Car No.18 (1898)

Car No.18 outside Derby Castle Car Sheds, July 2014 © Alex Fairlie

CURRENT STATUS AND LOCATION	YEAR LAST OPERATED	LIVERY
Stored, Derby Castle Car Sheds	2000	M.E.R Red/White

History

Car No.18 was delivered in 1898 as the last of the first batch of Open Motor Cars built by G.F Milnes. The car was delivered with four E.C.C 20hp traction motors and Milnes trucks which it retains to this day. No.18 has undergone surprisingly few changes since it’s construction. The Car was fitted with roller shutters and extended footboards in the early 20th century, and K12 controllers in 1945, but otherwise remains as built, having never been fitted with air brakes.

No.18s lack of air brakes unfortunately began to limit her use when traffic began to decline in the 1960s, but the Car saw a very brief return to regular ‘front line’ operation in 1977 with the reopening of the Ramsey section (closed in 1975) and subsequent shortage of serviceable cars. Unfortunately No.18 fell out of favour soon after this period and, after periodic usage on both passenger, special and works use, was placed into storage in 1984.

In 1988 No.18 was briefly reactivated to work a private hire to Ramsey and return. After this in Winter 1988/89, the Car received a full repaint for a proposed return to traffic, but in the event was not used and returned to storage. No.18’s next call-up came in 1993, receiving further embellishments in time for the ‘Year of Railways’ Centenary Celebrations, and running again in 1994, in particular with Trailer No.60 on journeys to Laxey. It ran on short journeys in 1995, appearing during the Laxey Cavalcade and on photo-charters at Howstrake.

Unfortunately No.18’s several electrical issues resurfaced (reported to be only be able to move on ‘series’ notches) and the car made limited appearances following this, notably during the 1999 ‘Ramsey Centenary Day’ event, running on shuttles from Ramsey to Walpole Drive. It suffered a serious electrical fire at Laxey during a Photography Evening in August 2000, and remained inside Laxey Car Shed for storage, moving back to Derby Castle Car Sheds during the clearing of Laxey Car Shed in April 2002. No.18 was officially withdrawn from the service fleet in late 2002 following the decision to discontinue ‘Ratchet’-only Car maintenance, and since this time the Car has been in store, currently in Derby Castle Bottom Shed awaiting it’s next chance to shine….

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