Mountain route
Snaefell Mountain Railway
Laxey → Snaefell Summit · Isle of Man
Snaefell Mountain Railway in pictures
Photographs by their authors, hosted on Wikimedia Commons · tap through for the licence
- Distance
- 8 km
- Fastest time
- 30 min
- Average speed
- 16 km/h
- Operator
- Isle of Man Heritage Railways
- Countries
- Isle of Man
- In service since
- 1895
- Runs
- March–November (seasonal)
- Train
- 1895 electric cars, Fell centre-rail braking
Figures are published values, not live data · corrections log
Wooden electric cars of 1895 climb five miles from Laxey to the 621 m summit of Snaefell, the Isle of Man’s highest point, braking on a Fell centre rail.
Built without statutory powers on land leased by its promoters, the line opened on 20 August 1895 after a very quick construction, on a route first surveyed by George Noble Fell, son of the inventor of the Fell centre-rail system. It climbs five miles from Laxey to the summit at 2,036 feet on 3 ft 6 in gauge track electrified at 550 volts, using the centre rail for braking on the steep grades. The season runs from March to early November, and each winter the overhead wires on the exposed upper section are taken down to save them from ice.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 2077581 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
Along the way
- Laxey, beside the Manx Electric
- The Laxey valley
- The Bungalow crossing
- Snaefell summit, the island’s highest point
How long is the Snaefell Mountain Railway?
The Snaefell Mountain Railway runs 8 km from Laxey to Snaefell Summit.
How long does the Snaefell Mountain Railway take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 30 min for the 8 km. That is an average of 16 km/h end to end.
Who runs the Snaefell Mountain Railway?
Isle of Man Heritage Railways, with 1895 electric cars, Fell centre-rail braking.
How old is the Snaefell Mountain Railway?
The line has been in service since 1895. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
How often does the Snaefell Mountain Railway run?
March–November (seasonal).
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