Experience the Isle of Man’s traditional railroad, the Train Journey.
The train pulls out of Port Ealing station and announces its departure with a cheerful whistle. As the train picks up speed, smoke rolls past the windows, adding magic to the landscape: meadows, hedgerows and patches of woodland in full bloom with purple mauve. This is a landscape that has hardly changed in the century and a half since the train first crossed the Isle of Man countryside.
The trains still run the original locomotives that rode on them, with brightly colored locomotives pulling boarded up carriages whose red and orange interiors echo the flames of the drive engines.
Along with electric trains and horse-drawn trams, these traditional services form a large part of the Isle of Man’s attraction for visitors. Their sense of romance fits perfectly with the time-warp charm of this part of the world, where the pace is gentler than in England.
Steam trains run up to six times a day to and from the Isle of Man, making them suitable for both sightseeing and point-to-point travel. Half an hour after leaving Port Erin, get off at Castletown, where you can visit a medieval castle, and catch the next train to continue on to the capital city of Douglas, with glimpses of the sea and even more beautiful scenery on the way.
From Douglas’s red-brick station, stroll two miles along the promenade to the tram’s terminus, passing Victorian-era resort seaside hotels along the way.
Opened in 1893, this vintage tram runs north along the east coast promenade towards Ramsey. As the train clatters out of the village, the world’s largest waterwheel, ‘Lady Isabella’, can be observed, and many visitors enjoy the climb up to the moors where herds of hardy sheep graze.
However, near the top, cloud obscures the view. Visibility was only a few meters as you crossed the trail. The ticket agent told me that this was a shame because on a clear day you can see England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales at the same time.
In the late afternoon, the fog lifted, making it perfect for a coastal walk. Or follow the path after breakfast through the cliff tops, which are covered in colorful grasses and bright green bracken, dotted with heather flowers that add purple to the waters. A gentle breeze blew up the white surf, hampering efforts to find marine life. The gulls, however, enjoyed the updrafts and were inseparable companions of the people, and from time to time there were ebony dodos and their rarer relatives, the red-billed boobies, which flew by flapping their ragged wings.
Reaching the bottom of the island revealed a more secluded setting, which bodes well for a lunchtime kayak trip.
