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Isle of Wight Steam Railway

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Freshwater, Nov 12, 2013.

  1. Alan Kebby

    Alan Kebby Well-Known Member

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    An interesting thought. If class 2 tanks had been transferred to the IOW, would they have survived in use into the 1970s? Perhaps in BR blue livery and the arrows of indecision logo, becoming the very last standard gauge BR steam?
     
  2. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

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    That possible because the original idea was for the railways only to run for I think 10 years, then close, apart from an pier shuttle the class 2's certainly would have been modern enough to have lasted but the problem would have been spares, as Ryde would have had to have done several overhauls in that time, but as I understand it the thing that sunk the idea wasn't the engines, it was the coaching stock, it was worn out and there were no readily suitable coaches on the mainland , as any that might have been, were probally just as run down as what was on the island, and anything MK1 based was to high , even hastings line stock, was to tight a fit.
     
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  3. andrewtoplis

    andrewtoplis Well-Known Member

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    The four wheel set is not used as much as the bogies, and often has a terrier on it. The austerities are not thought to go so well with them, so it's likely the ivatts will have them more often until 24 comes back.
     
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  4. Alan Kebby

    Alan Kebby Well-Known Member

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    What was the logic behind keeping it open for ten more years and then closing?

    Was traffic expected to dwindle within ten years to a level that was no longer viable?

    Or was it a case that BR wanted to close completely but the government said no. So BR decided to ask the government again in ten years and hope the answer would be yes?
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2019
  5. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

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    in a nut shell yes, it was hoped that even with electrification, much of which the costs were hidden, ( substations as part of another scheme to hide costs, second hand tube stock, purchased at scrap value ) apart from the summer peak, that usage would dwindle and that the line could just become a pierhead to St Johns shuttle with the rest being closed but the islands roads just would not cope with such an influx of cars, so it just managed to live on, but in a basic railway form,
     
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  6. OldChap

    OldChap Member

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    Wasn't Manusell Hastings restriction O stock considered at one point in the late 50s-early 60s as a replacement for the pregrouping stock in use at the time on the island?

    The 1928-31 SR restriction O fleet had been extensively overhauled in the early 50s and replaced fairly quickly starting in 1958 by BR Mk1 diesel units. I'm not sure how many would have been needed but with with the large numbers of carriages redundant to chose from and with wood bodies being easier to effect modifications - I think I recall correctly - they were to have their roofline lowered a couple of inches, and have their gangway connections and lavatories removed, making a coupe much like the Ironclad Pull-Push conversions of a decade earlier.
     
  7. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

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    You would have thought so, the Hastings gauge maunsell stock, would have been the best solution, I would guess the cost of the work, and converting them to air brake must have been too much, and by the early 60's I think that the writing would have been on the wall for the IOW anyway.
     
  8. marshall5

    marshall5 Well-Known Member

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    Surely, if you ran the Maunsell stock with the Ivatt 2's, which were vac fitted, you wouldn't need to convert the coaches to air?
    Ray.
     
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  9. ruddingtonrsh56

    ruddingtonrsh56 Member

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    It depends on whether they did a wholesale replacement of everything in one go, or whether it was a gradual replacement as old stock became life expired. If it was done in a drip feed way like previous stock replacement had been done, a conversion, or at least dual fitting stock, would have been needed. If it was all done overnight in one go, although that would have been a rather costly way of doing it, it would have negated the need to replace brakes. It may well have introduced other problems such as training crews in operation and fitters in maintenance. Knowing the efficiency of the air brake (and how the GE Suburban trains insisted on keeping it for its superior braking power), an overnight switch to Vacuum could result in drivers braking based on air braked stock, but with vacuum brakes taking longer to apply, frequent station over-runs, until crews got used to how the new fangled system worked!
     
  10. BR 73082

    BR 73082 Member

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    Another quick one from me from the recent Four Island Engines gala, Calbourne heads towards Ashey from Havenstreet with the last service of the day on the Saturday of the gala.

