St. John’s Station
Station Name:
Date Opened:
Date(s) Closed:
Lines Served:
Coordinates:
Postal Address:
From Douglas:
Current Status:
St. John’s
1st July 1873
8th September 1968
Peel / Foxdale / Ramsey
54°12′04″N 4°38′29″W
Station Road, St. John’s
8 Miles, 40 Chains
Closed & Lifted
Established as the main crossing point for trains from the line's earliest days and expanded to become the busiest junction on the railway serving three lines. From opening a third class timber structure at the western end of the line served as ticket office and porters' store, for many years the domain of Mr. George Crellin, long-term station master and well-known railway employee who retired into the former Foxdale Line station house across the road which remains in his family's possession to this day. A carriage shed followed and points box controlling the yard, as well as a passenger footbridge which was demolished in 1944, the brick bases for which then served as stores. A level crossing bisected the Peel and Ramsey lines at the western end of the yard, their joint single lines stretching out to the distance.
There was an island platform here and two outer platform faces which served both the Peel and Ramsey lines, through workings from Douglas often being double-headed by two locomotives and split into two portions on arrival. This was a common working and is well documented. Thereafter the two portions often had an unofficial "race" westbound which was another well known operational trait of the railway for many years. A goods yard was provided on the northerly extent with cattle dock and advertisement hoardings, and the carriage turntable and shed were located across the road from the station site on their own dedicated spur. Latterly this area, togetther with the closed Foxdale Line, were used for the storage of redundant freight rolling stock.
After the final passenger trains called here in September 1968 there were still a handful of workings, notably oil traffic and the movement of unrequired rolling stock for winter storage in the carriage shed which lasted until 1974; a disastrous fire in the carriage shed on 10th December 1975 saw many carriages fall victim to the flames, the remains being destroyed by controlled fire the following June and thereafter there was little or no trace of the station. Today the rail supports for the old advertisement hoarding remain, as does the bridge that carried the Foxdale Line at the eastern end of the station; the site is now a car parking area with the goods yard home to a new primary school which was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2000.
Station Building | Carriage Shed | Points Box | Pedestrian Bridge | Water Towers | Cattle Dock | Goods Yard
Viewed from the footbridge looking east with the 1873 station on the right and showing the extent of the platforms, goods yard to the left,.
The final season in 1968 and a train for the west passes the level crossing with a red oval "train following" board attached.
Light locomotive in the goods yard and one of the six0wheelers in the distance with the Foxdale Coach, a regular haunt.
No.8 Fenella is tended to by her driver before the onward journey to the west, the Central Hotel just visible in the distance.
Latter days of the original station which remained in place until the entire site was cleared in 1975, still looking in reasonable repair.
After closure the station building remained in situ in 1974, it was razed to the ground and tracks lifted the following year.
No.6 Peveril arriving with a train from Peel in 1956, one carriage and one van; the Railway Junction Hotel in the background.
Passengers pour from the station to attend the annual open air Tynwald Ceremony in the village showing the level crossing.
After closure with four-wheel carraige bodies abandoned on the platform the site was cleared completely in 1975.
Showing the passenger footbridge which existed until 1944, a train headed for Peel passes beneath it, the bases remained in situ.
April 1950 with the Foxdale Line bridge and carriage shed, semaphore signals protecting the eastern end of the station.
Train of mixed livery rolling stock having arrived from the north showing a typical scene at this busy junction.
Another busy scene at the station with a train of saloons; note the water tower to the left and the Empress Vans in the yard.
Passengers' view of the diesel railcars at the station, the brick structure was one the base for the footbridge, removed in 1944.
No.14 Thornhill taking water at the eastern water tank in 1957, the carriage shed dominating the scene to the left.