Union Mills Station - Union Mills, Isle of Man
Posted by: 
Mike_bjm
N 54° 10.171 W 004° 31.334
30U E 400627 N 6003452
The former Union Mills Station is on the east side of the A1 at Union Mills just south of its junction with A22.
Waymark Code: WMTYA3
Location: Isle of Man
Date Posted: 01/23/2017
Views: 1
Union Mills Station was one of the original stations on the Isle of Man Railway's Douglas to Peel line. The station was opened with the line on the 1st July 1873 to serve the nearby village of Union Mills. The Douglas to Peel line was a single track narrow gauge railway but a passing loop was provided at Union Mills.
When the station opened it was not provided with raised platforms but interestingly one raised platform was provided on the westbound (Peel) line in 1906/7. Passengers heading towards Douglas continued to board trains from rail level.
The station was situated in a cutting and was connected to street level by a set of steps that still survive today. Passenger facilities were provided by a wooden building situated on the eastbound (Douglas) side of the station.
When the Station opened in 1873 it was served by trains running between Douglas and Peel. At some point after September 1879 some through services from and to the Manx Northern Railways St Johns to Ramsey line operated through the station. In 1905 the Manx Northern Railway was taken over by the Isle of Man Railway and services operated from Douglas to both Peel and Ramsey.
The isle of Man Railways remained very busy throughout the first part of the 20th Century especially during the summer months when the Island became one big holiday camp. However after the Second World War traffic began to decline and Union Mills Station was closed to passengers in November 1954. However it appears that trains still dropped passengers off at the Station site during the following summer.
Services on the Douglas to Peel and Ramsey lines continued to pass through the site until the 13th November 1965 when all of the lines on the Isle of Man Railway system closed due to the condition of the track which had received only minimum maintenance for may years.
A rescue package was put together which saw Union Mills Station re-open with the line on 3rd June 1967. However financial problems continued to plague the Isle of Man Railway and the Douglas to Peel line closed along with all of its stations on the 7th September 1968. The St Johns to Ramsey line had closed on day earlier.
Various attempts where made to re-open the Douglas to Peel and Ramsey lines but eventually they were sold for scrap and lifted between 1974 - 5. Today the track-bed through Union Mills forms part of a long distance footpath and cycle-way and there is a short section of track on its original alignment with a rail-mounted crane on permanent display.
Source:http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/u/union_mills/
Is the station/depot currently used for railroad purposes?: No
Is the station/depot open to the public?: Yes
If the station/depot is not being used for railroad purposes, what is it currently used for?:
The Station is on the Heritage Trail footpath from Douglas to Peel. The is an 8-ton crane dating from 1893, on display on a short section of by the Peel-bound platform.
What rail lines does/did the station/depot serve?: The Station was a passenger station on the Douglas to Peel line of Isle of Man Railways.
Station/Depot Web Site: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please post an original picture of the station/depot taken while you were there. Please also record how you came to be at this station/depot and any interesting information you learned about it while there.