Work on Castletown Railway Station recognised
CASTLETOWN Railway Station is the last remaining wholly-original station on the island’s steam railway network, and thanks to the efforts employee Grant Taylor, the listed building is looking better than ever.
Grant’s work improving the area didn’t go unnoticed by former Castletown commissioner Carol Quine, who has nominated him for the green award in the Flybe Pride in Mann Awards.
Carol said of him: ‘Grant goes above and beyond his duties, often staying late or doing things on his day off. He also spends his own money on things like planks, coal, logs and picture frames.’
Grant only works for Isle of Man Transport as a station master on a part-time basis, so much of the aesthetic work he has done is in his own time.
‘People say I’m mad, but I spend my days off there because I can! I get paid to do my hobby,’ said Grant. ‘I spend a lot of my free time down at the station doing things like painting, helping out because the full-time staff are over stretched.’
He sees his biggest achievement as the station’s waiting room.
‘When I started four years ago, it was just an empty room, but I transformed the place,’ said Grant.
It now boasts a coal fire, and the walls are adorned with memorabilia and old photographs. Some are donated or bought with donated funds, but others are bought from his own pocket.
Much of Grant’s work is to give the place as much of an authentic feel as possible.
‘I recently put up the old-fashioned signage and blackboards,’ he explained. ‘I do the odd things, the historical things, and take initiative to do bits that the railway wouldn’t get around to as they’re busy running trains.’
He has also put his gardening skills to use.
‘It all stems from keeping busy between the times of the trains coming through,’ laughed Grant. ‘We now have a large flower bed running alongside the station made of railway sleepers, it adds colour. And we have twice as many hanging baskets as last year, thanks to a donation from Castletown Commissioners.’
The station was built in 1874, with local limestone, and starred in the Thomas the Tank Engine movie filmed in the island in 1999. It made an early impression on Grant; he has childhood memories of the station as his parents were from the town. He is a lifelong railway enthusiast, and his first job out of school was at Douglas Railway Station.
As a station master, he is able to channel that enthusiasm into Castletown.
‘People who haven’t been through the station for a while always comment on the change,’ said Grant. ‘The visitors book is nearly full, and it only went in at the start of the season!’
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