Peel Road was a station on the Manx Northern Railway

Manx Northern Railway

The Manx Northern Railway was the second common carrier railway built in the Isle of Man. It operated as an independent concern only from 1879 to 1905.- History :...

, later owned and operated by the Isle of Man Railway

Isle of Man Railway

The Isle of Man Railway is a narrow gauge steam-operated railway connecting Douglas with Castletown and Port Erin in the Isle of Man. The line is built to gauge and is long...

; it served the area known as Poortown in the Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

 and was an intermediate stopping place on a line that ran between St. John's and the northern town or Ramsey

Ramsey railway station

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 final stopping place on a line that ran between St...

.

Origins

The station opened as Poortown in and served the hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

 of the same name on the outskirts of the westerly town of Peel. It was the closest station on the Manx Northern Railway

Manx Northern Railway

The Manx Northern Railway was the second common carrier railway built in the Isle of Man. It operated as an independent concern only from 1879 to 1905.- History :...

 to the city and prior to its establishment the company considered either a spur or terminus station there, ultimately selecting a route to St. John's which connected with the Peel Line of the Isle of Man Railway Company

Isle of Man Railway

The Isle of Man Railway is a narrow gauge steam-operated railway connecting Douglas with Castletown and Port Erin in the Isle of Man. The line is built to gauge and is long...

. The station was a request stop and appeared erratically on the company's timetable literature throughout its early years.

Buildings

The facilities here consisted of a simple wooden station building with corrugated iron roof which sat next to short raised platform. This was later accompanied by a grounded van body which was used as a permanent way store. The station was renamed Peel Road in 1885 to reflect the fact that it was the railway's station closest to Peel, although it is also thought that the original title was derisory to the local inhabitants and the railway had received a number of requests to re-title the station. At one time there was a sharply curving siding off the running line which facilitated the collection of stone from the nearby quarry, but the opening and closure dates are unknown.

Closure

The station was officially closed in and removed from all timetable literature after this point. Trains did however still stop at the station upon request; Despite remaining open until this time, it became an unstaffed halt as early as 1937. It was still in evidence during the final season of operation in 1968 but its remote location in comparison to the locale from which it took is name ensured that it was very little used in later years.

Today

Other than the vague outline of the old platform in the undergrowth and the bridge that carries the Poortown Road over the railway line at its northern end, there is little to remind us of the station here today. The buildings which were derelict when the railway closed in 1968 were demolished in 1975 at the same time as the rails were lifted. It forms part of a public footpath and may still be accessed by a sloping driveway above.

Route