The only electric mountain railway in the entire British Isles is steeped in history, culture and pure imagination.
Snaefell Mountain Railway ascends from Laxey to the summit of Snaefell—the tallest mountain in the Isle of Man—at a whopping 2,036ft above sea level, serving as the magical gateway to seven mythological kingdoms.
Built in 1895, the service typically operates from March to November and takes around 30 minutes for a one-way journey.
Travelling across a five-mile-long line, it uses electricity from overhead wires at around 550 volts to manoeuvre, staying true to its original Victorian-era infrastructure, transporting passengers who visit from far and wide to get a sneak peak of this wonder of the world.
Once arriving at Snafell, or ‘Snow Mountain’ as it so often referred, people will traffic their way into five wooden electric railcars. Each of them are numbered from one to six, while you’ll quickly notice number three is mysteriously missing.
It turns out it was destroyed in an incident where the car derailed back in 2016. Whatever was left of it has been collected and is supposedly due to be rebuilt at some point, so keep an eye out.
The main station on the line is the interchange with the Manx Electric Railway at Laxey. While the only stopping place is Bungalow, the mid-way point where the line crosses the A18 Mountain Road synonymous for the dangerous and deady Isle of Man TT race.
Located just a stop away is the culturally significant Manx Museum in Douglas. The former hospital building boasts galleries dedicated to Viking silver hoards, Celtic crosses and Tynwald – the oldest continuous Parliament globally- among others.
All this was made in the hope of giving the Isle of Man a huge boost after it had struggled greatly during the mid-19th century.
The role of lieutenant governor, Sir Henry Brougham Loch, in reinvigorating the island was significant, initially transforming Douglas into a hub for spa tourism, which led to a boom in seaside holidays.
A staggering 1,500 hotels opened with around 350,000 visitors arriving each summer. Such interest was a sight to behold, but Loch had noticed they would only spend time at the capital town and not elsewhere—which led to the creation of the railway to get them here, there and everywhere across the Isle of Man.
Andrew Scarffe, Manx Heritage Railways’ technical support officer, told the BBC: “When the railway opened, it was like science fiction. Droves of people came over on the ferry just to see its electric technology and innovation.
“What’s rarely spoken of is we were 130 years ahead of the rest of the world with green travel. We began generating our own power back in the 1890s to run the railway, and the electric tram cars are still doing what they were built to be doing.
“Slow travel by electric train? It all started here.”
At its peak, the railway service had one million passengers annually, but these days this tremendous Isle of Man tradition has somewhat declined, though there still remains an estimated 200,000 each year who board the train and bask in the seismic historical glory this tiny little island has to offer.