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Port Erin railway station

Port Erin Railway Station
Stashoon Phurt Çhiarn
The Isle of Man Railway Co., Ltd.
Port Erin station - geograph.org.uk - 1703196.jpg
The Replacement 1903 Station Building
Location Station Road, Port Erin,
Isle of Man, IM8 2WE.
Coordinates Ordnance Survey National Grid
54.085°N 4.758°W″
Owned by Isle of Man Government
Department of Infrastructure
Line(s) Port Erin (South) Line
Between Douglas & Port Erin
Platforms One, Raised
One Bay
Tracks One Running Line
Various Sidings
Construction
Structure type Station Building, Goods Shed
Loco Shed, Carriage Shed
Parking Dedicated, Adjacent
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened 1 August 1874
Closed Seasonally Since 1967
Rebuilt 1894 / 1903 / 1975 / 2016
Traffic
Passenger Only (Since 1969, Goods Previously)
Services
Patrons' Toilets, Waiting Room, Booking Facilities, Coffee Shop, Historical Displays, Dedicated Museum, Railwayana Dioramas

Port Erin Railway Station is the western terminus of the Isle of Man Railway in the village of Port Erin on the Isle of Man; it is the sole remaining outer terminus of the railway. Until 1968 there were termini at both Peel and Ramsey in the west and north of the island respectively.

This station was the second established terminus of the Isle of Man Railway: the first opened at Peel in 1873. The railway initially considered building its southern route only as far as Castletown, 7 km (about 4.4 miles) to the east of Port Erin, but due to increasing tourism on the island, especially at the seaside resorts of Port Erin and the nearby Port St Mary, the line was extended all the way from Douglas to Port Erin, a distance of 25 km (just under 16 miles). The station soon established itself and became a focal point in the village, and it maintains this status today. Facilities were considerably expanded between 1902 and 1909, the site expanding to its greatest extent before the start of the First World War.

Following extensive refurbishment, the station won an Ian Allan Heritage Railway award in 1990, but since then only remedial work has been carried out to the station's intricate and distinctively carved wooden fascia boards and other paintwork. In 1999 the traditional "picket" style wooden fencing was removed from the platform area and replaced with tall metal security fencing (to protect the bus yard in the former platform area) which detracted from the picturesque setting.

The station has historically carried a bilingual station nameboard reading "Purt Çhiarn/Port Erin" attached to the side of the locomotive shed; in 2008 following new policy, the other nameboards are also bilingual but these have been painted maroon and cream. This contrasts with the green and cream livery applied to the station area, but is consistent with the rest of the line. There are plans to change the station colour scheme to maroon as part of a corporate makeover of the whole railway.

The station is unique in having a public right of way bisecting the long platform and, in bygone days, longer trains (rarely seen today) would have to uncouple whilst loading prior to departure to ensure the right of way to the nearby Athol Park was not blocked. At the eastern end of the station is a level crossing (one of only two crossings still manned on the railway) across Droghadfayle Road. Until the yard trackwork was relaid in 2000 the locomotive crew had to open and close the gates whilst "running round" to couple onto the train for departure, but this can now be done without disturbing traffic.

On opening, the Port Erin terminus consisted of the mainline, a run-round loop, departure siding, and two further sidings one serving the original locomotive shed and the other for goods. The original station building was almost identical to the one that survives at Castletown, but was constructed of slate rubble. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the station facilities were all to the west of the pedestrian level crossing that bisects the later Edwardian station. The rather limited facilities reflected both the comparative newness of Port Erin as a seaside resort in the early 1870s, and also the financial difficulties faced by the Isle of Man Railway in completing the South Line. However, after the opening of the railway, Port Erin developed rapidly, overwhelming the original facilities which were systematically replaced from 1902 to 1905, with further extensions in 1912 and 1914.


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