Island Line Class 483 units head for Wales

two former Island Line Class 483 units preserved by the London Transport Traction Group (LTTG) was delivered to the Cynheidre Colliery base of the Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway (LMMR) in late October.

483006 arrived at the LMMR on October 22 after removal from the Isle of Wight, with its final journey on the Island Line network from Ryde St John’s Road to Sandown Yard carried out two days earlier and propelled by one of Vivarail’s Class 484 units, before loading onto a low-loader for transportation onto the mainland.

483006’s first role at its new home will see it temporarily transformed into Father Christmas’s grotto for the LMMR’S Santa Specials over the festive period.

The railway is also expecting 483008 to be delivered over the next couple of months, with the

LTTG intending that one of the cars from 483008 will be modified to carry traction batteries, so the trains can operate under their own power rather than as hauled stock. Both units are expected to be restored by their new owner.

The Class 483 units were originally built in 1940 as part of London Underground’s 1938 Tube Stock, operating mainly on the Northern and Bakerloo lines while also seeing use on the Piccadilly line and the Ongar branch of the Central line. Following their withdrawal in the late 1980s by LU, they were sold to British Rail for further service on the Isle of Wight.

Reclassified as Class 483, the trains ran on the Island Line for more than three decades until withdrawal in January 2021, with 483006 operating the final Class 483 service before the route closed for upgrading works.

Heritage News has been compiled by Simon Bendall, Andy Coward and Alistair Grieve.

James Pilbeam The unique sight of withdrawn 483006 being propelled by 484004 at Smallbrook Junction while working from Ryde St John’s Road to Sandown Yard on October 20, 2021, during the first part of the Class 483’s journey back onto the mainland and into preservation on the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway.