Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: How long is the Isle of Man Railway line?
The Isle of Man Railway (IMR) () is a narrow gauge steam-operated railway connecting Douglas with Castletown and Port Erin. The line is narrow gauge and long. It is the remainder of what was a much larger network (over ) that also served the western town of Peel, the northern town of Ramsey and the small mining village of Foxdale. Now in government ownership, it uses original rolling stock and locomotives and there are few concessions to modernity.
This was the first railway line to be opened on the island in 1873 and was operational continually until September 1968, with the exception of 1966 when the entire network was closed. The line is today retained as a footpath and bridleway and is 11.5 miles long. Since the rails were lifted in 1975, there has often been talk of resurrecting this line, which out of the closed lines would be the most viable. Since closure there have been several service mains buried under the trackbed, including gas and telephone mains, but pains are always taken to ensure that the trackbed is returned in such a way that the railway could be reinstated. There are two notable examples of this, firstly at Quarterbridge where the railway ran parallel to the T.T. course where an access road was built on the trackbed in 1991, and secondly at the station of St John's where a primary school and housing complex have been developed since 2001. Both of these developments have been built in such a way to ensure the line could be reinstated, albeit that any station at St John's would have to be significantly relocated. During the First World War there was a branch extending from a mid-way point between Peel and St John's stations to the farm of Knockaloe in connection with prisoners of war who were interned there. The stations are listed to the right. At the terminus of Peel a large heritage centre has been built, partly using the old goods shed and station building. The brickworks office and water tower remain in place at the mouth of the yard and are occupied by the Manx Transport Museum Group, and the station site itself is now a car park for the heritage centre. It would not be unfeasible however to reinstate some form of station here in the future as needs required.
The 2011 Isle of Man TT Festival was scheduled to be held between Monday 30 May and Friday 10 June 2011 on the 37.73-mile Isle of Man TTMountain Course in the Isle of Man. The main celebration for the 2011 Isle of Man TT Races the "Milestones of the Mountain Course" special parade lap held on 10 June 2011 to commemorate the centenary of the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course included the former FIM World Champions Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read. The 2011 Isle of Man TT Festival also included the Pre-TT Classic Races on 27, 28 and 30 May 2011 and the Post-TT Races on 11 June 2011 and both events held on the Billown Circuit.
The International Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) races are an annual motorcycle sport event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907, and is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world.
The 2014 Isle of Man TT Festival was held between Saturday 24 May and Friday 6 June 2014 on the 37.73-mile Isle of Man TT Mountain Course. The main races were six solo motorcycle races and two sidecar races. The festival also included Pre-TT Classic Races held on 23, 24 & 26 May 2014 at the Billown Circuit in Castletown. Post-TT races scheduled for 7 June 2014 were cancelled by race organisers on safety grounds due to a thunderstorm and heavy overnight rain.
Today's railway is a fraction of its original size: it once served the western town of Peel, the northern town of Ramsey and the small mining village of Foxdale. Since 1969 only the southern line has been operational. Although it is only about half of its former size, Douglas railway station is still an impressive complex. After crossing the River Douglas, the line climbs the two-and-a-half-mile-long 1-in-65 Nunnery Bank through a wide rock cutting that brings it through a large estate, and past an industrial estate to the White Hoe, where the island's largest brewery is passed on the left of the train before crossing the first bridge. The train continues to climb to Port Soderick, just before which passengers get the first view of the sea at Keristal, before descending into the railway station. The train then passes through Crogga Woods, under another bridge at Meary Veg (centre for the island's sewage treatment works) and climbs, reaching its summit (, marked by a board visible from the train) close to the site of Ballacostain Halt. The train descends to Santon, the only intermediate station in substantially original condition. From here the train descends at 1 in 60 to Ballasalla railway station, with interesting sea-cliff views to the east. Regular service trains formerly passed each other here. After Ballasalla the line runs over relatively flat land past the request halt at Ronaldsway to the ancient capital of Castletown.
