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The glorious sunshine of Easter Sunday 2024 was a perfect accompaniment to the fun and frollicks of the popular Easter Bunny trains at Groudle. Sea Lion and Brown Bear were both performing an intensive top and tail service across both Easter Sunday and Monday transporting large numbers of families from the brightly decorated and lively Lhen Coan out onto the cliff tops to see the Easter Bunny and receive chocolate eggs in the vibrant and musical surroundings of Sea Lion Rocks. Also whilst on the trip visitors kept their eyes peeled for the Easter Egg Hunt to spot the eggs that the Bunny had left behind in order to enter the draw to win a voucher to spend at the Ocean Views Bar and Grill, plus a giant Easter Bunny Teddy and a year's family pass to the railway. A memorable time was had by all and if you visited with your family, we hope you made some wonderful memories and had a fun experience. The railway reopens for the summer season on Sunday 5th May.

The initial terminus of the Santa Trains - the starting point of the restoration - The Headland! Santa's Grotto was located in the temporary wooden engine shed seen on the right in the first image. Plus images of the early years of the Santa Trains in the 1980s. Things have come a long way! 2023 proved to be another hugely successful festive season at the railway with record bookings for our Santa Trains and Boxing Day Mince Pie trains as they continue to grow in popularity. Over the various operating days all three steam locomotives; Sea Lion, Brown Bear and Otter were in service operating intensive shuttle services. We continue to improve the events bit by bit every year from reducing queing with the ticketing system, to improvements in decorations, a newly refurbished grotto for our guest from the North Pole and the new addition of the snowmen photo seat nicknamed 'Boris & Doris!' 2023 was also the 40th anniversary of the Santa Trains, the first services being a simple affair operated only a year after the restoration of the railway had been started in 1982, primarily as a much needed fundraiser. Since then they have continued to grow in popularity and also in term of complexity and standards.

Our first ever Not So Scary Hop tu Naa trains have proved a big hit with families. Ran over the weekend of 28th and 29th September, the trains were a new addition to our special event calendar as Jinny the Witch welcomed children (young and old) to her lair. Fortunately for all the boys and girls, Jinny is a kind witch and her assistants were on hand to give out plenty of sweets. With passengers met by a giant pumpkin, they boarded the train bound for Witches Hollow, passing some friendly ghosts hanging out trackside. Once at the terminus, they met Jinny and her assistants, had some hot chocolate (with whipped cream and marshmallows) and headed off on the train back down into the glen. Railway chairman Trevor Nall said that the railway decided to run the trains when they thought that younger children weren’t being catered for during Hop tu Naa. He said: ‘We picked the non-scary trains hoping that would be an attraction and I think judging by the amount of people we’ve managed to attract, it appears to be working well and it certainly seems to be popular.’ Trevor said that by booking people into 15 minute slots, the railway had managed to ensure no-one was waiting for too long, while running the trains at night was a special treat for the volunteers as they never normally get to operate in the dark. Looking ahead, Trevor confirmed the trains will be back next year, but with some new additions, saying ‘we will certainly improve that we’ve noticed that maybe nobody else does’. In the meantime, Groudle Glen Railway will be back in operation this winter with the Santa Trains and the ever popular Mince Pie Trains. For a video from the event and a full story, check out the Gef story here.

Despite the changeable weather recently, Groudle was lucky last Sunday (13th August) as the sun had his hat on! We were treated to glorious sunny weather along with a full day of open-air concerts at Sea Lion Rocks. Sea Lion and Otter were both in service all day, "topping & tailing" three bogie coaches with trains packed with families, visitors and locals alike to enjoy the concerts in this unique location. Performances took place all day at Sea Lion Rocks station from 11am to 4:30pm from Matt Creer, Mine's a Shanty, Ellan Vannin Pipes and Drums, Rushen Silver Band and The Shenanigans Banned. It was great to see so many people visiting. The railway and tea rooms are now open on Wednesday evenings 7pm - 9pm alongside the Manx Electric Railway shuttle services until the end of August and Sundays 11am to 4:30pm until the end of October. Our next special event is the Steam Gala day - Sunday 17th September and tickets are already available online for our new 'Not So Scary' Hop tu Naa trains at the end of October.

The new Lhen Coan shop is proving extremely popular with visitors, especially during the Heritage Transport Festival. Along with it's attractive appearance and much improved size and space, the new welcome centre is proving popular, especially the huge range of railway books. The shop features possibly the largest collection of railway books on the island, both new and second hand with some very rare titles available. The shop is open whenever the railway is operating, so if you'd like to purchase a rare gem... make sure you pay it a visit.

The crowds have certainly made their presence known across the island at this year's Heritage Transport Festival celebrating the Year of the Railways. The Island's railways have been running to capacity since the festival began last Sunday and Groudle is no exception. For our Wednesday running from 11am to 9pm, we seen the busiest standard running day on record with Otter and Polar Bear in constant service will full trains. There is more to come: Saturday 29th July 11am to 4:30pm - Victorian Day : The rare chance to experience Sea Lion in service with her original Victorian rake of coaches. Sunday 30th July 11am to 4:30pm - GALA DAY - Everything that moves will be out. Up to 7 locomotives in service from steam to diesel and electric. Along with our popular Cliff Top Tea rooms proving popular, our NEW for 2023 souvenir shops at Lhen Coan has proved popular with its range of Groudle clothing and also the largest collection of railway books and ephemera you will find on the Isle of Man, including a lot of rare second hand titles. So make sure you pay it a visit.

NEW FOR 2023: Steam Teas at Groudle. Very limited... but come and enjoy a Steam Tea at the Sea Lion Rocks Tearooms. Must be booked online in advance simply go to BUY TICKETS. Includes unlimited train travel, unlimited tea & coffee, a selection of sandwiches, cakes, crisps and biscuits, plus reserved seating at the tearooms.

Tickets are now on sale for the first Groudle Glen Railway @Not So Scary' Hop Tu Naa trains which will take place this autumn. On Saturday & Sunday 28th and 29th October, come and explore the railway after dark and take a trip to see Jinny the Witch in her Liar, enjoy some gentle spooky fun and receive a spooky gift bag and refreshments. Simply go to BUY TICKETS on the website and books yours now. Tickets are limited and will not be available to purchase on the day.

In a quirk of the calendar this year, our first running day of the 2023 season was our annual Diesel & Electric Day. This early season event has become popular in allowing us to offer the rare chance for visitors to travel on trains hauled by our more unusual collection of historic locomotives. This year all our historic Diesel and Electric locomotives were in service; The 'Hi-De-Hi' steam outline diesel locomotive Maltby of 1947 saw service on a number of trains, accompanied by the sisters Dolphin and Walrus of 1952. Dolphin completed a multi year rebuild last year and is in immaculate condition. We are currently looking for a sponsor for the £35,000 required to complete a similar rebuild for Walrus (if you can help please contact us via the contact page). Also our Battery Electric locomotive Polar Bear saw active service on a number of services. She is a replica of the locomotives which operated in the glen in the 1920s in place of the steam engines at the time. All in all it was a busy day of operations showcasing the Island's oldest diesel and electric locomotives in service and despite the overcast weather it was a well supported day. Thank you to everyone who attended. The railway will now continue to operate on Sundays from 11am to 4:30pm with steam locomotives in action each week, more details please visit our timetable page.