[ILN 25 April 1896]

THE SNAEFELL MOUNTAIN RAILWAY.

The Electric Railway up Snaefell, Isle of Man

The Isle of Man, at certain lofty places, commands distant views of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. It has already, not waiting for the example of Snowdon, provided a railway to the summit of Snaefell, which is 2034 ft. above the sea. The Snaefell line is certainly quite safe, with no frightful precipices on either side, and is worked by electricity, instead of a steam locomotive. It is 4¾ miles long, from Laxey, on the east coast of the island, passing up the beautiful Laxey Glen to the Snaefell Hotel, near the Lead Mines; the ascent of the mountain, beginning there, is at a gradient of one in twelve. The rails are laid with a gauge of 3 ft. 6 in., and with a centre rail held by the brakes of the engine, which is furnished with four electric motors, each of 25-horse power, receiving their force from the collecting bars above, in contact with the overhead electric wire. The engines, of 90-horse power nominal, -and 120-horse power indicated, as well as the five dynamos which generate the electric force at the engine-house a - bout three miles from Laxey, were constructed by Messrs. Mather and Platt, of Manchester. The line was made under the superintendence of Messrs. Fell Brothers, of London, who have had great experience of Swiss Alpine and other mountain railways. The cars, in which fifty passengers can be seated comfortably, were built by Messrs. F. Milnes and Co., of the Light Railway-Carriage Works, Birkenhead. This line, which was completed last year, is in connection with the Douglas and Laxey Electric Railway, which has, during three years past, been very successful.

THE SNAEFELL ELECTRIC RAILWAY: CAR IN THE :STATION READY FOR THE ASCENT.

This View shows the System of Collecting the Current from the Overhead Wire.