Isle of Wight Steam Railway

If anyone is thinking of visiting the IWSR this weekend, W24 is running today, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. W24 will also be in steam on Sunday 8th April, when it will be heading the heritage goods train.

Proposed loco rosters are now available on IWSR website. During April there are opportunities to ride behind W24, WD198, 41298 and 41313. Of our operational fleet, that only leaves the two Terriers to make an appearance this year.

The Terriers and E1 W2 Yarmouth are all currently on display in Train Story.

 

How much do the Terriers get used, given that the railway now has 4 much larger locos at their disposal which I imagine are also much more pleasant to crew?

 

They are generally the first choice on the 4-wheel set on two train days and the heritage goods train. They do get a fair amount of use. W8 comes out of service in the summer so that may change.

 

Apart from the Terrier cab height being designed for short Victorians there are no crew comfort problems on the older engines. W24 has a very roomy cab and space to sit down if needed - luxury!

 

Not sure why you’d think that - my own experience is that, for example, our Edwardian SECR engines are far more pleasant to both drive and fire than, say, a BR Standard. The only place where the Standard wins is that the driver’s side prep is rather easier.

Tom

 

I was always given to understand that e.g. the arrangement of the reversing wheel on a B.R. 2MT was far less easy to use than the arrangement on its closely related Ivatt immediate predecessor. Surely it is far too "romantic" to suggest that a fireman would not prefer the rocking grate and hopper ashpan of a 2MT to what is involved in dropping the fire on something Edwardian in design.

The shortly to be published booklet commemorating 140 years since 4o/W11 won her Paris gold medal has a section on how the population has grown in stature since the eighteen seventies. It offers a new perspective on maintaining and operating these ancient machines which are fully capable of earning their keep even now.

PH

 

Not romantic affectation at all: I've done both and hopper ashpans can be a right PITA, especially on your own. Rocking grates can also be sometimes more difficult to clean, at least those of the BR Standard variety. Given the choice, I'd take old over new any day, particularly on a small or medium loco.

As for reversers - not the finest hour of the Riddles design team. Add it to the handbrakes and rotten design of coal hole doors ...

Tom

 

Well, it shows how opinions can vary. The person I discussed this with was enthusiastic. "Just pull two levers and the fire is in the pit" sums up the comments. No struggling with clinker shovels full of red hot debris. I suppose it depends on how much clinker has built up and the general state of the mechanism.

PH

 

" 'The men I want,' Dr. Beeching said,
'are strong in the arm and thick in the head.
Then maybe with determination and will
They can turn this bloody reversing wheel'"

 

Had a very pleasant day reacquainting myself with Calbourne... she looked and sounded superb, credit to the staff at the IOWSR who have got her back to health. My photos will follow a bit later...

If she could come back to the mainland for a few weeks again and save me having to get the ferry (boats and I don’t go together!), that would be very much appreciated!

James

 

Tom,

Are we talking about BR standards or something totally different. They are a doddle to dispose. No problem with the rocking grate; a coiuple of minutes with the lever and the fire's gone. A quick run down the sides with the pricker finishes the job. The ashpan is just as easy to do and a quick swill with the hose will get rid of any sticky ash in the back if it has not already dropped. On shed at 22.30 from a diner and on the second pint by last orders. The reverser only becomes a pain if you are shunting and need to wind from forward to reverse and vice versa. On the road it is doddle and I love driving Standards on the reverser. Just set the regulator, usually on the stop, and control the speed on the wheel. Lever and steam reversers only come into their own when shunting, especially loose shunting. (When was that last done?)

 

My assumption was based on the combination of a much easier prep for the driver, my own personal preference for rocking grates and hopper ashpans over those you have to 'empty yourself', the Ivatts having a more spacious cab with a more ergonomic control layout, the ability to better shut out unpleasant weather when it occurs, and not requiring taller crew members to either be permanently stooping to fit under the cab roof or perched on the outside if they wish to remain upright, as was the experience of our lanky crew members when we had Martello at the GCRN several years ago. I also know of some drivers and fireman who say Terriers are some of the hardest locos to drive and fire around, although Martello left Ruddington with a 100% satisfaction rate in that department

 

I suspect the efficacy of rocking grates. just as whether or not an A1x performs depends very much on the condition of the machine concerned. The best run I have ever had on the IOWSR was behind W11, the "gold medallist" now 140 years old.

PH

 

It is a mighty expensive business and finding suitable rolling stock on "North Island" is not easy. Try the hovercraft!

PH

 

As promised, my shots from the Isle of Wight the other day.



James

 

With 24 hour opening that should not present a problem

 

41313 will be in use later in the week, its first passenger turns on the Isle of Wight.

 

Who needs 24 hour opening? 11.00pm is late enough for me (and I rarely go to the pub before 10.00pm these days.)

 

Good news from the Island this morning, Ivatt Class 2 41313 has just left Havenstreet Station at the head of its first train in public service on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.

The Ivatt Trust passed ownership of their three Ivatt class 2s (41298/313 and 46447) to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway in 2006, all three have now been overhauled and are in service. The overhaul of 298 was completed at Havenstreet, 313 and 447 were overhauled under contract at the East Somerset Railway. 298 and 313 are both in service at Havenstreet, 447 is on loan to the East Somerset Railway.

If all goes to plan, they will be in steam together at Havenstreet during the weekend of 26 to 28th May for our 'Three Island Ivatts' gala. There is also a thread about this on the Galas and Events page.

 

This weekend's Three Island Ivatts gala means that the number of steam locomotives serviceable and available for traffic on the IWSR has reached an all time high of seven.

I suspect that this embarrassment of riches will not be repeated for many years.

The locomotives are:-
A1/x W8 Freshwater
A1/x W11
O2 W24 Calbourne
"Austerity" WD198 Royal Engineer
Ivatt 2MT Tank 41298
Ivatt 2MT Tank 41313
Ivatt 2MT Tender 46447

A great credit to the locomotive engineering team and their associates.