The 2010 Isle of Man TT Festival was held between Saturday 29 May and Friday 11 June on the 37.73-mile Isle of Man TT Mountain Course. The 2010 races again included a second 600 cc Supersport Junior TT race. The Lightweight TT and Ultra-Lightweight TT race class previously held on the Billown Circuit in the Isle of Man for the 2008 Isle of Man TT and 2009 Isle of Man TT were dropped from the 2010 race schedule. The 2010 Isle of Man TT Races included the one-lap TT Zero for racing motorcycles "to be powered without the use of carbon based fuels and have zero toxic/noxious emissions." which replaced the TTXGP and also a Suzuki 50th Anniversary Lap of Honour and the TT Classic Parade which were held before the main Senior TT race.
It is still billed in popular culture as the most dangerous motorsport event in the world, with the "New York Times" stating the number of deaths "to 146 since it was first run in 1907; if one includes fatal accidents occurring during the Manx Grand Prix, the amateur races held later in the summer on the same Snaefell Mountain Course, the figure rises above 250." fatalities in its history. An on-site account of the 2003 race by "Sports Illustrated" writer Franz Lidz called the spectacle "38 Miles of Terror... a test of nerves and speed that may be sport's most dangerous event." In 1976, the Isle of Man TT lost its world championship status; this was transferred to the United Kingdom by the FIM and run as the British Grand Motor-Cycle Grand Prix for the 1977 season. The Isle of Man TT Races then became an integral part of the new style TT Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3 World Championships between 1977 and 1990 to develop and maintain the international racing status of the Isle of Man TT races. The event was redeveloped by the Isle of Man Department of Tourism as the "Isle of Man TT Festival" from 1989 onwards. This included new racing events for the new Isle of Man TT Festival programme, including the Isle of Man Pre-TT Classic Races in 1989 followed by the Isle of Man Post-TT Races from 1991 and both held on the Billown Circuit. In 2013, the Isle of Man "Classic TT" was developed by the Isle of Man Department of Economic Development and the Auto-Cycle Union for historic racing motorcycles, and along with the Manx Grand Prix now forms part of the 'Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling' held in late August of each year.
The earliest use of the railway as a backdrop for filming purposes appears to have been in 1946 when "I See A Dark Stranger" used Union Mills station in the opening scenes, doubling as a station in Ireland. The Isle of Man was one of the locations for the movie "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" when Castletown station became "Shining Time station" while the goods shed at Port Erin became Burnett Stone's workshop, containing a replica of "Lady", although the trains themselves were not used during production. Other locations were used to represent the entrance to Burnett's workshop (an old lead mine) and the entry to the Magic Railroad (near the old lead mine), and a workshop in Port Erin was used to store properties, presumably including the Lady replica. The railway has also been used during the filming of "The Brylcreem Boys" using on-board views and Douglas station, "Five Children & It" for which Castletown station was fitted with a temporary canopy and given period set dressing, Channel 4's production of "Cinderella" that saw Santon station used heavily, the BBC adaptation of "The Ginger Tree" in which it doubled for communist Russia using the carriage shed at Douglas, lineside scenes and Castletown station (№ 11 "Maitland" was painted matte black for this production and remained in this guide for the remainder of the 1989 season) as well as being the subject of a 1988 BBC documentary as part of the "Train Now Departing..." series in an episode called "Steam in the Isle Of Man". Other television credits include an adaptation of "The Legend Of The Tamworth Two", the television movie "Stiff Upper Lips" and the long-running travelog show "Wish You Were Here...?" which featured Sir Norman Wisdom.
The 1950 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy festival was the second year the Isle of Man TT races were part of the Grand Prix World Championship.
Islip is a station on the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, off NY 111 (Islip Avenue) and Nassau Avenue, north of Suffolk CR 50 (Union Boulevard), and south of Moffitt Boulevard in Islip, New York, but the official description of its location isn't as precise. The MTA describes the station as being located at the same address, but also between Sunrise Highway (NY 27) and NY 27A, and does not include Nassau Avenue. Full Service and Daily Ticket Machines are on the north side of the station building.
