Manx Steam Railway Passenger Carriages

The Isle of Man Railway and Manx Northern Railway were established principally to carry passengers, whilst the Foxdale Railway was built specifically to cater for output from the Foxdale lead mines.

A survey of passenger carriages is quite complex, as construction and delivery of coaches spanned 53 years and suppliers numbered no fewer that six (although many were subsequently absorbed into one another).

Whilst many authors have already provided a description and chronology if IOMR passenger carriages, I believe that in a summary format it is more easy to understand the changes from 1873 until 1926 when the last carriage was supplied.

The allocation of letters and numbers to uniquely identify each piece of rolling stock was not strictly chronological, principally as a result of certain rebuilds and the 1905 absorbtion of MNR rolling stock into IOMR numbering sequences. However, it serves our purpose well to identify each item of stock by its original or subsequently given IOMR stock number. When the original 4 wheel carriages were mounted in pairs onto specially supplied bogie chassis, a task commenced in 1909 and completed in 1926, these "Pairs" carriages were allocated numbers 50 to 75 in the "F" series of stock numbering. Prior to 1926, the Pairs continued to show their original stock identities in the "A" to "D" series of stock numbers.

When the MNR 6-wheel Cleminsons were taken into stock by the IOMR in 1905, evidence suggests that they may have initially received numbers 40 to 51 in the "F" series, but as more bogie carriages were delivered, the ex-MNR 6-wheel stock had its identifier changed to "N" whilst retaining its number sequence. The "F" series then became dedicated to bogie carriages or which only three were ex-MNR.

Before proceeding, a few final comments on stock numbering. The MNR used numbers to identify their stock, regardless of type. The IOMR established a system of allocating letters to each class of rolling stock followed by sequential numbers within each class. To summarise these for the passenger coaches:

Passenger Carriage Stock Listing
1873 to 1926

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