Home South Line (1874) Port St. Mary

Manx Name:             Purt Le Moirrey
Preceding:                The Level
Next:                           Port Erin (Terminus)

Distance:                   14 Miles, 16 Chains (From Douglas)

Opened:                   1st August 1874

Closed:                     Seasonally (Since 1967)

Origins

Opening in 1874 when the line was completed,  the station was originally complimented by a wooden station structure with corrugated iron roof similar to the original station building at Douglas but at around the turn of the century this was replaced by the impressive two-storey station building that is extant today.  The casual observer could easily assume this to be the railway's terminus judging by the grand station.  It is the only "proper" station on the line to not have a passing loop, owing to its close location to the southern terminus and remains under the ownership of the railway but has been largely out of use since the 1970s and 1980s when it was used in conjunction with the "Campamarina" holiday camping company.  At this time the railway passed over the use of the whole building, and the station staff were subsequently housed in a garden shed-type structure on the platform.  When the usage changed in the 1970s, the canopy structure that runs parallel to the platform was bricked in and remains so today, although latterly the station master is once again housed in the building itself.  The station, despite having no passing/run-round facilities, does boast a substantial goods shed served by a dedicated siding which was lifted in the 1970s but reinstated in 2002.  When reinstated, the siding was not connected to the imposing goods shed, however in the winter of 2007/2008 rail connections were restored.  The goods shed was used as a set for the filming of the film Thomas & The Magic Railroad along with several other railway locations.  In keeping with current policy, the station received new bi-lingual nameboards in 2008 in a standard maroon and cream colour scheme (the previous colouring here had been black, white and grey).  On the northerly side of the level crossing there is a gatekeepers cottage which is now a private dwelling. To the rear of the station is the Railway Hotel.  Having been largely unoccupied for several years, the station masters' accommodation was relocated in the late 1990s to the building itself and the garden shed structure was removed. The building itself has been the subject of several restoration/conversion attempts but all of these have been fruitless to date. However in 2008 a local developer is understood to have received permission to convert the building into apartments, whilst retaining the frontage of the platform area, removing the bricked-up canopy added in the 1970s and restoring much of the charm of the railway-orientated site. Work has not commenced to date.