There are two sovereign states in the isles: Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Ireland, sometimes called "the Republic of Ireland", governs five sixths of the island of Ireland, with the remainder of the island forming Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, usually shortened to simply "the United Kingdom", which governs the remainder of the archipelago with the exception of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The Isle of Man and the two states of the Channel Islands, Jersey and Guernsey, are known as the Crown dependencies. They exercise constitutional rights of self-government and judicial independence; responsibility for international representation rests largely upon the UK (in consultation with the respective governments); and responsibility for defence is reserved by the UK. The United Kingdom is made up of four constituent parts: England, Scotland and Wales, forming Great Britain, and Northern Ireland in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Of these, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have "devolved" governments, meaning that each has its own parliament or assembly and is self-governing with respect to certain areas set down by law. For judicial purposes, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England and Wales (the latter being one entity) form separate legal jurisdiction, with there being no single law for the UK as a whole.
The last two summer timetables reflect the tourism of the mid-1960s. These show six round trips on the Port Erin line, three to five on the Peel line, and two to Ramsey. Except for the Port Erin-Douglas boat train July and August, all trains operated between 09:30 and 17:30: quite a contrast with the 15 or 16 hours-a-day operation of the 1920s and 1930s. Almost the whole of the Peel line service was handled by the ex-Donegal Railcars, allowing the remaining steam locomotives to be divided between the South Line and the service to Ramsey.
A further development of this policy occurred between 1909 and 1926 when the bodies of the four wheel coaches were removed from their original chassis and mounted in pairs on to bogie underframes supplied by Metropolitan. By the late 1950s, relatively few were used in regular service, but two sets were reserved for schools traffic. These were used in regular service on exceptionally busy days, such as Tynwald Day, but otherwise were confined to the school runs. By this time they were painted in a utilitarian all-over brown colour scheme. Oddly, several of the pairs were rehabilitated in the early 1970s, as their steel frames were of relatively recent date. Surviving pairs carriages are mostly in poor condition, as their bodies date from 1873–75, and have been surrounded by a certain amount of controversy in recent years, having been removed from the railway for storage. The Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association have campaigned for their retention on the railway. Some are now in the carriage sheds at Douglas and Port Erin, four in open storage at Port St. Mary protected with tarpaulins.
Owned and operated by the Porto Metro, the single-track funicular uses a central loop system that is long, allowing it to descend , with the upper situated within the passenger tunnel, with the markedly steep gradient in the section below the passing loop. Two vehicles run the course, with a capacity for 25 persons each, operating at a maximum speed of . Due to the difference in slope along the line, the cars have self-levelling platforms, allowing the car floor to maintain itself horizontal no matter the track incline. Although the journey is short (approximately 3 minutes) after emerging from the upper tunnel, passengers are able to view the landscape from the Dom Luís I Bridge, the river margins (including both quays along Ribeira and Cais de Gaia and the Port wine warehouses and traditional boats along the Douro River.
The Stage 4 service plan in the 2012 NDPMR suggested that the tunnel – terminating at Fishermans Bend – would carry 15 trains an hour in peak times, most running the full length of the line from Mernda. However, no service plan has been publicly released for the longer tunnel to Newport .
The railway stations at Mount Surprise, Einasleigh and Forsayth and the route of the Etheridge Railway between Mount Surprise and Forsayth, including surviving railway buildings, rails, sidings, turning forks, loading banks, stone pitched bridges and culverts, stone cuttings, sandboxes, water tank, signage, and signals and points infrastructure, are important surviving evidence of the efforts of the Chillagoe Railway and Mines Company to supply copper ore to its smelters at Chillagoe.
The "Human Rights Act" was passed by Tynwald in 2001 and came fully into force on 1 November 2006. This Act is similar in many respects to the UK Human Rights Act. The Act incorporates the fundamental rights and freedoms set out in the ECHR into its domestic law. 
Previously, an Isle of Man resident who believed that their rights had been violated had to go to the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France to have their case heard. This process could be long and expensive and so the Government decided that the public should be able to guarantee their rights on the Isle of Man.
During the mid-1920s the IMR formed a bus subsidiary that operated most of the island's bus services, and helped the railway to remain profitable into the 1960s. The first serious examination of the long term viability of the railway came with the Howden Report in 1949, which recommended the closure of the Ramsey line, which was already losing money; the eventual closure of the Peel line, which was breaking even in the late 1940s; and the retention of the then profitable Port Erin line. Howden also reported that the existing equipment of the railway had an economic life of 10–25 years. Economies were made throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. These included the ending of evening and Sunday services, the deferral of track maintenance, and cuts to train mileage as locomotives became unserviceable. To further reduce expenses, there were winter closures of the Peel line (1960-61 only) and the Ramsey line after September 1961, but A. M. Sheard, the then general manager, refused to close the Ramsey line which by this time was losing a considerable amount of money each year.
The Orwell Lady (originally New Mary Louise.) is a purpose built river cruiser (built 1979) currently operating 13 miles of the river Orwell and sails from Ipswich, England. The Orwell lady is 57 ft (17.13m) long and 14 ft (4.26m) in the beam, weighs 42 tonnes, and carries 118 passengers plus crew. The Orwell Lady sails from Ipswich dock and sails to the end of the Orwell at the Port of Felixstowe allowing for views of Shotley harbour and the historic town of Harwich. The boat has a fully functioning bar and panoramic views which has helped secure the boat as a popular tourist attraction in Ipswich. In recent years the boat has become one of the most popular river cruises in East Anglia.
The Etheridge Railway line runs for about from Almaden to Forsayth, and the section from Mount Surprise to Forsayth (included in the heritage boundary) is about long. Built cheaply, the line rarely uses metal ballasting under the railway sleepers, and most sleepers are set directly onto the soil. Half of the sleepers are timber, and half are steel, due to a recent replacement project. Soon after heading south from Almaden, the rails change from to , with a noticeable increase in noise and vibration. The line tends to follow the lie of the land, with small cuttings and embankments, although there are larger earth embankments and cuttings on the Newcastle Range section of the line, between Einasleigh and Forsayth. The formation of the line between Almaden and Mount Surprise (not included within the heritage boundary) does not follow its original gradient, due to its reconditioning between 1949 and 1951.
A one-off purchase in 1875 from Beyer, Peacock & Co. (works number 1524), and of similar design to Nos. 4 and 5, "Peveril" (named after a character in Sir Walter Scott's novel "Peveril Of The Peak") saw extensive use on Peel Line for many years, apt as the name is also a local one. She was rebuilt as a Medium Boiled locomotive in 1907, and last reboilered in 1932. She was withdrawn from service, having been station shunter at Douglas for a number of years, in August 1960 and stored out of use thereafter. In 1967 she was selected as one of the static display locomotives during the Marquess of Ailsa years at St.John's station and, after closure of the Peel and Ramsey lines in 1968 relocated to Douglas Station for display purposes. Stored for several years together with No. 5 "Mona" in original 1893 Douglas carriage shed, she was removed from here and cosmetically restored by members of the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association, a local preservation group, in 1994 and is now resident in the railway museum at Port Erin carrying the Indian red livery of the post-war years. Sometimes considered as a restoration job by the railway, this has yet to be carried out but enthusiasts remain hopeful that this may happen one day.
Since the nationalisation of the railway secured its future the main thrust of the group has been the restoration of the Groudle Glen Railway commencing in 1982 and the line continues today. Since starting the project, at which time the line had been reduced to a footpath, the line has been relaid to its full length for the first time since 1939 which was officially opened in 1992, seen the return of the original steam locomotive Sea Lion to service in 1987, the erection of various replica station buildings starting with the station canopy in 1993, and the continuing improvement of the line as one of the island's tourist attractions; this has included the added attraction of visiting steam locomotives, gala days in conjunction with Isle of Man Heritage Railways and popular off-season events such as "Santa Trains" and "Bunny Trains" each Easter weekend. In more recent times there have also been "Jester Express" days, promotions in connection with Father's Day and operations on New Year's Day were introduced in 2011. Additionally, "Driver Experience Days" are also offered where, for a fee, members of the public may spend the day on the footplate of a steam locomotive and drive trains. The railway is now a stand-alone charity and operates seasonally, whilst the volunteers of the Supporters' Association continue to maintain strong ties with the Isle of Man Railway albeit in a watchdog role, and provision of project items. The group maintains a strong working relationship with the management and attends regular meetings to ensure the development.
