Douglas railway station

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A view of Douglas Station showing diesel locomotive No. 17 "Viking", whilst two of the familiar Beyer Peacock locomotives are in the yard, No. 13 "Kissack" on steam tests and No. 11 "Maitland" at the head of a service train; taken from the signal box steps

Douglas railway station serves Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man. It is now the terminus for the Port Erin to Douglas line of the Isle of Man Railway but in the past also served the lines to Peel on the west of the island, Foxdale and Ramsey in the north. The station is located on the southern side of Douglas at the end of the North quay. It has car parking available and is serviced by nearby bus services from many locations on the island.

The station building is Victorian with a grand archway at the end of Athol Street with two gilt-topped turrets, between which a set of steps descends to the station. An entrance at the bottom of the hill avoids the steps.

[edit] History

It is now a fraction of its original size, having previously sprawled across the the perimeter wall that now demarks the local Tesco supermarket, and has undergone much developments in recent years, sharing most of its former yard with the island's buses. The station, now consigned to the corner of the bus yard, was once a grand affair, with two island platforms and full length canopies and a goods yard, all of which were controlled by the signal box, provided by Dutton. The yard was drastically rationalised in 1979, losing a platform, the goods yard and the canopies, the original carriage shed then being severed from the running lines by a bus yard.

The area was redeveloped in subsequent years, and "Banks Circus" headquarters were established there in 1999 providing the island's central bus garage and yard. A new carriage shed was also constructed at this time further up the yar and the signal box was relocated. The majority of the former goods yard is now given over to a Tesco store, which also utilised the reclaimed timber yard site which also boasted its own internal railway at one time.

[edit] Routes

Preceding station		Following station
Port Soderick towards Port Erin	Isle of Man Railway Port Erin Line	Terminus
Disused Railways
Braddan Bridge towards Peel	Isle of Man Railway Peel Line	Terminus