Manx Electric Railway Online

Car No.28 at Laxey Car Shed, January 2017 © Andrew Scarffe

History

Car No.28 is the first of the third series of open Crossbench cars built by the Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works in Preston and delivered to the Manx Electric Railway in July 1904. The Car was originally delivered to the M.E.R fitted with Brill 27cx Trucks and air braking, however the superior equipment was donated to Car No.20 in November 1904, with No.28 gaining the Winter Saloons less powerful E.C.C trucks in return. With the Car losing it’s air brake equipment, drivers instead had to rely on the tricky Ratchet handbrake system.

Compared to some members of the M.E.R fleet No.28 has undergone few changes since 1904 besides gaining replacement K12 type controllers in 1954. Following this, the Car fell out of favour mainly due to the complicated Ratchet brake system and diminishing requirement for ‘summer only’ vehicles, resulting in its last use in service recorded on the 29th July 1970.

No.28 was one of four Cars offered for sale by the M.E.R in 1978 however fortunately no successful bids were received. Following a lengthy period of storage in Laxey Car Shed, the Car was moved to the Homefield Bus Garage in Upper Douglas in June 2002, however the Car returned to the M.E.R in November 2009 and is once more stored in Laxey Car Shed.

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