster. Ramsey line reopened in 1977. 

[Derek Flint]

2 hours ago, foxdaleliberationfront said:

Derek, you're normally the first to be realistic about spending money on these relics. Why is this different?

Only because I suspect it is unique in the British Isles.

[Albert Tatlock]

33 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

Only because I suspect it is unique in the British Isles.

Hardly. UK science and other train museums have them.

[Derek Flint]

1 minute ago, Albert Tatlock said:

Hardly. UK science and other train museums have them.

But do they exist in their original setting?

[Albert Tatlock]

1 minute ago, Derek Flint said:

But do they exist in their original setting?

Jebus...two cables come out a hole in the building. People can use their imagination in Jurby. They don't connect anymore.

[Derek Flint]

55 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:

Jebus...two cables come out a hole in the building. People can use their imagination in Jurby. They don't connect anymore.

Fair play. I’ve never been. Thought it might be a bit more ‘Metropolis’

[Non-Believer]

1 hour ago, Grounds Keeper Willy said:

That was when there was still something to go to Ramsey for. Now just Douglas to mountain railway makes sense. Open the line from Laxey to Ramsey up to cyclists and walkers. 

There's loads to still go to Ramsey for....the new Xmas lights....the old Farmer's Combine warehouse (at the mo).... 

[finlo]

The best part (most scenic) of the MER is Ramsey to Laxey!

[GD4ELI]

Just now, finlo said:

The best part (most scenic) of the MER is Ramsey to Laxey!

Post of the year IMO.

[Rog]

3 hours ago, doc.fixit said:

My big worry is the mercury, is it still there? How will it be disposed off? What security measures are in place to protect the rectifiers from damage or vandalism? Nasty stuff mercury.

The mercury is contained sealed in the glass envelope (bulb) of the rectifiers.  Only if the bulb were to be smashed would it escape.

[finlo]

11 minutes ago, Rog said:

The mercury is contained sealed in the glass envelope (bulb) of the rectifiers.  Only if the bulb were to be smashed would it escape.

It was deemed to be suitable for fillings not so long ago!

[Non-Believer]

6 minutes ago, finlo said:

The best part (most scenic) of the MER is Ramsey to Laxey!

Just reading on iomtoday about the old tram being removed from the garden of the Balthane cottage that's about to be demolished. That was the one that was bought from Lisbon...and duly wouldn't fit round the electricity poles at Port Jack.

Then quietly got pushed aside (under the rug?) as a waiting room and ended up at JCK's with an uncertain future until the gent at Balthane cottage acquired it, planted it in his garden and converted it into a bar.

Now it's off to Dublin for a similar future.

[Roger Mexico]

6 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

I think the actual scale of the operations puts it out of reach of even the most enthusiastic volunteers. It's not like it's a token half mile of track - it's two lines of 15 miles each Douglas to Ramsey, then another 5 (?) miles of two lines up Snaefell from Laxey. Obviously this is just the trams - then there's the steam railway on top of all that. All needing constant maintenance and upkeep.

Add on to that all the maintenance on the rolling stock (itself now a higher priority surely, since the runaway trams?). Plus any liability and insurance issues. There'd have to be supervision oversight of everything the volunteers did as well.

It all costs the Govt 7 mill-odd a year currently. How would any volunteer organisation staff, fund and manage all that? 

We are where we are, but it's worth saying that not only are there a lot of preserved railways in the UK that operate successfully and independently and have been running for decades.  What is more some of them are quite long.  The West Somerset Railway is 20.5 miles for example and has been running since 1976 (longer in both cases than the Steam Railway).  The Welsh Highland Railway is even longer.  Most of these operations rely on a mix of paid staff and volunteers.

That said the MER and the Mountain Railway are very difficult to compare, because there simply isn't anything remotely similar in the UK.  There aren't anything like as many preserved tramways most are much shorter - even the longer ones like the Wirral or the Great Orme are only about a km long.  That's what makes them unique of course and arguably in a world where trams are seeing a big revival that ought to make them more popular as attractions.

I suspect safety might be better served in the served in the hands of careful and skilled volunteers than it has been under the lackadaisical DoI management where implementing Longworth's latest whim seems more important than anything else.  In the UK  preserved railways have to observe the same safety rules and obtain the same certification as normal working railways do, and they seem to manage that OK without enormous difficulty and cost.  

 

6 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

You're being silly now. This stuff can easily be shifted to an exhibition somewhere else. As can lots of other things. No one is expecting Laxey wheel or the Tower of Refuge to be put in a warehouse in Jurby.

I thought Declan's sarcasm might have derailed this, but can someone explain why moving something from its historical location near a lot of other transport-related tourism attractions in Laxey to Jurby would be a good idea.  Judging by the photo of the current building it's neither big enough nor well enough located for there to be any other potential use.