miscommunication while detaching a van from a Douglas train at Union Mills was a contributory factor to the 22 August 1925 accident at Douglas. Freight traffic ceased in the 1960s, as road transport was much more effective over the island's short distances. Ailsa's manager, Sir Philip Wombwell, did try to bring container traffic to the railway in 1967/8 and stripped 12 carriages from the F50-75 series of the bodies to act as container flats. The experiment proved unsuccessful as clearance issues prevented containers being carried north of Douglas, and the double transshipment of containers at Castletown – from ship to lorry and from lorry to train – made the traffic uneconomic. Some of the underframes from this project eventually found their way to the Ffestiniog Railway, where they were placed on two foot gauge bogies and used as the basis for some of the "Barn" carriages running on the FR. Far more successful was a contract to haul oil between Peel and Milntown (near Ramsey) for the Electricity Board. Three 'M' series wagons were fitted with tanks, and the oil was worked as tail traffic until passenger trains ceased in September. The service continued through the winter of 1968/9, but was abandoned in May 1969 following the decision to close the Peel and Ramsey lines. Timetabling 1873–1966 The railway operated a modest local train service throughout the year, which was considerably augmented during the summer months to accommodate tourist traffic. Traffic was driven by three requirements: the need to connect with the ferries to and from Britain and Ireland, on-island transportation for tourists, and local passenger traffic. It was common for three or four timetables to be produced each year reflecting seasonal trends, and these would be published in the local newspapers. Winter traffic declined sharply after the 1920s, but it was not until 1960 that the railway was effectively "closed" for spells during the winter, with services only operating on certain days mainly for parcels traffic. This continued until November 1965 when the railway was closed "for essential maintenance to take place". No trains ran in 1966 but the following year it reopened on a seasonal basis as a tourist attraction as detailed above. 1967–1968 Lord Ailsa The entire network was leased by Archibald Kennedy, 7th Marquess of Ailsa and the lines reopened on 3 June 1967 operating an intensive service, especially on the Peel Line, until September; the