Isle of Wight Steam Railway Carriage and Wagon updates

A substantial number of freight vehicles have been recreated using the original metal and new wood. In a few cases some of the original woodwork was saved. A coal train of four wagons plus van can be operated now. 100% wooden underframes.

Paul H.

 

Of the top of my head we have 4 ex Island van bodies and a fifth LBSCR open wagon to restore. Their is a LBSCR Brake Van at St Helens, I would not be too surprised if there were not a few more van bodies that we do not know about. The IWCR (ex GER) van that Paul referred to was only a couple of miles from Havenstreet but came as a complete surprise to us when we were offered it. Not forgetting the LBSCR Cattle van which is in need of a bit of TLC but is in the meantime perfectly presentable as an exhibit in Train Story

 

Wasn't there a fair investment in freight stock (ex-GER and Midland IIRC) at the start of the Willmott regime in 1911?

I've dipped into the restoration pages quite frequently, but managed to miss the sheer scale of work with totally new timber frames. The results acheived speak for themselves. The Southern coal train looks superb.

As Blue Circle are still in the cement business, I wonder whether they might be willing to sponser a cement wagon or two at some point? Boy, would those, plus the SR coals and the Hucknell's (lovely one, that) and the covered wagons look good behind the E1, as it's probably too cruel to expect a Terrier to lug that lot up to Wooton!

Is the brake van at St.Helens on the shopping list?

 

Heritage freight trains tend to be very light, as the wagons are normally empty! I had charge of one on the Bluebell last year with I think 11 wagons plus a brake and it was only about 110 tons, and 25 tons of that was the brake van!

Tom

 

I recall a TV programme where (I think) 592 ran an unfitted night time freight under WWII blackout conditions. The presenter looked genuinely terrified at how difficult it was to control with just loco and brake van. If that was about the same gross as your example, it brings home just how 'hairy' working long unfitted freight actually was and speaks volumes for the skill of crews back then.

...but doesn't change the fact that I can't wait to see the E1 in steam one jot!

 

It is on the shopping list along with a few other bodies. The wagon work is mostly down to the skill and hard work of one person my predecessor John James, my part was to obtain permission and budgets to allow John off the leash.

 

I retired at the beginning of this year, it is my successor who was responsible along with the catering manager who instigated the scheme to restore the B type container for use as a catering outlet. The work on the container was led by our new carpenter Paul so the excellent work continues, it just goes to show that given the right environment it does not matter who is in charge.

 

Had a walk out by Thorness t'other day, would I be right in thinking this Cowes & Newport carriage must be one of the first to run on the Island? Amazing it's survived.



This is one I wasn't expecting, at the junction with the lane down to Little Thorness Farm - LCDR?

 

Great photographs Christopher. At least one for the IWSR shopping list there!

Agree that the body in the second photo looks more LCD than anything else, but the three louvres (on both visible sets) worry me. Every photo I have of LCD stock shows four. The only other stock with a similar beading pattern I've identified so far were IWC (ex-IWNJ) Metroplitan C&W 4 wheelers, none of which survived to grouping (i.e. were never painted green), though the IWR list does indicate some of that line's Met C&W stock received SR livery (replaced by imported LBSC stock pre-1930), but I've no clear photo identifying any of it. Even then, the IWC 'Mets' had 4 louvres too.

In any event, the house looks too recent for any of the pre-1930 withdrawls... unless, whatever the carriage is, it was moved to there later, or already on-site when the house was built.

 

Confession time, I have lived on the Island since 2007 and have never been to see the coaches at Thorness :-(

 

Perhaps it's an Island thing? Restored 4-wheeler 2515 seems to have three, as does this half of an LCDR bogie coach already at Havenstreet - the latter looks a better match for the one near Thorness going by the width of the pillar between the windows but happy to be corrected.

I've only been to the area a couple of times, it's a bit out of the way and I didn't know there were so many or you could get such a good view from the coastal path. Well worth it.

