Isle of Wight Steam Railway

A popular choice, I know of at least three 4mm models of Merstone!

 

It had a very comprehensive track plan for such a small station. Oodles of possibilities for a spot of shunting the branch train clear of the ..... mainline (!) to allow services to cross in a way that never happened nearly often enough in reality! Dinky little goods yard, at the site of the origin station east of the crossing too.

 

For some reason I heard those words in my head as intoned by Sir Humphrey ...

Tom

 

Reading the general postings on NP, including those of our Isle of Wight Correspondent, I get the sense the ideal is:

• Historically accurate, and possibly fragile, rolling stock in routine use
• Under cover storage for all such rolling stock to protect it from the elements
• A level of traffic sufficient to ensure the financial health of the railway in question
• Variety of off-train, on-railway attractions to keep passengers engaged when not riding trains
• Modern standard passenger amenities, particularly plentiful toilets and car parking
• The bucolic country atmosphere of the sleepy branch line with the afternoon slumber but occasionally punctuated by the wheeze of an old train, in no hurry to go anywhere and with little requirement to make allowance for anyone actually choosing to travel

Good luck meeting all those requirements! The IoWSR does at least do considerably better than most. Perhaps all railways need a covered fiddle yard, rail-connected but otherwise well removed from the core railway, for such amenities as workshops and covered storage. Of course, fiddle yards normally hide just out-of-sight behind a convenient scenic break. Now, about that bridge at Wooton ...

Tom

 

I'm flattered. Perhaps if I'd got through the Fast Stream exam, I might have become a Sir Humphrey...

 

Enquiry: Have the mass withdrawals of Westinghouse fitted TfL Underground stock provided any braking kit useful to the IWSR?

 

Now the IWSR has had the Ivatts in service for long enough for crews to get to grips with their particular quirks and foibles, how are they in service compared with Calbourne, or the Austerities (comparisons with the Terriers don't strike me as unduly useful) ?

(Thinking coal & water consumption, prep and disposal time, plus crew comfort)

 

Depends on crew preferences. I fired on Sunday and was quite glad to have an Ivatt to ease into the new season . The rocking grate is really super, not to have to dig the fire out first thing is a luxury! Despite being physically a big loco they aren't that much more powerful than the O2, which itself will pull our heaviest train with ease and steams it's head off... Both have comfy cabs, pretty evens I think. Nicer feeling loco brakes on the Ivatt, but the O2 is simpler...

Austerities are not as nice, but that isn't a fair comparison...let's come back to those when the E1 is running!

 

I wish it to be known I didn't set that hare running!

That's some testimonial to the excellence of Mr Adams' design. Nice to know there's so much more to W24 than it's looks and unique status. Evidently, the new SR made a first rate decision in the aftermath of grouping. Drummond boiler or no, I still mourn the loss of W31.

 

I think the O2s are a fine example of being just enough power to cover all traffic requirements whilst being small and simple. From a crew perspective they have a nice big cab, ride very well and are master of the job...you can see why the old boys must have loved them. My only gripe would be that I'm 6'3" and the cab roof is lower than you think, particularly at the sides, but that wouldn't have been a high priority in 1897!

Somehow the Ivatt is a bit noisier to work on, but you get simpler prep and disposal. Similarly it is master of the job and I find it easy to fire. The bunker doors could be better but that really is nitpicky!

The austerities are ok, but not as nice as either of the other types...but hey, it's good to have the variety sometimes. The E1 will be interesting in due course too

 

I was always under the impression the E1 was essentially an enlarged and more powerful Terrier, having broadly the same control layout.

But the biggest advantage being that, unlike with a Terrier, both driver and fireman can actually fit fully in the cab!

 

Rather larger than a Terrier - it’s essentially a goods version of a Stroudley D tank 0-4-2T.

It’ll be interesting to see it next to a Terrier but I suspect people will be surprised at how large it looks in comparison (or, just how small a Terrier actually is).

Tom

 

Ah I see, interesting to know, thanks Tom.

Though on the matter of how small the Terriers are, I would have thought it was already apparent to most how small they were are, surely? I mean compared to the O2 they must look pretty small right? Unless the O2 are not considered all that big either, which I guess compared to other surviving examples of that type (0-4-4Ts), they are pretty small.

 

Believe it or not, from photos taken back in IWCR days, the Terriers looked pretty large alongside Nos.1-5 and 8 !

 

When you see a Terrier next to eg a Wainwright P, the Terrier always looks small to me, even though they are in fact very similar in dimensions. I think it is because the P is a bit taller, so looks bigger.

Weight is hard to judge by eye, but an E1 is almost half as much again as a Terrier (about 44 vs 28 tons) so it is a step up. Most of the surviving pre-grouping 0-4-4Ts are in 50 - 60 ton sort of range; the O2 being at the bottom end of that, an H class in the middle and an M7 at the top.

Tom

 

I’ve seen the E1 next to a Terrier and can confirm that it is considerably larger, I did take photos at the time but sadly I don’t have access to them since I retired.

 

There was also an 0-6-0 version of the O2 design...sadly none of those survive or it would make for even more interesting comparisons!

I've heard the E1s rode badly due to poor (or non-existent) wheel balancing, be interesting to see how that manifests at our speeds.

 

heres a photo of the E1 alongside a A1x: https://www.flickr.com/photos/59985...fuz-o45Rmh-o4cbqZ-o4bNDH-o451iW-nLHHbk-o29dEN

 

The Adams G6, the very last survivor of which (DS682 ex-238) went in 1962:

https://sremg.org.uk/steam/g6class.shtml

On their riding, the E1s on the IoW were rebalanced for passenger use (not sure if all four were so treated, or whether the rebalancing was done locally, or wheelsets sent to Eastleigh). For much of their time on the island, they found favour on the summer through working "The Tourist".

 

Calboune has a boiler taken from a withdrawn G6, so there is a bit of G6 still around