Peel Railway Station Stashoon Phurt Ny H'inshey | |
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The Isle of Man Railway Co., Ltd. | |
The Station (After Closure) | |
Location | Station Place, Peel, Isle of Man, IM9 5LR. |
Coordinates | 54°13′19″N4°41′51″W / 54.2219°N 4.6974°W Coordinates: 54°13′19″N4°41′51″W / 54.2219°N 4.6974°W |
Owned by | Isle of Man Railway Co., Ltd. Now Manx National Heritage |
Line(s) | Peel Line Between Douglas & Peel |
Platforms | Three, Half-Raised Various, Goods |
Tracks | Four Running Lines Various Sidings |
Construction | |
Structure type | Station Building Water Tower |
Parking | Roadside |
History | |
Opened | 1 July 1873 |
Closed | 9 September 1968 |
Rebuilt | 1902 |
Services | |
Toilets, Waiting Room, Booking Facilities |
Peel Station was a terminus on the Isle of Man Railway; it served the city of Peel in the Isle of Man and was the final stopping place on a line that ran between Douglas and the city. It was part of the island's first railway line.
The station was built by the Isle of Man Railway and opened on 1 July 1873. [1] The station was located at the end of the railway line from Douglas via St John's to the town of Peel. The decision to locate the station by the harbour was taken late in 1872 when the Isle of Man Railway abandoned plans to extend the line to Ramsey. The station building was located next to Peel harbour. A small goods depot was situated next to the platforms, on the side farthest from the harbour.
Most trains from Douglas to Peel were combined with trains to Ramsey. The two sections split at St John's. The IoMR timetable for July 1922 shows twelve trains arriving at Peel from Douglas on weekdays. Nine were 'split trains', whilst three were complete trains from Douglas. The first arrival was at 8:58 am and the last was at 11:40 pm. The average time taken for the 12 miles from Douglas was 40 minutes. [2] Regular trains ran to and from Douglas until the line was closed on 13 November 1965. Services resumed on 3 June 1967, but ceased permanently on 7 September 1968. [1] The reopening day of the line in 1967 saw the celebrations centred on this station and nearly all the railway's serviceable rolling stock was on site together with five steam locomotives on the day, and a fair held on the station forecourt to mark the event. The last time a locomotive was on the site was in 1998 as part of the Steam 125 celebrations marking the anniversary of the line's opening when locomotive No. 1 Sutherland was operated on a short section of temporary track in the car park which was once the island platform. At various times there have been plans to create short sections of track from the station but none of these have ever come to fruition, though the Manx Transport Museum Group have their headquarters in the nearby former brickworks office, holding a number of railway-related items.
After the final trains departed in 1968 the station remained in situ for a number of years. The rails were lifted in 1975, and then the site was surfaced and used as a boat park; the main station building also became a fisherman's shelter and the goods shed was converted in 1979 to house the replica Viking longboat Odin's Raven which was constructed in Norway and sailed to the island to commemorate the millennium of the island's own parliament in that year. The locomotive shed at the eastern end of the yard was demolished at the same time as the rails were lifted, having become unsafe following a fire that engulfed the wooden lean-to some years previously, although the water tower beside it has survived and now forms part of a visitor's centre operated by the local heritage trust. This site also now houses one of the railway's original 1873 carriages, which has recently been cosmetically restored. The site remained in this format until 1998, when the award-winning visitor's centre was developed on the site. Next to the station is the Creek Inn, once called the Station Hotel; today it is a popular venue for live traditional music, and also features displays of old photographs and posters of the time the railway served the city.
The building that now forms a display area for the House of Mannanan in Peel was originally the terminus of the Isle of Man Railway It was used as a fishermens' shelter after the line closed. The building replaced the wooden original built for the opening in 1873. It was built in 1911 partly from distinctive local sandstone. In a picturesque harbourside setting, the station was a busy one. Lifted after closure in 1968, it is the most "intact" of the line's closed stations, with the station itself, water tower (now part of a transport museum) and goods shed still extant. The goods shed became home of the replica Viking longship "Odin's Raven" in 1979, but now houses an audio-visual display area as part of the museum. At the eastern end of the station next to the water tower was once the locomotive shed, long since gone, but an original four-wheel coach body is now on site as a potential restoration project for the museum group. The quayside on which the site sits has been considerably redeveloped in the last few years: many nearby buildings have been overhauled and repainted in period style; the area is having something of a renaissance as a popular destination with trippers and holidaymakers. The River Neb, next to the station site, has also had a marina facility installed. A contemporary designed toilet and shower block has also been installed on reclaimed land close to the former locomotive shed for use in connection with the vessels housed at the marina. Denoting the position of the former railway line, a replica fishtail semaphore signal stands at the end of the station yard, together with a small set of replica level crossing gates.
Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
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Terminus | Isle of Man Railway Peel Line | St. John's towards Douglas | ||
Terminus | Isle of Man Railway Knockaloe Branch | Knockaloe Internment Camp 1915-1920 |
Peel is a seaside town and small fishing port in the Isle of Man, in the historic parish of German but administered separately. Peel is the third largest town in the island after Douglas and Ramsey but the fourth largest settlement, as Onchan has the second largest population but is classified as a village. Until 2016 Peel was also a House of Keys constituency, electing one Member of the House of Keys (MHK), who, from September 2015, was Ray Harmer. Peel has a ruined castle on St Patrick's Isle, and a cathedral, seat of the Diocese of Sodor and Man.
