Great Laxey Mine Railway: Wikis

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Categories: Narrow gauge railways in the United Kingdom > Industrial railways > Minimum gauge railways > Visitor attractions in the Isle of Man > Heritage railways in the Isle of Man

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Updated live from Wikipedia, last check: June 01, 2012 23:28 UTC (37 seconds ago)

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Ant outside the shed in 2005

Great Laxey Mine Railway
Locale	Isle of Man
Dates of operation	1870s–Present
Track gauge	1 ft 7 in (483 mm)
Length	¹⁄₄ mi (0.4 km)
Headquarters	Laxey
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The Great Laxey Mine Railway was originally constructed to serve the Isle of Man's Great Laxey Mine, a lead mine located in Laxey. The 1 ft 7 in (483 mm) gauge railway runs from the old mine entrance to the washing floors along a right of way that passes through the Isle of Man's only railway tunnel under the 3 ft (914 mm) gauge Victorian Manx Electric Railway and the main A2 Douglas to Ramsey coast road.

Bee with a train in 2005

Abandoned in 1929 when the mine closed, the ¹⁄₄ mile Great Laxey Mine Railway re-opened in September 2004. Now the Ant and Bee, replicas of the Lewin steam locomotives with the same names originally built in 1877, carry passengers along a restored route once traversed by cars loaded with lead ore pulled by mules. At the upper terminus, linking the railway to the Laxey Wheel, once operated the Laxey Browside Tramway but this has long since vanished, replaced with a car park.