The line from Ramsey to St John's was opened by the Manx Northern Railway in 1879 and operated until 1968 when passenger operations ceased on the same day as those on the Peel line. By far the most scenic and spectacular route operated by the railway, it featured two viaducts at Glen Wyllin and Glen Mooar and was nearly 17 miles in length. The railway ran independently until 1905 when the Isle of Man Railway took over operations, together with the operation of the Foxdale Railway, thereby controlling the entire network on the island. Sections of this line along the Irish Sea coast suffered some cruel weather and a turntable was installed at St John's to turn coaching stock to ensure even weathering on the most exposed section at the "Donkey Bank" which caused trouble to the operators throughout its lifetime. Trains were often dispatched with wagonloads of ash to deposit over the side to shore up the line, and it has dropped considerably since the departure of the railway. Further along the line at Glen Wyllin were pleasure gardens owned and operated by the railway company and these became a popular destination for Sunday School picnics in the railway's heyday, this providing a large source of income for the railway. The nearest station at Kirk Michael was the drop off point for holidaymakers who walked along a track to the side of the line. At Ballavolley a halt was created in 1967 to serve the newly opened Wildlife Park, which remains in place today. The line also boasted a wayside halt for the exclusive use of the Bishop of Sodor and Mann at Bishopscourt, which comprised a simple bench seat and hand-operated signal for the stopping of the passing train. The station at Ramsey was on the site of today's Ramsey Bakery on the outskirts of the town, a disadvantage when compared with the station of the Manx Electric Railway which is in the heart of the town. The station did however boast an extension along the quayside for a time, ideally situated to load and unload goods to and from the vessels in this busy port. Also, as part of an initiative to encourage the railway's use for freight and cargo, a small sharply curved siding was laid to Milntown Power Station in 1968 and three wagons converted to oil carrying wagons for this purpose. The venture was however short-lived, but trains serving this siding were some of the very last recorded trains to travel over the line, in 1969 as part of a rolling stock collection. Today, it is difficult to visualise the station as the site has been modernised and developed beyond recognition.
Opened in 1886 this was the shortest branch of the Isle of Man Railway and the shortest-lived, closing as early as 1940 to all traffic. It was originally a separate affair to the other railways, but was taken over as part of the merger in 1905 together with the Manx Northern Railway to Ramsey. The tracks remained in situ for many years and reports that trains, or light engines, travelled along its length as late as 1974 (just prior to lifting) are known. The line was only 3 miles in length but was on a steady climb of 1 in 49 for its entirety and it served the small mining community with limited passenger services (only one passenger coach was ever acquired and this remains in service on the preserved south line today, as F.39). The station at Foxdale itself was also the site of the iron ore "deads" which gave rise to the station acquiring the nickname "the back of the moon" owing to its lunar appearance. Today the station building remains in place in private ownership but the removal of two vital bridges in the 1970s has rendered it extremely unlikely that any proposal to restore the line would ever be successful. There is evidence to suggest (in the form of images) however that Foxdale Station may well retain some of its track to the present day - albeit buried under heaps of spoil. Until recently (within the last ten years) there was still trackwork visible in the road beyond the station which would have run up onto the spoil heaps for working the deads.
Two plank, drop sided wagons, broadly similar to the "H" class. They were intended as Ballast Wagons but their ease of loading and unloading made them useful for many types of goods traffic, eventually totalling 78 of these wagons on the line. At least six were still serviceable in 1975, and a couple survived into nationalisation. M.70 was resident on the old goods siding at Santon Station for many years. M.78 also survived and it was this vehicle that inspired the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association to restore it in 1998. The "rebuilt" wagon is now part of the railway's historic fleet of vehicles and bears plaques denoting its origins. It is coupled to H.1 as the Troublesome Trucks each September for the "Friends of Thomas" event.