The Isle of Man Railway (IMR) is a narrow gauge steam-operated railway connecting Douglas with Castletown and Port Erin on the Isle of Man. The line is 3 ft narrow gauge and 15.3 miles (24.6 km) long. It is the remainder of what was a much larger network that also served the western town of Peel, the northern town of Ramsey and the small mining village of Foxdale. Now in government ownership, it uses original rolling stock and locomotives and there are few concessions to modernity.
The Midland Railway – Butterley is a heritage railway at Butterley, near Ripley in Derbyshire.
The Groudle Glen Railway is a 2 ft narrow gauge railway near Onchan in the Isle of Man, on the boundary of Onchan and Lonan, which is owned and operated by a small group of enthusiastic volunteers and operates on summer Sundays; May to September and Wednesday evenings in July and August along with a number of annual special events.
Douglas railway station is the main terminus of the Isle of Man Railway and is located at the landward end of the quay in Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man. It was once the hub for now closed lines to Peel, Ramsey and Foxdale.
Castletown Railway Station is an intermediate station on the Isle of Man Railway on the Isle of Man forming part of sole remaining section of the once extensive network that operated across the island. The station is the busiest of the railway's intermediate stations, being the closest to a number of local visitor attractions. In peak season service trains often pass here, making the station one of the railway's more active stopping places. The station occupies a site within walking distance of the main town and is in close proximity to the local playing fields.
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.
The Manx Northern Railway (MNR) was the second common carrier railway built in the Isle of Man. It operated as an independent concern only from 1879 to 1905.
The Isle of Man Railway Museum in the village of Port Erin in the Isle of Man is a small museum of the history of the Isle of Man Railway from its founding in 1873 to the present, including the now-closed lines that served Peel, Ramsey and Foxdale, and the remaining line to Port Erin which forms part of the southern terminus.
See also Transport in the Isle of Man.
The Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association Ltd (IoMSRSA) is a railway preservationist group dedicated to ensuring the continued operation of the Isle of Man Railway on the Isle of Man. Since its inception in 1966 the group has provided volunteer workers, acted in a watchdog role and undertaken the restoration of the Groudle Glen Railway on the island, as well as supporting projects on the railway and producing a journal Manx Steam Railway News regularly.
The rolling stock used on the Isle of Man Railway today is entirely original but the serviceable passenger coaches number 14, out of an original total of 75 carriages. The railway was provided with a variety of stock from different manufacturers over its time, and types of coach were categorised according to a lettering system, with the original four-wheeled coaches being of A, B, C and D types, and so on. The types of stock can be summarised as follows:-
The locomotives of the Isle of Man Railway were provided exclusively by Beyer, Peacock & Company of Manchester, England between 1873 and 1926; other locomotives that appear on this list were inherited as part of the take-over of the Manx Northern Railway and Foxdale Railway in 1905, when the railway also purchased two more locomotives from Beyer, Peacock. All the steam locomotives have or had the 2-4-0T wheel arrangement, apart from 15 Caledonia which is an 0-6-0T.
This article details each of the lines operated by the Isle of Man Railway, including the original line to Peel in the west, opened in 1873, followed by the Port Erin line the following year, as well as the Manx Northern Railway's line between St John's and Ramsey and the Foxdale Railway's line between St John's and Foxdale (the latter two of which were independent companies bought out in 1905 by the Isle Of Man Railway Company.
Steam 125 was a series of events held in 1998 to mark the 125th anniversary of the Isle of Man Railway opening its first route from Douglas to Peel the railway ran a large number of special events. Most notable was the return to service of the original steam locomotive No. 1 "Sutherland" which hauled special services all year, including excursions on the Manx Electric Railway; other highlights included night trains, arranged photography sessions, slide and film shows, unusual tram trips, and visiting locomotives on the Groudle Glen Railway and many more. This was the last of the "big" railway events on the island, which had begun with the "Year of Railways" in 1993 to mark the centenary of the Manx Electric Railway. Although there are still annual events periods on the island these are now a very half-hearted affair and do not bring the enthusiasts as they once did.
Union Mills Railway Station was an intermediate stop on the Isle of Man Railway; it served the village of Union Mills in the Isle of Man and was a stopping place on a line that ran between Douglas and Peel. It was part of the island's first railway line and the first official stopping place.
Kirk Michael Railway Station was an intermediate station on the Manx Northern Railway (MNR), which ran between St. John's and Ramsey in the Isle of Man, later owned and operated by the Isle of Man Railway; it served the village of Kirk Michael.
St John's Railway Station was on the Isle of Man Railway (IMR), later merging with the nearby station of the Manx Northern Railway (MNR); it was the junction of lines to Douglas, Peel, Ramsey and Foxdale. It was close to Tynwald Hill.
Ramsey Station was a station on the Manx Northern Railway, later owned and operated by the Isle of Man Railway; it served the town of Ramsey in the Isle of Man, and was the terminus of a line that ran between St. John's and this station, which was the railway's headquarters.
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:-