Douglas Railway Station - History

History

The original Douglas Station was a 60' by 30' wooden structure with a zinc roof approximately on the site of the present booking hall. Beyond this building two platform faces were provided with a loop and a siding between them. A freight platform, goods shed and sidings were provided to the south of the passenger station, and a locomotive shed and small carriage shed stood in front of where the present locomotive shed and machine shop are at the end of the surviving island platform. Two additional platform faces were added in 1874/5 for Port Erin line trains, and a three road corregated iron carriage shed was built in 1875, roughly where the Bus Vannin garage is today. The original station was replaced in stages between 1887 and 1909. After 1909 it was not significantly altered until 1979 when it was reduced to about half of its maximum size. In its heyday, Douglas Station sprawled across the sites of the present station, the local Tesco supermarket, and the Bus Vannin garage and offices. The south side of station site has undergone much redevelopment in recent years. Much of the former freight yard is now occupied by Tesco's supermarket, and the site of carriage shed and yard by the bus depot. The station is now consigned to the north side of the site reduced to one island platform with dedicated run round loops and one siding on the far north of the station, added during modifications in 1999 to create further outdoor storage for non-passenger vehicles..