First weekend of Santa Trains

Festive magic down the glen for the first weekend visit of the man in the red suit!

Last weekend saw the first weekend of our popular Santa Trains at Groudle. Locomotives Sea Lion (celebrating her 125th birthday this year) and sister Brown Bear were hauling an intensive service that saw hundreds of Manx families come to travel with us and enjoy the festive atmosphere, refreshments and to visit Santa Claus in his grotto aswell.

The weather was a mixture of wet on Saturday and overcast on Sunday, but that didn't put off visitors who wanted to get into the spirit of it.

It is the first year of the service being completely booking only and whilst some tweaking to the booking system is still required, there were improvements in some areas of the operation from last year.

The free shuttle bus service to the glen operated by Bus Vannin was popular and guests were reminded that face coverings were mandatory on the bus service. In terms of Covid mitigation at the railway there were increased hygiene measures, hand sanitising stations and despite being an outdoor event, visitors were requested to wear face coverings if they felt appropriate and to consider the vulnerabilities of others when visiting.

Eyes now turn to next week's services on Saturday and Sunday which will see Sea Lion, Brown Bear and Otter all in service across the weekend.

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Bumper Christmas 2025

6 January 2025

Santa paid his annual visit to Groudle Glen Railway in the two weekends prior to Christmas and brought a festive winter wonderland with him with record numbers of families visiting to make magical memories. Sea Lion, Brown Bear and Otter were in service over both weekends, with the new Tinsel Trams operating for the first time this year brining people from Douglas and the free Bus Vannin shuttle bus transporting people to North Pole Halt at Groudle Beach. Also for the first time visitors were able to have their photo taken with Santa's Elves and download it specifically in high quality from a QR code. Hot Chocolate, cookies, tea, coffee, orange juice, mulled punch and mince pies were also available in abundance, but the big man in the red suit was the main attraction and he distributed quality gifts to hundreds of children ahead of the big day. On Boxing Day when the excesses of Christmas were over, hundred of visitors attended the Mince Pie Trains to blow the cobwebs away and enjoy the festive atmosphere when Santa and his team had retired to the North Pole for a rest. The railway now looks ahead to 2025... with tickets being on sale shortly for our popular Easter Bunny Trains and the popular steam teas already available for booking for the 2025 season.

Spooktacular Sell out

28 October 2024

For the second year running families turned out in their hundreds to enjoy the family friendly spooky atmosphere at Groudle over the weekend. Sea Lion & Otter were in service hauling busy trains from Broomstick Halt where passengers had been met by Mr Pumpkin, a spooky trip through the glen passing some of our cheerful ghoulish friends then arriving at Witches Hollow. As well as the warm and spooktacular atmosphere, families visited Jinny the Witch in her lair to receive a frightfully fun gift, enjoyed sweets from her friends and refreshments including hot chocolate with cream and marsh mellows and spooky doughnuts! Our thanks to not only everyone who visited us, but also the volunteers who helped make the event so special and for the support of Bus Vannin for the provision of the shuttle bus to the railway. Next stop....CHRISTMAS!

Busy Steam Gala

20 September 2024

The weather eventually played ball for our September Steam Gala as the day started damp and overcast, but by midday the sun was thankfully shining and the railway was very busy with all three steam locomotives in service with two trains passing at the headland loop. Visitors relished the opportunity to see all three locomotives; Sea Lion, Brown Bear and Otter in service together all day operating an intensive service. Sunday services now continuing into October. Our next special event is the Hop Tu Naa Trains at the end of October which is booking only. Tickets available online.