LRTA visit to the Isle of Man – 8th to 11th May 2026
The Electric Railroaders Association has invited members ot the LRTA to join them for the Isle of Man section of their Tour of Northern England, Scotland and the Isle of Man.
This is an opportunity for a visit to the Isle of Man with a special car on the MER and visit to the depot at Derby Castle. Several other interesting visits have also been arranged. On the Sunday evening there is a private dinner and talk by Andrew Scarffe on the current developments taking place. The LRTA last visited in 2015 and unwittingly travelled on the last horse car ever operated by Douglas Corporation.
The itinerary sets out the basic arrangements of the tour. The price includes sailing to the Island with IOM Steam Packet. However, you can request a quotation to fly. Options include EasyJet from Gatwick, Manchester or Liverpool as well as Loganair from London, City & Heathrow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. Similarly, if you wish to add additional nights on the Island that is also an option. An Explorer card is included for use on the 4 railways and the local bus service.
The cost is £590 per person, with single rooms available at £717. For full details see LRTA Isle of Man 2026
Inclusions:
- Regency Hotel, Douglas, bed and breakfast
Standard double rooms, 3 nights - Dining Car Experience on the Isle of Man Steam Railway
- Fairwell Dinner in the hotel restaurant, L’Experience
Visits
9 May Derby Castle & Jurby Transport Museum
10 May The Snaefell Mountain Railway & Laxley Depot
11 May Horse Tram Stables
Transport
8 May Ferry crossing: Liverpool to Douglas – Departs at 19.15hrs
9 – 11 May Isle of Man Explorer card for local bus routes
11 May Ferry crossing: Douglas to Liverpool – Departs at 15.00hrs
Air transportation available by request
Itinerary
Day 1 / Friday, May 8
Arrival at Liverpool for the 7:15 PM sailing to Douglas, Isle of Man. Dinner at your own expense will be available on the ship. Upon arrival in Douglas we will be transferred to the Regency Hotel on the promenade.
Day 2 / Saturday, May 9
There will be a 9:00 AM start at nearby Derby Castle for a charter tour to Ramsey on Manx Electric Railway 1 of 1893 with an 1893-94 trailer. There will be a bus connec-tion (vintage bus requested) to the Jurby Transport Museum, with a lunch at own ex-pense at the Jurby Guard House Café. A bus transfer return to Ramsey follows with a 2:15 PM departure on MER 1 to Laxey, followed by a visit to the Laxey Mine Railway. At 4:10 PM MER 1 will take the group to Douglas with photo stops. After a break at the hotel we will be transferred to the Isle of Man Steam Railway at 6:15 PM; with a 7:00 PM departure of the Steam Railway dinner train. The group will be transferred back to the hotel at approximately 10:00 PM.
Day 3 / Sunday, May 10
Free morning after our late night. We will meet at Groudle Glen for a ride on the nar-row gauge railway uphill to the sea. Connections from Derby Castle at 11:40 AM or Laxey (for those riding earlier) at 11:55 AM. Lunch at own expense will be available at the Sea Lions Rocks Tea Rooms. The group will leave Groudle at 2:20 PM for Lax-ey and a 2:45 PM round trip on the Snaefell Mountain Railway. A visit to the SMR de-pot on Laxey is included with an option to visit the Laxey wheel. The group can re-turn to Douglas with 30 minutes travel time on trams at 4:55 PM, 5:25 PM, or 5:55 PM; and the group will meet for an arranged dinner at the hotel restaurant “L’Experience” at 7:15 PM
Day 4 / Monday, May 11
At 9:00 AM check out and load baggage on our chartered motor coach. There will be a 9:15 A.M. visit to the horse tram stables, followed by rides on two different horse cars. At 11:00 A.M. there will be a guided visit to the MER depot, followed by a 12:30 PM transfer to Bank Circus and the steam sheds and a 1:45 PM transfer to our ferry to Liverpool, with lunch/snacks available on the ship. The group will arrive at Liver-pool 5:45 PM.
To reserve a place on this tour please return your completed booking form. This can now be completed electronically (including signature) or printed out. The completed form can then be sent as an attachment or scanned to Ian Longworth by ianjlongworth@lrta.org
If you have any queries, then please get in touch:
Ian Longworth ianjlongworth@lrta.org