Manx Name:             Balley Beg
Preceding:                Castletown
Next:                           Colby

Distance:                   11 Miles, 40 Chains (From Douglas)

Opened:                   1st August 1874

Closed:                     Seasonally (Since 1967)

Origins

The diminutive station consists of only a small wooden hut which acts as a shelter for waiting passengers; this current incarnation was originally erected as a permanent way hut and remains locked, but a small lean-to canopy was added in the 1980s for waiting passengers.  Originally the station was provided with a much more elaborate edifice more akin to the building at Santon Station albeit on a smaller scale.  Given the station's distance from the village that bears its name it has never been a busy stopping place, and one must imagine that the position of station master must have been a solitary one!

Closure

The station ceased to be manned prior to World War Two.  Barely discernable in the undergrowth on the south side of the station is are the remnants of a windlass which once operated the signal that was used by the station staff to warn the oncoming train that it needed to stop.  Immediately to the south of the station the line passes underneath the main Castletown to Colby road, famous for being used as the Southern 100 course each July.  In more recent times, the station was tended to by local supporters who added flower baskets, old-fashioned advertising signs and the like, making it one of the most picturesque yet tranquil stations on the line. A blackboard was put in place and cheerful notes regularly updated on it, for the passing traveller to observe, but this practice has latterly stopped. There does remain in situ however and "Isle of Man Ferry Express" container which was cosmetically restored by local enthusiasts.  This was used on the railway in the 1960s as part of an unsuccessful attempt to introduce freight traffic to the line.

Today

Considerable changes were made at this site in 2002 when a pumping station for a local sewerage network was installed. The station carries bi-lingual station nameboards in keeping with policy, and these were installed in 2008; it remains as a request stop only and is a popular destination for photographers.