Isle of Wight Steam Railway

This dates from pre-grouping days, although, due to the line's penury the FYN's small passenger fleet also included vacuum braked stock!

 

Definitely heading to the island - shame the man in the foreground is blocking the number on the nearer O2, or we could probably date it - between mid 20s and late 30s as Paul says.

 

There's a somewhat similar photo on the back cover of the current "Invicta" (journal of the SE&CR Society) showing an ex-LCDR bogie coach suspended above the rooves of several others. The date is given as "July 15th" without a year, but assumed to be 1930 or 1931 as the date those coaches went overseas.

Tom

 

Several O2s and LBSC coaches were sent over in 1936 so could be then.

 

Knut, air-braking was much more common in the pre-1923 British railway system than the preserved scene really conveys. The grouping companies all had major constituents which used air brakes (with the arguable exception of the Great Western only really having one major constituent), but all four decided to standardise on vacuum. Take the LNER; the NER, NBR, GER and GNoSR all used it and Gresley A1s were built with air brakes for the northern areas in early LNER days. The Southern had the LBSCR, the LMS the Caledonian (and the Glasgow and South Western had used it extensively earlier in their history). Scottish companies in particular seemed to favour air brakes, probably because brakes really mattered up there.

The Great Eastern area stubbornly held onto it for Liverpool Street suburban services, because they insisted they couldn't run the intensity of service with vacuum brakes, so the N7 class ran with air-braked Gresley quint-art sets to the end of steam on those services in BR days, and nearly every class that had been fitted under the GER kept their air-braking equipment (much as many did on the LBSCR area of the Southern).

The Isle of Wight, being an isolated system, didn't need to be compatible with anywhere else, and there was a ready supply of air-braked stock and equipment becoming redundant from the LBSCR, so it never changed, even when that meant fitting air brakes to the LSWR O2s that the Southern decided were eminently suitable for the system. The preserved line keeps to that tradition.

 

In addition on the Southern, the LCDR was also an air-braked line - a consequence of which for the Isle of Wight was that in as well as redundant LBSCR carriages being shipped over, numbers of ex-LCDR and later ex-SECR were also suitable for transfer to the Island as they were replaced with more modern vehicles on the mainland.

Tom

 

That wonderful evocative sound of a Westinghouse pump working hard just before departure of a train... the expectation and anticipation of departure timely that results!

It is something rather unique to the IOWSR (the WHHR is the only other I know of), and very special for Isle of Wight Railway devotees.

Cheers,
Julian

 

You have missed Caledonian 0-4-4T No. 419 off that list. Has been running regularly on the Bo'ness and Kinneil over the last month or so and will be out for the Steam Gala on 2nd & 3rd of November.

 

Not so unique nowadays, with several main-line steam locos now having air pumps , including 45231 that had just been so fitted when it worked the Sugar Loaf Mountaineer. (Apolgies for thread drift.)

 

Thank you so much for your additional information! Very interesting to read!

Knut

 

I was referring to a steam loco working the entire stock of coaches to which it is attached, all Westinghouse braked, as you will only ever now experience on the Isle of Wight in standard gauge. Exactly the same sound can be heard in 2019 as in all the old recordings of the IOW railways pre and on 31st December 1966.

It is something quite special I submit. That accelerating "pant pant pant pant"!

If you haven't a clue what I am on about then do please visit the IOWSR!

Cheers,

Julian

 

Julian, if the sight of island railways makes you pant like that, you need to calm down either that or allow more time to catch your train

 

Surprised by how little mention the recent Four Island Engines gala and the withdrawal from service of Calbourne has received on here. Either way, I attended on the Saturday and had an enjoyable day despite the blustery conditions. Trains seemed well filled, especially the second service off Smallbrook Junction with Calbourne and the four wheelers which was a very tight squeeze to get every one on! Only minor niggle was that Calbourne was stuck with the four wheelers all day until the final service back to Smallbrook when it ran with the bogie set. Would have been nice to see it do more runs with the bogie set but can't have it all.

One shot from me of Calbourne passing through Ashey can be viewed below. Full caption can be read by clicking on the link:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/69575101@N06/48855324453/in/dateposted-public/

 

Saw some great footage of this event, looked to be a good time for all concerned I'd say. Calbourne as always looks stunning in this pic here, and hopefully it won't be long till she's back in service for the railway's big 60th anniversary in a couple years time.

As for Calbourne being stuck on the 4 wheel carriages all day, I wouldn't know for certain myself but I wonder if maybe as it prodominantly works with the bogie carriages, they figured for it's last hurrah so to speak it could run with the 4 wheelers for a change? Just a guess.

 

I too visited the railway on the Saturday of the 4-Island Engines gala and had a nice day. Its great to see the bogie set back up to 5 carriages. My video of the day is here - its nothing special and I only have a small camera but it may be of interest.

 

I rather enjoyed that , thank you.

 

The Ivatt 2-6-2's look wonderful, a credit to the railway, I know the actual and potential history of BR std Cl.2 2-6-2 getting to Eastleigh in the 60's to be prepared for use on the island so the antecedent Ivatt design use on by the IOWSR is perfectly acceptable... It's just to my eye they look too modern to go with all those delightful 4 wheeler's and early bogie coaches. I know the availability of other suitable motive power is limited but its like seeing Victorian liveried engines with BR Mk1 stock it just looks off.

That said very nice video js5654, I really must visit the line next time I'm in the UK.

 

W

Was there a plan to bring more modern coaches over in the 1960s to go with the BR class 2 tanks?

If so perhaps another what might have been could be created?

 

Not nearly as "off" IMHO as most of the equipment used on the vast majority of leisure railways. There are several photographs of both 41298 and 41313 hauling pre-grouping rolling stock when new.

Incidentally I.W.R. No. 10 was withdrawn from service some years prior to the first 02 arriving on the I.O.W. so its use behind W24 the other day is, itself, an anachronism technically.

 

I believe that their was a plan to bring more modern coaches over with the BR 2 tanks but nothing was available that fitted the Islands limited loading gauge. So over to plan B and the ex LT electric units.