Isle of Wight Steam Railway

My shots of the wonderful Calbourne this weekend. She's such a lovely locomotive.

http://locoyard.com/2015/04/16/the-mighty-calbourne/

 

More Isle of Wight photos this time featuring Newport and the brilliant little freight train
http://locoyard.com/2015/04/18/newport-on-the-freight/

 

Not many goods trains get hauled by a gold medalist either. W.11 was awarded one at the Paris Exhibition as far back as 1878.

Paul H

 

Changed a bit in the intervening 130-odd years though!



Tom

 

Rather less than you or I would in such a time though!

I should have added that she is believed to have been the first locomotive to have demonstrated the Westinghouse brake in Continental Europe.

Paul H.

 

Thanks for posting the link to these excellent photos. No doubt that this is one of the finest heritage lines in the UK and its too long since I last visited!

 

Entirely co-incidentally, the latest issue of the Brighton Circular had some information about old No. 40's trip to Paris. The driver was George Aylwin, who was something of a favourite of Stroudley's and had been appointed as the Brighton Works "trials driver", testing all the new engines out of repair. The article continues:

"He [Aylwin] certainly held Stroudley's confidence and was chosen to go to Paris with No. 40, Brighton, for the exhibition of 1878. The Board voted £90 for the enterprise; and never was £90 better spent. On March 28th Aylwin ran the engine light to Portsmouth Harbour. There she was shipped on L.B.&S.C.R. Honfleur for transport to Dieppe, calling at Newhaven. She then ran under her own steam to St. Lazare running shed. Next day Aylwin was asked to run No. 40 with a train on French metals to demonstrate the Westinghouse Air Brake, which the L.B.&S.C.R. had just recently adopted (1 January 1878). He was also selected to work Edward Blount [NB - of the Gladstone class - TJ] similarly on the P.L.M. in 1889, but very unfortunately, owing to illness in his family, was obliged to cry off, and Wm. Love went in his place."

Tom

 

Does the medal still exist?

 

Alas, if it still exists, I understand its whereabouts are unknown. With the silly prices realised by more prosaic railwayana, the amount of money which would be required to secure its public display if it did re-surface is hard to imagine.

A bit off topic I know but related, does the gold medal won by the Caledonian single wheeler remain? She is, I think, the only remaining machine, apart from W.11 to have been so honoured but is never likely to turn a wheel "in anger" again.

P.H.

 

Rather sobering to think how old the terriers are and I think its safe to say they'll probably out live me! You have to say our Victorian Forefathers certainly built things to last (yes I know certain bits have been replaced but still.)

 

Is this because they did not design for a certain lifespan, as people do now?

 

I think todays thinking is 'make it last for x amount of time, then they have to buy a new one' complete change of direction from the 'build it like a tank and it should still be good in 30yrs time'

 

Stroudley built his engines to last, specifying good quality materials and care over finishes. Even so, I suspect even he may have been surprised to see several of his engines still running 140 years after they were built! The accountants assumed they would wear out, and priced them accordingly, even if the engineers didn't

Perhaps even more remarkable: When the first Terrier entered preservation, it was 85 years old but considered something of a relic even then, though conceivably there were still people alive old enough to remember her when new. It's now 55 years later and we must be getting to a point where the majority, or at least a very sizeable minority, of steam engines still running in preservation are 85+ years old, even the relatively "new" ones!

Tom

 

Gary Walker has just posted some great photographs of Newport on the goods train last Sunday on his flickr page:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gwalkeriow/

 

Error!

 

How soon are we likely to see the Ivatt tank running on the IoW?

 

Is the loco roster on the website generally accurate? It's showing an Austerity + a Terrier for the 1940s event this weekend. I'm coming anyway, but surprised that a post war loco is preferred to W24 for this event?
I'm only asking because I won't bother taking the serious camera kit if the roster is right. I'd be most grateful if anyone can give me the heads up!

 

I think that it is right, at the moment only W24,W11 and Austerity available, soon to be joined by a fourth loco and then a fifth.

 

It tends to be generally accurate, allowing for mechanical "happenings".I cannot speak on anybody's account but it seems to me that the 1940's event is not aimed at the railway enthusiast but more at the general holidaymaker. W.8. W11 and W24 are all well over a century old and it would be all too easy to run them to excess. As it is you are much more likely to see an authentic train here than just about anywhere else as is the case the following week.

PH

 

Yes the Austerity engine is built after WWII but the class was introduced on the 1st January 1943 and is very fitting engine for 1940's event.