By the 1880s, the Isle of Man was well and truly gripped by the tourist industry, with accommodation in Douglas rapidly filling with those travelling across the Irish Sea to enjoy what the island had to offer. To meet the demand, a Glaswegian banker, Alexander Bruce, and civil engineer Frederick Saunderson turned their attention to building a largescale housing development north of Douglas, for which plans were drawn and submitted to the Tynwald (Manx Parliament) in 1889. Preliminary approval was given in 1892 but came with the condition that a road was to be constructed for access, later being updated to also include an accompanying tramway to be ‘operated by animal, steam, electric, or any other power’. A neighbouring estate had plans to open up Groudle Glen as a tourist attraction and so little time was wasted in purchasing the required land to enable the railway to run to its entrance also. The Douglas Bay Estate Ltd was formed with the intention of building the road and railway to Groudle with an electric plant to be constructed at Port-E-Vada (now more commonly known as Derby Castle) to power the tramline. Work commenced in the spring of 1893 and focused primarily on the railway, save for ensuring it was kept level but separate from the road. Built as a single line initially, provision for double track was made right from the off. As with the IOM Railway’s lines out of Douglas to Peel and Port Erin, the ‘Manx
