MIXED TRAFFIC
Mixed Traffic… Remember that?
If you’re one of the thousands of readers who have hundreds of copies of SR bearing down on the beams in the attic, then it’s a fair bet that you do.
For those who don’t, it’s probably because the column, once a household fixture, drifted away a good six years ago. It was where comment, funnies, snippets and general miscellanea that didn’t quite fit elsewhere found their niche.
Whether MT becomes a permanent fixture once again, appears just occasionally, or whether this is a simple one-off, remains to be seen.
‘Why now?’ you might ask. Especially if you’ve been reading this issue from front to back and discovered that there is yet more space devoted to Isle of Wight ‘O2s’.
Hopefully with good reason. Because one area that I wasn’t able to include in the ‘Living with…’ feature (page 42) was the perennial idea that occasionally floats to the surface of the waters that lap the shores of the island: to build a second Adams 0-4-4T to keep Calbourne company.
Perhaps it’s the lingering sense of regret that the opportunity to save the other 1967 survivor, No. W31 Chale, couldn’t be taken. The Wight Locomotive Society barely had the funds to secure one engine, while interest from the mainland from the likes of the Bluebell and Severn Valley came to nought, partly owing to the additional cost of hoiking it back across the sea.
Or perhaps it’s the simple dream of seeing a pair of ‘O2s’ criss-cross at Havenstreet, once an everyday sight in Southern Railway and Region days. Now impossible.
Except it isn’t, because you could build a replica.
But there is scepticism for such an idea. Not least from two of the volunteers quoted in the feature. Len Pullinger says that it would be “absurd” when the priority should be keeping the other original locomotives going. “You could say it’s a pity we didn’t get one of the others, but you can’t have everything and we’ve made the
YOU CAN’T HAVE EVERYTHING AND WE’VE MADE THE BEST OF WHAT’S AVAILABLE
LEN PULLINGER
best of what’s available,” he adds. Steve Smart thinks a copy would “take the edge off Calbourne and what it’s about”.
Anyway, the bigger missing link is arguably the Beyer, Peacock 2-4-0T No. W13 Ryde that was melted down for the war effort, despite having been set aside for a proposed museum at Eastleigh.
Being realistic, a second ‘O2’, like the idea or not, will probably remain a fantasy. But let’s indulge ourselves in a bit of fun for a moment and pretend that Calbourne does still have an identical twin.
The scene below was conjured up thanks to the IoWSR ‘ops’ department and footplate crew on the afternoon of July 26. A false arrival from Wootton and brief pause en route to shed enabled this view to be created, by merging two photographs.
So, thanks chaps, for making that possible – and to the loco department who kindly helped with the preparation of the feature.