Isle of Wight- Strategic Vision

As you say im sure the Terriers (and Invincible) will come into their own more towards the start and end of the season, no point using a bigger loco than what is required.

 

A well set-up Terrier will pull far in excess of what seems right! Do remember that W11 has slightly larger diameter cylinders than W8 and was always thought to be the stronger of the two.

The light wooden coaches help, of course. You could run a nice Main train / Vintage train setup with a terrier and an ivatt too.

 

not sure how the IOW steam railway would be able to run round at ryde , unless island line restrict themselves to one face of the island platform and allow the steam trains to run round using the present platform faces , presonally i would love to see steam back at st johns and with a set of points to allow access to the shankin line ,so that maintanance vehicles could be transfered betwen the two lines ,or if an electric unit breaks down then a diesel shunter could in theory drag it back , would the old 05 (d2554) still fit in the tunnel?

 

Sounds a good idea. A few years ago the steam railway hired it's class 03 and a couple of wagons to island line for maintanance work. They had to be transported by road between the two lines. Crazy really considering the how close the two lines are at Smallbrook.

I assume the class 05 would still fit in the tunnel, wasn't it's cab specially cut down for this purpose?

 

Im not sure...recent rebuilding of the roundabout above the tunnel i thought caused the tunnel to be made even smaller?

does anyone know what the island lines plans are? can they keep on using redundant tube stock as a sustainable solution?

 

Some of the possible developments mentioned in this thread are for the long term, the usual financial constraints will mean that developments will only proceed as and when they can be realistically afforded – the IWSR is in the very fortunate position of owning all of it’s assets and with minimal borrowing, it would not make sense to compromise this position for projects that may possibly bring minimal return. For example, would an extension into Ryde St Johns bring any more passengers? – loadings may well remain similar at the expense of increased train and track mileage and maintenance. However, such an extension would possibly become a necessity should the Island Line ever be shut down, otherwise the IWSR would terminate in the middle of nowhere. As is often the case, events outside of the railway’s control may force it’s hand.

The current ongoing big project is the Rolling Stock Storage Facility (appeal details on the IWSR website!) The ability to store the majority of locos and carriages under cover will bring real benefits; reduced maintenance of the working fleet and conservation of items awaiting attention. This also fits in with the aspiration to eventually transfer engineering activity to Griffins Field, leaving the current Mechanical Engineering Workshop to become the Loco Running Shed.

As mentioned earlier on in the thread, the Strategic Vision document will be discussed at the members day next Saturday, there are some really interesting proposals on the table. If you would like to find out more you could always go down to Havenstreet, sign up as a member and join the meeting. The railway is closed to the public that day although W8 ‘Freshwater’ should be back in service hauling two trains for the membership, her first day in traffic since the autumn of 2007. She is also currently rostered for the public service on Sunday.

http://www.iwsteamrailway.co.uk

 

i think that from an operational pont of view extension to ryde would be finacially viable, after all not all the holidaymakers in ryde use the railway and the ability to pick up the preserved railway locally would mean an additional market, now with my preservationists hat on,any plans to re build a shed at ryde? i would assume that the footings would still be there what i wouldnt give to be able to see a replica shed with calbourne and an ivatt on shed \/ who knows you might even find a buried 02 [-o<

 

Yes, with two terriers on the Isle Of Wight already, the Spa Valley is the best place for Sutton.

The E1 is a different kettle of fish. Others may be able to correct me, but from what I have read, I think that the boiler has had it and the owning group doesn't seem to have got the cash to finance a replacement. If this is correct, a move to the Isle of Wight would be its best chance of steaming again. I never saw it in action on the ESR and would love to see it working. Although the LBSCR is one of the best represented pre-grrouping companies loco-wise with 13 examples having survived (plus the replica 32424 Beachy Head under construction) 10 of these are Terriers, the eleventh is Gladstone which is highly unlikely ever to steam again, so currently the only non-Terrier LBSC engine that has run recently is "Birch Grove", so the sight of a working E1, particularly with a new boiler to the original pattern, would be very welcome. If the owning group can find the money to get their engine going again, all the best to them, but if not, it would be great to see it move to the Isle of Wight. Still, whether or not this happens, we have 41298 and 41313 to look foward to - and, of course, Calborne back in action soon. Must pay a visit before too long!

 

At one point there was a plan to replace the trains with 1972 tube stock, when it becomes redundant in London in about 5 years. I have a feeling they gave up on this idea on though because of the cost.

I think there was once an idea to use 1959 tube stock as well.

Obviously some sort of replacement will be needed before too long, the current trains are 70 years old!

 

Good timing - the final draft of the 'strategic plan' has just been uploaded to the IoWSR's website - click here (pdf).

Chris

 

The document makes excellent reading and all seems very well considered.

Have there been any ideas/plans to provide a home to the ex LUL '38 stock when it is eventually replaced? It can't be more than 5 years or so until they are replaced by something else, and the ISWR ('Steam' excepting) would be a natural home for this stock in what has become its natural habitat. If it were 03-hauled then it could make an interesting heritage set, or even used as a static unit as a display at another location... or am I being fanciful?

 

The document seems to suggest they'd like a carriage or perhaps a section of body - an entire unit wouldnt be useable, would take up a lot of space and besides the LT museum have an operational 4-car train. That said, i dont think its something people need to worry about for quite some time yet - the cost of maintaining such relatively simple and reliable stock is going to be cheaper than either replacement or modernisation for many years yet.

Chris

 

Interesting coupler combination! #-o

 

Send it home ? Sarah Siddons and another heritage unit get occasional outings on LUL.

 

It's the same train, my friend, that heritage unit is a restored 1938 stock four car unit. I doubt they have any interest in gaining any more of the same, tbh. I think it would be good if a driving motor car could be saved for the IWSR and displayed somewhere with access. Dinosaur livery, of course 8-[

 

Exactly. When the IOW units are withdrawn I would have thought the LT musuem would only be interested in them for spare parts for their restored train.

The LT museum are currently working on restoring another heritage unit, this time of 1923 stock. This will partly be made up of ex IOW stock, which LT bought back when BR withdrew them in 1989.

 

The IWSR web site now has a report of the launch day of the Stategic Vision, the press release gives a good summary of the vision and adds additional explanation. The day included the offical handover of the three Ivatt locomotives from the Ivatt Trust to the IWSR and was also W8 'Freshwater's first day in passenger service since 2007.

http://www.iwsteamrailway.co.uk