Isle of Man Railway level crossings and points of interest

One of the characteristics of the Isle of Man Railway are the numerous level crossings and farm crossings along the various routes; many smaller crossing places are marked only by gates the criss-cross farm land and provide access to individual private roads which connect the farms to the main roads. Being largely rural in nature the railway has many of these scattered along the existing South Line, and there were, as one might expect, many more on the closed sections of the railway. These can be summarised as follows, along with other points of interest along the line not covered in the Isle of Man Railway stations section:-

The first major structure on the line, carrying it over the River Douglas before the climb through the Nunnery Cutting, the original bridge was replaced in the winter of 1979.

The first level crossing on the south line, remaining ungated until the addition of automated barriers in 2001, it served the access road to an isolation hospital of the same name, demolished and replaced with a youth correctional facility in recent times. The two-storey gatekeepers house was also demolished and replaced; in 1993 a train collided with a car here.

Site of the all-island sewage works, a new bridge over the railway was constructed here in 2001.

A request stop also titled Ballacostain was established here for the adjacent rifle range, used by pupils of King William's College in Castletown. The site of the grass platform is still barely discernible today.

This is the first "proper" level crossing on the south line of the Isle of Man Railway and can be found on the south side of Santon station; it serves an adjoining farm of the same name. The crossing was provided with a small hut similar in style to the one at Mill Road further along the line and this is retained though out of use, being constructed of slatted timber with corrugated iron roof.

This crossing is complete with its own (now privately owned) crossing lodge which was sold off and replaced with a common or garden shed in more recent years. The crossing was the subject of controversy in 2002 when all crossings on the railway were automated. The local farmer who utilises the crossing refused to allow the railway to install the automatic barriers as it had elsewhere and so therefore this remains the final surviving manned occupational level crossing on the railway, and indeed on the island.

A farm crossing on the approach to the station at Ballasalla. It has been unmanned since automation in 2002 when the traditional level crossing gates were replaced with modern lifting barrier controls. This crossing, despite only serving a nearby farm, is typical of the rural community and features a large (now derelict) gatekeeper's two storey house, once alleged to have been home to "Blackcurrant Jack", somewhat of a local legend who was once employed as crossing keeper and used to walk the line collecting blackberries for making jam between the train services.

...
Wikipedia