BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER: Comparison shots of Car 18 : 2016, 2025 and 2026.
Double-decker horse tram Car 18 returned to the rails on Thursday, 8th April 2026, following a comprehensive overhaul. The car made its debut as part of this year’s CAMRA Beer Festival, following its repaint carrying branding for Bushy’s Brewery. The tram was to have been driven to the festival by the legendary Peter Cannon. Peter joined the tramway in July 1975 as a conductor, becoming a driver the following year, making 2026 his fifty first anniversary and the tramway’s longest-serving driver. Despite being unable to make the event as planned, Peter is depicted on the logo of this year’s beer festival, appropriately driving Horse Tram ‘150’.
After the inaugural run, Manx Radio’s Darren Timson interviewed Isle of Man Railways Chief Engineer Andy Cowie:
“DARREN TIMSON: What does it mean to see the double tram back on the line?
ANDY COWIE: I’m absolutely delighted. We've been working on tram 18 for about 12 months now, and the team has done an absolutely fantastic job. It's turned out, I think, better than the original. It looks gorgeous.
DARREN TIMSON: What kind of work has had to go into it to get it to this stage?
ANDY COWIE: It's a full rebuild, really. A lot of structural wood has been replaced, and the panels, all the paintwork, and all the metalwork have been refurbished as well. So it's basically good as new.
DARREN TIMSON: And obviously, this is kind of part of the beer and cider festival as well. Is it nice to have that link together with that?
ANDY COWIE: It's brilliant. The camera has recognised the significance of the 150th anniversary of the Horse Tramway this year, and it's a real pleasure to be part of their beer festival.
DARREN TIMSON: I'm sure many people will be wanting to know you're going to see it regularly over the summer again.
ANDY COWIE: Yes, we're saving it ‘till the actual 150th anniversary launch, but it'll be out now and again as appropriate over the whole summer. It'll be brilliant.
DARREN TIMSON: And Peter [Cannon] was obviously meant to be here today.
ANDY COWIE: Yes. Sadly, he's been unable to join us. He was really looking forward to it as well. And he would have been really special to celebrate Peter's 50 years working on the horse trams as well, which is a really significant achievement, and we're delighted he's still helping out as well and look forward to him coming back.
DARREN TIMSON: Yeah, it's a shame he couldn't be here, but it's nice that it was the 50 years for him and 150 years for the trams, isn't it?
ANDY COWIE: Yeah, it's a really special date. Isn't it? It’s marvellous.”
Since 1988, the Double Decker has carried a unique maroon livery with gold branding for Okell’s Brewery. For the 150th celebrations, this has all changed with a return to a traditional colour scheme and advertising for Bushy’s Brewery.
Prior to the Beer Festival, Manx Radio spoke to another Manx legend, Bushy’s Brewery founder Martin Brunschweiller:
“MANX RADIO: On the front of the glass this year, and on all the posters, we've got this commemoration to the 150th anniversary of the Horse Tram.
MARTIN BRUNNSCHWEILER: Absolutely.
MANX RADIO: A little bit of a connection there.
MARTIN BRUNNSCHWEILER: Well, again, apart from being a big fan of the Horse Trams, we're hoping to reinstate it [service to the Sea Terminal], but we also used to give our spent grains a lot to the horses for, you know, which we're hoping to reinstate that now. But we've also Bushy’s. We're also very proud to say that our branding is going to be on the side of the No.18 double-decker tram, which has had a huge overhaul this winter.
So that will be out and about tomorrow for the launch. And now we're very proud to be involved with that as well.
MANX RADIO: You've shown me some of the pictures. It does look smart. Where did that idea come from?
MARTIN BRUNNSCHWEILER: Well, it was as I said, it needed to be. It needed a huge overhaul. It was, it had been on for 40 or maybe 50 years since any major work had been done. And I'd been watching it all through the winter down at the tram sheds, seeing the craftsmen. And they really are craftsmen. They've done an incredible job. It's beautiful. We were offered the opportunity to sponsor it and put our branding on. So as I said, we're very proud to see Bushy’s Ale of Man on the side.”
One of the two double deck cars built by the Starbuck Car & Wagon Co. of Birkenhead for the opening of the Douglas Horse Tramway in 1876, No.2 patiently awaits custom on Loch Promenade. This car was substantially rebuilt from its original condition, which included the addition of proper staircases in lieu of the original wrought iron open spiral stairs. In common with other cars in the tramway's fleet as direct consequence of a number of serious incidents, No.2 which are easily discernible (Photo: C. Carter)
Double deckers on the horse tramway date back to the opening in 1876, when two 32-seat cars Nos. 1 and 2 were purchased. Six years later, a similar car No. 4 with Nos. 5 and six following a year later in 1883. Two more were built to a lengthened design in 1884 with 36-seat capacity (Nos. 7 & No. 8).
In 1887, the tramway purchased six larger double-deck cars (Nos. 13-18) from the South Shields Tramway. They were the only second-hand tramcars purchased by the corporation. The purchase of numbers 13-18 for £500 4s 4d was criticised at the corporation’s general meeting on the 28th of April 1887, and some of the shareholders felt that the two directors who had inspected them were guilty of bad judgement.
Car 18's driver checks to see if the road is clear before joining Queens Promenade at the foot of Summerhill on the 18th August 1978. Several other horse cars can be seen in the distance in Strathallan Crescent on this rather dull looking day. (Photo: C. Bond Collection)
The corporation found a need for two additional single-deck saloons for winter use, and in 1903 decided to convert South Shields double-deck cars number 17 and 18 to single deck. No. 18 received Hoffman roller bearings in 1935.
None of the original double-deckers survived, being scrapped between 1948 and 1949. However, two of the later larger double-deckers did survive - No. 14 is on display in the Manx Museum (ABOVE March 2025), plus No. 18 as detailed here.
On August 7, 2001 the Douglas horse tramway celebrated its 125th anniversary, initially with a congregation at Derby Castle, where the usual speeches etc took place, followed by a cavalcade of trams to the Sea Terminal and back. At the Villa Marina the trams halted for photographers and well wishers. Alongside double deck horse car 18 and horse Alec is the late Alec Corris, whose expert hands had carefully rebuilt this car back to double deck layout some years earlier. (Photo: Richard Dodge)
No. 18 was re-converted into a double-deck tramcar in 1988 with support from Okells Brewery. A full refurbishment of the tramcar was completed in 2026, part-funded by the Douglas Bay Tramway Heritage Trust.