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