Isle of Wight Steam Railway Carriage and Wagon updates

The August update is now on the website, it has been delayed by the presence of glitches which prevented its publishing.

http://www.iwsteamrailway.co.uk/news/carriage-and-wagon-news-august-2014-134.aspx

 

Gary, I see from the latest photograph on your Flickr page that the Railway is to obtain another four-wheeler. Is this the Billinton saloon 7996?

 

Yes it is, this is the one that we have wanted for a long time. It is a 1st class family saloon that was used as an inspection saloon after its arrival on the Island. It is one of the few coaches where we will be able to offer any sort of catering, probably something like cream teas. Although the seating capacity of 12 means that it will be a bit limited.

It could be added to a train, a little like a private hire saloon, it is quite possible that it will jump the queue for restoration.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gwalkeriow/14971624989/

 

Whats the history of this vehicle , then Gary? i assume its being donated from an island site? i can see the reasoning behind having such a vehicle for hire, will you be incorporating a large viewing window in one end to give any parties a way to view the line, it may be useful for your PW manager, but make him take his dirty boots off first
one way to increase the possible usage, may be to not have a viewing end, but fit it with gangways, and use it with the Ventor West push and pull set as a 3 car rake, when on hire

 

I would hope, to the contrary, that with the exception of the deletion of the lavatory and the incorporation of the space so released into the pantry, the very minimum of alteration is done to the vehicle. Surviving family saloons are mighty rare; this might even be the only one and the potential for exclusive groups, weddings and so on is obvious. Unlike many other special vehicles (especially catering ones) it won't have a daft tare weight to lug around either!

So please, no extra windows and certainly no gangways, especially if the means messing around with the equally special Ventnor West set as well.

Paul H

 

Paul, the point is this, the low seating arrangement would make it a very hard vehicle to market, ,the Push and pull set is already fitted with coridoor conections, and did run as a 3 car set, what it would allow the railway to do would be to run the set as a separate rake when it wants to run cream teas etc you would be able to attract larger groups i dont think it would alter the vehicle to that much degree and they could always lock the doors , between the coaches and charge a supliment when its not needed for catering use

 

Each end has three windows with the centre one being a droplight! I very much doubt it will be gangway fitted even at one end. Our main policy it to restore as accurately as possible to the condition that it was in whilst in service with BR or SR on the island.

 

Thank you for clearing that up Gary, so do you know what its history is, i should assume it was sold out of service ,if it was an inspection saloon, as normally wouldnt departmental stock be just broken up.

 

It was withdrawn in 1934 and owes its survival, like the rest of the IOWSR's four wheelers, to subsequent use as a holiday chalet. A glimpse at C Hamilton Ellis' "Railway Carriages in the British Isles" (unrivalled in its coverage of the social aspects of railway travel) suggests this must have been one of the last built for milord was about to forsake the railway for his new 24h.p. Panhard et Levassor.

It seems it was downgraded from first to third in the late pre-grouping era although I wonder if it had originated with the smaller compartment as second class for the servants. At any event according to Maycock &Reed (Isle of Wight Steam Passenger Rolling Stock) it went into Lancing works to be converted for its new IOW use in 1924, losing its centre axle (it was originally six-wheeled) in the process but being re-upholstered as an all-first. Did it, I wonder, get fitted with the end windows and the lookout duckets at the same time. It never seems to have had guards facilities.

Whatever the history, this is one heck of an interesting vehicle.

Paul H.

 

A little further information, it was built in 1898 at a cost of £870-9s-1d. It was built with duckets the only change being that they were narrowed down to 8' 9" after 1911. We have found evidence of the same on LBSCR brake 3rd 4115.

It was built as an Officers Inspection Saloon, although it was to be allowed to be used by the public in times of pressure!

 

I know of at least one other (ex-LSWR) on another railway, though currently unrestored and I suspect not very high up the restoration queue, with more emphasis being put on ex-Brighton and ex-Chatham vehicles. There has been talk that it might make a suitable candidate as a wheelchair accessible vehicle (given the internal layout) but that is all a long way in the future.

Tom

 

Maycock and Reed quote 9'2" as the width, which presumably was as originally made. Did something get walloped in the tunnel leading to Hastings from St. Leonards? The vehicle gets more and more interesting.

Paul H.

 

It would be good if we could offer light refreshments once this carriage is restored. However, we need to be mindful of what happened to A B MacLeod, the Island's railway manager in the 20's and 30's. In his book 'Rails on the Isle of Wight' he recounts an incident when the Southern Railway's Chief Operating Officer was using the saloon for a tour of inspection. The VIP had demanded tea en route. Apparently the water was boiled on a primus stove 'in a cubby-hole at the end of the saloon' between Freshwater and Ningwood. The tea was then poured out but much of it slopped onto the tablecloth while running down the 1 in 57 onto the Calbourne viaduct!!

 

The September Carriage & Wagon update is now available on the IWSR website.

 

There's also MSLR 1509 (body on PMV underframe) at Tanfield.

Edit: Actually if you search VCT under type 'SAL' you will find several.

 

Two things. Firstly I did look in the category (eventually!) and found the references. However how many of these stand any realistic chance of return to use (particularly in a heritage railway scene seemingly obsessed with large and heavy vehicles) I could not say.

Secondly, thanks to Gary Walker, it is clear that this Brighton Railway vehicle is an officer's saloon rather than the family saloon I had supposed.

Paul H.

 

Officers Saloon,? so i assume mere mortals were personal non grata white washed wheels, . buffers you can see your face in , or an i thinking wrong type of officers so is this going to be your own personel coach then Gary , your new office, to make it harder for people to find you ,

 

That doesn't sound like me at all, my duties are very mixed, so far today I have done a little welding, milled out a 90mm hole in a 15mm thick headstock, cleaned the machine and put all the tools away, answered umpteen emails, written about a 1,000 words for the next Island Railway News, spent approx. 1 hour driving the 03 to brake test and reorganise our ballast wagons, then driven the Barclay shunter to leave a space for a vehicle to be hand shunted first thing in the morning and answered this! Oh and of course a little bit of supervising.

An Officers Saloon? no not for me

 

The October C&W update has now been uploaded to the IWSR web site, Gary Walker and his team continue to make impressive progress in all areas. The good news this month is that the underframe overhaul of LBSCR 9-compartment third 2416 is really pushing on now - hopefully the body will be back on and the carriage back in service for next season.

http://www.iwsteamrailway.co.uk/news/carriage-and-wagon-news-october-2014-145.aspx

 

The civil engineers were out and about on the IWSR this weekend, dropping ballast ready for the tamper to visit early next year. The train consisted of Class 03 D2059, 4 hoppers (2x 24 ton DOGFISH, 2 x ex LT 20ton) and a SHARK Brake Van. All in BR Black livery. Not content with the superb work they do on the historic C&W fleet, Gary and the team have done an excellent job on the engineers wagons as well. Take a look at the pictures on the IWSR website - very smart!

http://www.iwsteamrailway.co.uk/news/ballast-trains-operate-in-perfect-autumn-weather-147.aspx