Santon railway station

Santon Railway Station Stashoon Skylley Stondane
The Isle of Man Railway Co., Ltd.
The 1875 Station Building
Location	Off Castletown Road, Santon Newtown, Malew, Isle of Man, IM8 4RR.
Coordinates	Ordnance Survey National Grid 54.1182°N ′4.5841°W
Owned by	Isle of Man Government Department of Infrastructure
Line(s)	Port Erin (South) Line Between Douglas & Port Erin
Platforms	Two, Half-Height Raised One Bay Siding, Half-Height Raised
Tracks	Two Running Lines Bay Siding
History
Opened	1 August 1874
Closed	1958 (Seasonal Since 1965)
Traffic
Passenger Only (Since 1965, Goods, Livestock & Freight Previously)
Services
Waiting Shelter - Historical Displays - Seating - Limited Parking

Santon railway station is a request stop near Newtown in the parish of Santon, Isle of Man; it forms part of the sole remaining line of the Isle of Man Railway which once encompassed over 46 miles of network and retains its original station building. The halt sometimes plays host to Santa's Grotto each December as part of the railway's Santa Trains service although between 2010 and 2013 it was not utilised for this purpose. The railway station is situated off the A5 Port Erin to Douglas road, between the railway stations of Ballasalla and Port Soderick.

When the land was surveyed in 1872 for the formation of the railway it was originally intended to call the railway station here (or hereabouts) Ballavale; although the name persisted in many items of paperwork and on plans the railway station has always been known as Santon despite being some distance from the "Newtown" area which is today considered to be the village area.

To the north of the railway station the line passes over a road bridge and travels along an embankment; immediately after leaving the railway station environs the line passes under the main Douglas to Ballasalla road and thereafter onto another much larger embankment across the Santon Burn to the occupational crossings of Ballalona and Ballastrang farms. The latter is the sole remaining manned level crossing and retains its manually operated gates.

The railway station is the last on the line to still boast its original 1874 building; however, similar structures were in place at Port St Mary, replaced 1898; Ballasalla, replaced in 1985 and Colby demolished in 1980. The building is of simple style, being of timber construction with corrugated iron roofing, painted in an cream and red style unchanged since the late 1960s. It includes the station master's accommodation and porters' rooms as well as a passenger waiting shelter recessed from the running lines. In 1985 the railway station building was cosmetically restored at the expense of the now-defunct Isle of Man Railway Society and attention was given to the wooden slatting that form its exterior walls; a better form of wooden window shutters were also added at this time, the previous incarnations having been somewhat crude affairs. Upon completion of the project a large sign board denoting the improvements was erected over the porters' room window, but this was later removed when the group became defunct. In the intervening years no further remedial work was carried out and the condition of the building deteriorated considerably until it received further attention in 2002 as part of the redevelopment of the railway station when the entire infrastructure of the railway was overhauled. It has had a recent repaint in 2014. Hanging baskets and flowers added plus a bench on platform opposite the railway station building. The railway station is occasionally used for crossing trains during special events as 'Rush Hour' and the annual Santa Trains each December.

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Wikipedia