Summit Station (Snaefell Mountain Railway)
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Summit Station is the upper terminus of the Snaefell Mountain Railway on the Isle of Man and is served by the tramway of the same name. The line originally opened in 1895 at which time a wooden "chalet" type building was erected including a waiting shelter and staff areas but the increased popularity with the Victorian holidaymakers ensured that a larger, brick-built structure was erected at the turn of the century. It is this building that serves the railway today but it is in much-simplified format. The original building featured castellated turrets and was more gothic in appearance but following rebuilds and, most recently, a fire in 1982 the building now presents a more unwelcoming sight to the traveller. Owing to the lack of public water supply to the summit, each operating day a tram delivers a bowser of drinking water to the summit for use in the small cafe there. There is also a bar (explaining the one-time title of "Summit Hotel" featured in marketing) but in more recent years this has not been open.
To mark the line's centenary in 1995 some remedial work was carried out to the exterior of the building, and historical displays were added to the waiting area, many of which remain in place today but generally speaking the station building is in need of much attention to improve it to the high standards expected by today's traveller. The site is also home to a Civil Aviation Authority transmitter mast and station and in the winter months a small diesel railcar accesses this - the overhead lines are removed at the close of each season for the electric cars to prevent them from damage from the cold weather. The most notable event of recent years that took place at the summit was the presence of all six mountain trams at one time in conjunction with the line's centenary and this was believed to have been the first time this had ever happened. Also, the Manx Northern Railway locomotive "Caledonia" revisited the summit in 1995 to recreate the events of a century earlier when she had been loaned for use in the construction of the line.
