Level railway station

The Level Yn Laare
The Isle of Man Railway Co., Ltd.
The 1887 Crossing Lodge
Location	Off Shore Road, Rushen Parish Isle of Man, IM8 6YR.
Coordinates	Ordnance Survey National Grid 54°05′29″N 4°43′16″W
Owned by	Isle of Man Government Department of Infrastructure
Line(s)	Port Erin (South) Line Between Douglas & Port Erin
Platforms	One (Short), Raised
Tracks	One Running Line
Construction
Structure type	Crossing Keepers' Hut
Parking	None (Roadside)
History
Opened	1 August 1874
Closed	Seasonally Since 1965
Rebuilt	1877
Previous names	Isle of Man Railway Co.
Traffic
Passenger Only / Goods Formerly
Services
Waiting Area Only

The Level (sometimes referred to as Colby Level or simply Level) is a seasonally operated request stop on the Isle of Man Railway located in the sheading of Rushen on the Isle of Man. This is the sole remaining section of the railway which once spanned over 46 miles with lines to Peel in the west, Ramsey in the north and the mining village of Foxdale in the centre of the island.

The crossing point was established with the opening of the line on 1 August 1874 where the railway bisected a small road between the main Colby to Port Erin Road and the coast road passing the nearby Kentraugh House; it became an unofficial stopping place for the local populous shortly afterwards and by 1877 plans had been made to provide a substantial crossing keepers' hut which was later accompanied by a keepers' lodge house. The surrounding rural area grew although initially the stop was not mentioned officially in any timetable literature.

This diminutive request stop serves the hamlets or individual houses of Level (Rushen), Croit-E-Caley, Kentraugh, Ballagawie and Ballakillowey. The 1 km section of line from the previous station (Colby) is straight and has a level crossing for Kentraugh Farm in the centre of it; to the west, towards Port St Mary, the line curves to the left on the approach to the next crossing for Ballagawne Farm and continues to Four Roads crossing. In more recent times a housing estate called Strawberry Field has been established a short distance from the halt, this was installed by the local authority. Until recently the road that leads to the level crossing also served the local Level Garage and until well into the 1990s trains carried motor parts from Douglas for dropping off at this point; the garage was closed in 2000 and the site has since been redeveloped into residential housing. The village that has built up around the level crossing site has been expanded considerably since the arrival of the railway making the halt frequently utilised during the summer months. A large private residential dwelling was established directly behind the station site from 2004 and this now dominates the railway premises with tall conifer trees; the area is now somewhat more residential than before.

The title is believed to derive from the once prolific mining activity in the surrounding area, being a reference to the "level" of one of the mine adits; the mine ruins are still discernible in the hills directly above the area. It is one of two areas that carry the colloquial name, the other being Level Rushen, although the two are often confused as they are in the same sheading of the island. The name was adopted by the railway when the site officially became a request stop as early as 1928 when it first appeared in the timetable. Today the painted running-in board declares the halt as The Level (bilingual since 2008 to include the Yn Laare translation into the gaelic) but in the past it has been variously called Colby Level, Level, Level (Rushen) etc., and a metal nameboard stating Colby Level - Crossing installed in 1973 remained in place until 2013; the timetable uses "The Level" in all literature. The origin of the name comes from the stretch of main road at the top of the lane that leads from the level crossing, being a straight level section when macadamed, the name being used in local parlance ever since. The halt is usually timetabled in the railway's literature but the 2011 timetable for example omits to give the stopping places; the halt however remains open as a request stop despite this. It is also called the level due to the adit level at Colby, as part of the Ballacorkish mine near Colby. Today, all references to "Colby" are removed from timetabling literature in order to avoid confusion with Colby Station itself which is a mandatory stopping place whereas The Level remains a request stop only.

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Wikipedia