 

Thinking on making the IWSR more cyclist-friendly, Gary's comment about haulage and the vintage train project led to the thought that there's one missing period piece which might fit the bill.... most horse box vans came with a compartment for grooms. There's a lot of existing stock in need of some TLC before considering this of course, but maybe something to keep in mind for further down the road.

This looks like a pretty luxurious (and very nicely restored) example, but why does it appear to be sitting at such an angle.......??

 

Not so much further down the road as utterly out of sight! The IOWSR is not an enormously big organisation and you are, I'm sorry to say, in danger of standing into WIBN.

In the, IMHO unlikely, event of a mass influx of the Lycra mob, there are three considerations. Firstly the bogie brakes all have sizeable vans. Secondly, the four wheel set, although at present a bit short on van space will shortly gain another brake third. Lastly, Havenstreet platform is limited to five bogies and will not be extended.

Paul H

 

So rar as the lycra set goes, other markets have been identified on other lines. Some ideas mature successfully, others not, though it's almost invariably the type of development which doesn't take place without research and planning. Also, please note that I'm speculating about possible future developments, nothing likely to happen any time soon.

I've certainly speculated about a future with timetables featuring additional rather than longer sets, but I honestly don't see it's possible to extrapolate that I've so much as implied there would be a need for platform lengthening from anything I've posted. In the case of the IWSR, I would join any chorus objecting that such a proposal would utterly destroy the line's character.... so please don't lose any sleep on that score!

Haven Street certainly has plenty to keep everyone busy for the time being... and then some, but please keep in mind that this particular WIBN is intimately tied up with thoughts on how to grow passenger numbers over time. We need to acknolwledge that there may prove to be instances where the IWSR (or other lines) aren't currently best placed to exploit every potential market on offer. If new sources of passengers are identified and prove possible to tap, with some perfectly feasible adaptations, shouldn't we at least be discussing future possibilities and pitfalls?

 

A possibility could be former cattle van 46923 which was converted to a luggage van in the 1930s, it is air fitted and years ago it ran as an addition to the passenger set. It's condition would rule out any return to traffic in the short term but it is in the long term plan for overhaul.

 

As a cyclist and railway visitor, I'm struggling to see where the market is for carriage of cycles on a line as short as the IoWSR. Entirely feasible that you might visit by bike; but I can't see why you would then want to carry a bike from one station to another when you could ride between stations quicker than the length of time it would take to go to the railway, buy a ticket, ride the train etc.

(Carriage of buggies is another matter, though given that the IoWSR is essentially a "round trip" line with limited time at each end, secure storage for buggies at Havenstreet would seem a better solution than loading them onto a train, given the platform length restrictions, especially since from a parent's point of view, a buggy in a brake van is scarcely any more accessible for the duration of the journey than one left behind at Havenstreet).

Tom

 

Agree with this save;-

1. Some do come via Smallbrook where they are far more of a difficulty in the electric trains which have no proper stowage.
2. People coming by private car to Havenstreet may well want to look round in general (remember not everyone is a gricer) and having a pushchair whisked off and stowed in the van by well trained staff is part of the experience of travel from a sunlit past.
3. Sadly, in an era when people have been known to leave explosive devises behind them, people are nor encouraged to leave pushchairs or baggage items behind them. This is true of anywhere.

PH

 

I must admit, I have no qualms about letting folk leave their pushchairs in the brake compartment. I did have one instance where I told them they could leave it and go find a seat elsewhere, and they promptly did leaving the baby inside behind in the pushchair! :O

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

Not denying the 'trad' cycling market for a minute, but a lot of the keener types head out on point to point treks, often as family groups. I personally know quite a few who would only take a break when it's something static, such as an NT property (or a pub in my case!) or something else which usefully dovetails into and advances their journey. Activity holidays are an increasing market with serious untapped potential. Unless a line can cater for these folks too, they're a group which will remain as invisible as now.

 

Convert a few more lavatories into pushchair stowage and the problem is solved (he says mischievously)
PH