In June 2023 we spent a lovely two weeks on the Isle of Wight. A visit to the local steam railway was mandatory of course.
1 At first I did not understand why the English are so wild about this island, but when we returned home I found it a fabulous place to stay. The costs of getting there are almost forbidding: 850 Euro for the return trip Hoek van Holland - Harwich and an extortional extra £300 for the just 2x45 minutes return trip to the Island from Portsmouth which means we had spent 1350 euro's (including fuel) only to get there. On the bright side: we had two weeks of wonderful weather, only half a day of rain, half a day of sea fog and the rest was as bright and clear as you see on this photo with temperatures hovering around 25C.
2 The Island is famed for its railway and for the remaining stump that is now home to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway
3 The railway system on the Isle of Wight used to be extensive. It mainly served the tourist traffic. Much has been written about it, so no need to go into much detail about it. You may want to read this WikiPedia article to find out more. Suffice to say after many closures just one line remains in commercial operation, from Ryde to Shanklin (in green), and another one, Smallbrook Junction - Wootton (in blue), is in operation as a heritage railway. I visited the latter. The yellow oval shows where we stayed
4 The first view when entering the premises at Haven street. We those to board here because here's where te depot is. So we took a train ride to Smallbrook Junction, then from there along the entrity of the line to Wootton and then back to Haven Street.
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7 Lamb Henry (a joke only British people will immediately understand, Lamb Henry is a pretty standard item on the menu lists of pubs) leads the way into our compartment.
8 Henry is always with us on our travels
9 Me, at work at the end of the platform
10 And this is what I was trying to record
11 This is really what I came for: the single surviving and operational O2-class steam locomotive. This 0-4-4 class was the quintessential IoW motive power. Although 60 were produced and ran on many lines of the Southern Railway system, they are best associated with the Isle of Wight Railway vice versa. Built in 1891 this locomotive is now 132 years old.
12 Just shy of 50 metric tons she develops a tractive effort of 7800 kgf, which is impressive for a locomotive this size.
13 For the lovers of shunting, well this was a gem!
14 She advanced from the stable yard onto a siding...
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18 ...then switched back onto passing loop on the mainline...
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24 ...and then set out onto the mainline....
25 ...to run around the train....
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27 .. to take the train towards Smallbrook Junction. A pretty complicated manoeuvre.
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29 Arrival at Smallbrook Juction
30 Smallbrook Junction is accessible from the mainline Ryde-Shanklin so may people boarded here
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32 And the loco ran around the train to lead it towards Wootton
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37 Some detail photos
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40 backing up against the train
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45 The inside cylinders and motion
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53 Henry enjoying the ride
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55 Passing Haven street
56 Exchange of the tokens. This is a primitive but effective way of train protection. The driver holds up the token of the previous section the train just left and is receving the new token for the next section. A token fits in a station apparatus and is made so that only one train can enter a certain section. No token no entry to the section. The tokens are actually in the leather pouches, the hoops are only to catch them without stopping the train.
57 Arrival at Wootton, again handing over of the token.
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62 and inevitably ...running around again.
63 Approaching Haven Street for the last time
64 Haven Street depot is home to quite a few locomotives. Two of them are Ivatt Class 2.
65 Here's the other one. The class numbered 128 in total and was built between 1946 and 1953. The BR Standard Class 3 was derived directly from the Ivatt Class 2s and added another 30 to the total.
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77 We moved from the platform to the museum
78 But not after a last hug...
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80 ...and farewell
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84 Apart from the platform (1) the museum consist of three more parts: 2. A display of small collector's items and short history of the railway 3. Workshops (not publicly accessible but very well in view) 4. The shed where much of the rolling stock is brought in to protect it from the elements
85 A gorgeous model of the O2 immediate drew attention in the museum
86 as well as many a name plate
87 Another class that provided good service on the island: a Stroudly Terrier
88 An example in what state rolling stock is not uncommonly found and returned to the railway. Is it restoration or new build? Who can tell?
89 But many many hours return a splendid result.
90 Spot the seven (thousand) differences. Personally I think there is little orginal in the result.
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94 Tte other Class 2, out in the yard
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100 In the shed
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102 This 0-6-0 Barclay Ajax dates from 1918, almost thirty years younger than Calbourne we had in front of our train. It was an industrial locomotive, was send to Persia in WW1, returned from there to continu its working life and in 1972 was brought privately into preservation. It worked on the IoW railway from 2005 to 2014. Since expiry of its boiler certificate it is awaiting restoration.
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106 A nicety of the shed is that you may enter the coaches and enjoy their interiors. Although the trains were relatively well used, the shed was as good as empty, so we could simply enjoy our time there without thronging masses and crying children
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108 The command post of a push-pull carriage. From here the driver controlled the locomotive at the other end of the carriage.
109 Henry loved the first class
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113 A Stroudly Terrier dating from 1878
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119 Well Invincible just looks sort of "vinced". 1915. Again an industrial locomotive, built for the Woolwich Arsenal, so for a military railway, with 17 class mates.
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122 When electrification set in, old London rolling stock was adapted for use on the island
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126 When we returned to go to the book shop and the café we had another meet with Calbourne
127 Henry was here!! The bookshop was simply gorgeous. I really had to contain myself.
