page_title: Groudle Glen Railway
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Groudle Glen Railway / History
caption_attribution_description: 'Sea Lion', Groudle Glen Railway (All About Railways, Hartnell).jpg
context_page_description: The Groudle Glen Railway is a 2 ft narrow gauge railway near Onchan in the Isle of Man, on the boundary of Onchan and Lonan, which is owned and operated by a small group of enthusiastic volunteers and operates on summer Sundays; May to September and Wednesday evenings in July and August along with a number of annual special events.
context_section_description: 1896 – 1939
  The line was built in the late Victorian era to cater for a new demand for transport down Groudle Glen after the opening of the Manx Electric Railway. A zoo was built, and the Groudle Glen Railway connected to it. The 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge line ran from the upper part of the glen, Lhen Coan, to the zoo at Sea Lion Rocks. The line opened on 23 May 1896 and initially operated with a single locomotive, called Sea Lion, and three coaches. The locomotive was built by W.G. Bagnall Ltd. of Castle Engine Works, Stafford. The line became so popular that a second locomotive, Polar Bear and additional coaches were purchased. The railway operated successfully until the outbreak of the First World War, when all services ceased and the zoo was closed. After the war, the zoo re-opened and the locomotives were overhauled and returned to service, but by 1921 they had been replaced with battery-operated locomotives. These proved unreliable and the original steam locomotives were again overhauled and returned to service. The railway closed again during the Second World War and the zoo closed for good. A landslide during the war years meant that services could not return to the original terminus.
  1950 – 1981
  The line took some time to re-open after the war; with the zoo closed, the glen was less frequently visited. Only one locomotive returned for the 1950 season. Over the next twelve years the seasons were of variable length and no timetable was officially issued. The final season was 1962, with Polar Bear by then inoperable. The final two seasons were known as the "fairground era" as the stock was painted in loud colours with blue and red dominating, and fairground-style lettering and lining applied to the locomotive. By the late 1960s the engines had been removed from the glen. Polar Bear was restored to working condition at Amberley Working Museum, West Sussex. Sea Lion went to Kirk Michael railway station on static display, before moving to Loughborough.
  1982 – 1991
  In 1982, the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association launched a plan to restore the line, and work began clearing twenty years worth of undergrowth covering the trackbed. In December 1983, a short section from the old lime kiln to the headland opened, running Santa Trains. Further sections of the line were relaid, eventually reaching the glen terminus at Lhen Coan. A station was created at the headland with run-round facilities. The complete railway was officially re-opened on 23 May 1986 by Carolyn Rawson as part of the Manx Heritage Year and a tree planted to mark the event in Lhen Coan station. In September 1987, original steam locomotive Sea Lion returned to the railway after a full restoration. By 1991 it was decided to relay the final section of the line from the headland loop to the former terminus at Sea Lion Rocks. The run-round loop was lifted at the end of the 1991 season when the major earthworks began to relay the railway to the outer terminus.
  1992 – 2002
  The extension, recreating the line to its original three quarter-mile length, was opened on 23 July 1992, and in 1993 the distinctive Swiss-style station canopy at Lhen Coan, a feature of so many postcards of the glen, opened as part of the Year of Railways celebration. In 1993 Polar Bear also returned to the glen for a visit. It was a time of great change for the line, with many improvements being introduced by the volunteers. Visiting locomotives were a feature in 1995 (Chaloner and Rishra) and in 1998 as part of the Steam 125 event marking the anniversary of the island's main railway. Planning permission was granted in 1999 for the volunteers to erect a replacement station building at Sea Lion Rocks, and by summer 2000 work was well in hand. The station building opened in 2001, and in 2003 the interior of the station was completed; this proved to be the major draw to the railway, aside from the unique steam locomotives. The station and surrounding area have since received much attention as ongoing projects, and the development of the site has also revived interest in the once pop
caption: Sea Lion, around 1910
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