    [​IMG]
     
  11. Dunfanaghy Road

    Dunfanaghy Road Well-Known Member

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    Which would be like the Modernisation Plan, where BR thought that Vacuum Brake was the future.
    Pat
     
  12. OldChap

    OldChap Member

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    I reached out to someone who really knows SR carriages far better than I and he said that the Hastings Maunsell stock 'could' have been modified to fit the IOW restricted gauge (lowered roofline, gangways/lavatories & watertanks/vacuum gear etc, but with addition of air brake equipment) but they couldn't get them to the required weight for the IOW network as it was; this is why they abandoned the project in 1960 and again in 1965 (for the BR std Cl.2 locos) because no Res O stock existed (bar the BR DMUs on the Hasting line) that could be found.

    Interestingly the 1964-5 proposal considered modified BR Mk1 Hastings carriages as replacements for existing IOW 's very vintage stock the as in theory they were nearing end of life ( built with a estimated 10 year life span in 1957-8) as it was thought that the power cars would beyond the point of economical repair by the late 60s... when no replacement were planned for the BR Cl.201 DMUs then that plan was dropped.
     
  13. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

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    The last transfer of stock to the Isle of Wight not counting the tube stock, must have been the SECR coaches in the middle to late 30's that along with the last 02's
     
  14. paulhitch

    paulhitch Guest

    They all came 1947 onwards. L.B.S.C.R. stock in the thirties
     
  15. Alan Kebby

    Alan Kebby Well-Known Member

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    Yes the last O2s and some SECR bogie coaches (including 4145, 4149 and 6375 currently at Haven Street) were brought over by BR in 1949.

    So it’s actually inaccurate for these coaches to carry SR livery as they normally do. Especially as they were significantly modified for Island use before being shipped over - bird cages and compartments removed. However they do fit in better with the other stock in SR green.

    Perhaps in time, once the LCDR bogie coaches are restored, it will be possible to create a Southern Railway bogie coach set, as well as a BR bogie coach set.
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2019
  16. Islander

    Islander Member

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    Appointment of a Heritage & Learning Manager
    The award-winning Isle of Wight Steam Railway is able to offer a unique opportunity to a suitably qualified and experienced individual to lead its Heritage and Learning Department at Havenstreet.

    As a Registered Educational Charity and an Arts Council England Accredited Museum, the Steam Railway is one of the top tourist attractions on the Isle of Wight and welcomes in excess of 90,000 visitors per annum.
    In addition to the day to day running of our Heritage & Learning Department, manned entirely by volunteers, we are looking for a candidate who can develop, manage and further enhance educational provision and access across the whole railway as a working museum.
    Applicants should have a sound knowledge of the Museum sector and experience of managing and motivating a dedicated volunteer workforce. The Steam Railway is seeking to expand the range of facilities available to its visitors and the appointee will play a key role in this development. The post is offered as a salaried position, based on a 4/5 day week.

    https://www.iwsteamrailway.co.uk/job-vacancies.aspx
     
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  17. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

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    Thanks, I really thought that the last transfers were under Southern ownership, and not that late, especially when the closures started not that long afterwards, weren't the first Island 02's withdrawn the later ones fitted with push and pull equipment, as theres were not as well regarded as the earlier engines,
     
  18. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    From what's recorded in Maycock & Silbury's excellent tome, frame cracking on the ageing fleet of O2s seems to have been the major factor in deciding the order in which they got withdrawn. IIRC, a date of 1936 is given for the SR's decision to declare the class 'obsolete', at which point major replacement components ceased to be produced. After that, it was only ever going to be a matter of time ..... even for Ryde works! Certainly, by the end in 1966, many of the survivors weren't in the best condition ... but not all of 'em .... if only someone else with a few hundred quid to spare back in 1967 had pitched, we'd still have W31 Chale too. :(
     
  19. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

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    But if Chale had survived , and followed 24 to Newport would it, as it was a Drummond boilered engine have been the poor relation to 24? and maybe been ignored and spent time just sheeted over in a siding at Havenstreet whilst 24 was still in working order, until her time came to be returned to steam?
     
  20. 8126

    8126 Member

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    The last pull-push pair lasted a reasonable length of time. W36 Carisbrooke went in 1964, W35 Freshwater lasted until October 1966 and (according to one summary of the fleet I've seen) was considered a good engine. However, they both had the pull-push gear removed after the closure of the Ventnor West branch, which may have given the impression they went early. The real dog was supposedly W34 Newport, which went over in 1948 and was withdrawn in 1955.
     

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