Ronaldsway Halt ( Manx: ''Stadd Roonysvaie'') is a request stop on the

Isle of Man Railway The Isle of Man Railway (IMR) ( gv, Raad Yiarn Vannin) is a narrow gauge steam-operated railway connecting Douglas with Castletown and Port Erin on the Isle of Man. The line is narrow gauge and long. It is the remainder of what was a mu ...

between Castletown and Ballasalla at Ronaldsway, near the

Isle of Man Airport Isle of Man Airport ( Manx: ''Purt Aer Vannin'', also known as Ronaldsway Airport) is the main civilian airport on the Isle of Man. It is located in the south of the island at Ronaldsway near Castletown, southwest of Douglas, the island's ...

. Passengers wishing to board the train here can signal the driver to stop the train; to alight from the train the guard must be notified in advance.

Location and environs

The halt is situated behind the Ronaldsway Industrial Estate beside the Silverburn River at the midway point between the stations at Ballasalla and Castletown. Ronaldsway is the site of the

Battle of Ronaldsway The Battle of Ronaldsway took place in 1275 at Ronaldsway in the southern part of the Isle of Man between a Scottish army and the Manx. The battle crushed the final attempt by the Manx to re-establish the Norse Sudreyar dynasty. As the battl ...

in 1275, which saw the Isle of Man transfer from Norse rule to Scottish rule; keills were excavated here and these now form part of historical displays at the Story Of Mann in Douglas. On the west side of the halt is a large field known as the ''Great Meadow'' which was once a horse racing track and later played host to the island's annual southern agricultural show; there were special trains for both these events.

History

The halt was introduced in 1967, to compete for airport traffic with buses and taxis. At that time there was just a simple nameboard, and the halt was mentioned only intermittently in timetables. As part of a major overhaul of the entire line as part of an all-island sewerage network in 2001, a pipeline was laid beneath the railway line and the permanent way completely replaced, the halt received a small waiting platform consisting of built up sleepers.

Traffic

Because of the short walk from the airport, air passengers leave and board trains here; it is also a popular drop-off spot for walkers, being close to the

Millennium Way The Millennium Way is a long distance footpath on the Isle of Man. The path is approximately in length, stretching between Castletown and Ramsey. The footpath was opened in 1979 to mark the thousandth year of the parliament of the Island, Tynwa ...

footpath established in 1979.

Nameboard

The halt's name is that of the nearby airport. For the 1971 season only it was re-titled as ''Great Meadow Halt'' in reference to the large field and one-time race course that lies adjacent to the halt. When bilingual Manx/English nameboards were introduced on the line, a replacement nameboard was added in 2009 showing the Manx Gaelic name of ''Staad Roonysvie'' and is still there today.

Route

References

* James I.C. Boyd ''Isle Of Man Railway, Volume 3, The Routes & Rolling Stock'' (1996) * Norman Jones ''Scenes from the Past: Isle of Man Railway'' (1994) * Robert Hendry ''Rails in the Isle of Man: A Colour Celebration'' (1993) * A.M Goodwyn ''Manx Transport Kaleidoscope'', 2nd Edition (1995)

External links

Castletown Station

Isle Of Man Guide

Online Reference Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ronaldsway Railway Station Railway stations in the Isle of Man Railway stations opened in 1967 Airport railway stations 1967 establishments in the Isle of Man