Paul Steane's Photography Pages

Photos taken during a business trip to the Isle of Man, now that the Covid-19 travel restrictions have eased. This album concentrates mostly on the working electric railways on the island: see also photos of the disused railways I explored on the same trip.
Historical notes: The Snaefell Mountain Railway (SMR) opened in 1895 and runs from Laxey to Snaefell Mountain summit, climbing nearly 2000 feet in 5.5 miles. It uses a gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) and has a centre Fell Rail for emergency braking.
The Manx Electric Railway (MER) opened in stages between 1893 and 1899 and runs from Derby Castle, near Douglas, to Ramsey. It uses a gauge of 3 ft (914 mm) and is 17 miles long.
Both railways are overhead electrified at 550 V dc: for current collection the SMR uses bow collectors, and the MER uses trolley poles. The MER is very much like an interurban tram system with a lot of unfenced roadside running.

Trip to Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Serbia and Montenegro and Hungary - see trip report.
At the time these photos were taken, the country's name was "Serbia and Montenegro", but the railway company was still called JŽ - Jugoslovenske Železnice (Jugoslav Railways). The country had been officially renamed from "Jugoslavia" to "Serbia and Montenegro" earlier in 2003; Serbia and Montenegro became independent of each other in 2006.