Fifty years since Ramsey Steam Railway closed

Memories rekindled with the 'Ten Twenty-Eight'

Fifty years ago today, the old Ramsey Steam Railway Line passed into history.

The Isle of Man Heritage Railways has been whisking its social media readers down memory lane - including an evocative poem by Moddey Bane, the Ten Twenty-Eight:

Walking the line can such memories evoke

The days of my childhood, the smell of the smoke;

When brother and sister were off to school gone,

I'd be out on the banking with my windcheater on;

I was just a small child, only four and a half,

I'd be talking to fairies and having a laugh;

Soon it was time for the ten twenty-eight,

Mum changing the signal and closing the gate.

The smoke and the steam and the wheels on the rail,

With a wave from the driver past our house she would sail.

The Maitland, the Thornhill, Fenella and Wood,

I'd wave to them all from the bank where I stood.

The steam from the whistle, the bright shiny brass,

There was sometimes a spark that set fire to the grass;

Number on funnel and nameplate on tank,

Passengers waving, as they passed by the bank.

Down to Ballaugh on the ten twenty-eight,

Past the gorse and the fuchsia and the white painted gate;

Standing stone to your left, the dub to your right,

An enchanting journey, a beautiful sight.

But now all the trains and the fairies have gone,

Like my dreams and my childhood, with the years they have flown;

Oh! What I'd give to be back at the gate,

Waving with Mum, at the ten twenty-eight!