Heritage Railway

‘Terriers’, triple-header and tube train at the Isle of Wight 50th anniversar­y celebratio­n

- By Toby Jennings

FIFTY years after its opening, the Isle of Wight Steam Railway is still recreating old parts of the island's railway history – and preserving new ones.

For its 50th anniversar­y gala on June 4-6, it shipped LBSCR ‘Terrier' No. 2678 Knowle back across the Solent for the first time in 85 years, while displaying a new acquisitio­n more than eight decades old.

The Stroudley A1X 0-6-0T, visiting from the Kent & East Sussex Railway, was temporaril­y renumbered with vinyl overlays and nameplates as No. W14 Bembridge. This was one of two numbers – the other being

No. W4 – that it wore during its stint on Vectis from 1929 to 1936, although it then carried Southern Railway olive green rather than the wartime black with ‘sunshine' lettering which it currently wears.

Three for the price of one

One of the highlights of the weekend was a line-up of three island locomotive­s at Wootton on the Saturday morning, with the visiting ‘Terrier', resident classmate No. W11 Newport, and LSWR O2 0-4-4T No. W24 Calbourne.

This followed what is believed to be the line's first-ever triple-header, with all three engines running together from Havenstree­t. Although doublehead­ers were seen on the Ventnor line in steam days, weight restrictio­ns on the drawbridge over the River Medina at Newport meant locomotive­s could only cross one at a time.

Taking its place on display in the Train Story visitor centre at Havenstree­t was a newly-preserved item which was constructe­d just four years after Bembridge left the island, yet has only just come out of service there – 1940-built Class 483 tube train No. 483007. The 1938-designed two-car London Undergroun­d unit was donated by South Western Railway after withdrawal from service on the Ryde-Shanklin Island Line.

Having been in service for only a week following an overhaul, it is in working order and could potentiall­y run again on battery power in the future.

Morning papers

Flagship O2 Calbourne, recently outshopped from overhaul in the Southern Malachite green livery it wore when it hauled the line's first trains in 1971, recalled scenes from those early days by running with the SECR and LBSCR bogie coaches, as well as recreating a steam-era island newspaper train for an early morning run on the Sunday – departing from Smallbrook Junction at the time the original Sunday morning newspaper trains passed this location on the line to Shanklin and Ventnor.

The ‘Terriers' took charge of the fourwheele­d stock, including Isle of Wight Railway Oldbury carriage No. 10, and demonstrat­ion goods trains.

With a limit of 650 tickets per day, including 100 rover tickets, to ensure social distancing, the final visitor count for the weekend was 1835. “The only disappoint­ment was turning people away,” said IoWSR general

manager Steve Backhouse.

“We could have comfortabl­y sold more than we did but we had to be sensible. But it's still comparable to previous events, because people are spending a lot – half-term the week before was a record, except for the Island Steam Show – we took £100,000, and the equivalent week in 2019 was £70,000.

“So we're very happy with that. We can get really high capacity because we've got the perfect trains for social distancing.”

*See also Off The Shelf - page 83.

 ?? JOHN FAULKNER TOBY JENNINGS ?? Visiting ‘Terrier' No. 2678 Knowle, carrying its island identity of No. W14 Bembridge, leads resident ‘Terrier' No. W11 Newport and O2 No. W24 Calbourne towards Wootton on the morning of June 5. Right: LSWR O2 0-4-4T No. W24 Calbourne approaches Woodhouse Crossing with an evening Smallbrook JunctionWo­otton train on June 5. This crossing, about halfway between Havenstree­t and Wootton, was the extremity of the IoWSR's operations when it reopened on April 12, 1971.
JOHN FAULKNER TOBY JENNINGS Visiting ‘Terrier' No. 2678 Knowle, carrying its island identity of No. W14 Bembridge, leads resident ‘Terrier' No. W11 Newport and O2 No. W24 Calbourne towards Wootton on the morning of June 5. Right: LSWR O2 0-4-4T No. W24 Calbourne approaches Woodhouse Crossing with an evening Smallbrook JunctionWo­otton train on June 5. This crossing, about halfway between Havenstree­t and Wootton, was the extremity of the IoWSR's operations when it reopened on April 12, 1971.
 ??  ?? Above: Three Isle of Wight locomotive­s line up at Wootton station on June 5, with (right to left) visiting ‘Terrier' No. 2678 Knowle (as No. W14 Bembridge), O2 No. W24 Calbourne, and ‘Terrier' No. W11 Newport. TOBY JENNINGS
Above: Three Isle of Wight locomotive­s line up at Wootton station on June 5, with (right to left) visiting ‘Terrier' No. 2678 Knowle (as No. W14 Bembridge), O2 No. W24 Calbourne, and ‘Terrier' No. W11 Newport. TOBY JENNINGS
 ??  ?? Left: Ex-Island Line tube train No. 483007 on display in Train Story at Havenstree­t on June 4. TOBY JENNINGS
Left: Ex-Island Line tube train No. 483007 on display in Train Story at Havenstree­t on June 4. TOBY JENNINGS
 ??  ?? The recreated No. W14 Bembridge awaits departure from Havenstree­t as No. W11 Newport passes through non-stop on June 5. TOBY JENNINGS
The recreated No. W14 Bembridge awaits departure from Havenstree­t as No. W11 Newport passes through non-stop on June 5. TOBY JENNINGS

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