If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

Isle of Wight Steam Railway

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

  1. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2017
    Messages:
    12,172
    Likes Received:
    11,493
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Brighton&Hove
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Will the Drewry be coming out to play?
     
  2. Islander

    Islander Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2006
    Messages:
    309
    Likes Received:
    271
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Isle of Wight
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    The Pier Tram (AKA Drewry Railcar) will be running between Havenstreet and Wootton on the Saturday evening, first trip from Havenstreet at 17.50, last trip 20.20. It's already been out in public service a few times now and has proved very popular with our visitors. If you can stay on into the evening it's a fantastic opportunity to sample a unique slice of the Island's railway history.

    More details on the IWSR website Spring Gala page.
     
  3. JMJR1000

    JMJR1000 Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2009
    Messages:
    843
    Likes Received:
    698
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cleethorpes
    If I can make it work with the ferry times I'll definitely stick around for that, though getting on the railcar for a ride isn't something you can pre-book on it's own right? Can only hope they'll be room for me to get on at some point.
     
  4. David likes trains

    David likes trains Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2014
    Messages:
    804
    Likes Received:
    3,317
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Colchester
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Made my first ever visit to the tailway (and the island in fact) for the heritage train day on Sunday. Must say I was very impressed by the whole operation, hope to return again in future. Some pictures of Calbourne and W11:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  5. andrewtoplis

    andrewtoplis Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2006
    Messages:
    1,357
    Likes Received:
    816
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    @JMJR1000

    You may already be on site, but just in case W11 has been shunted into the display siding at Havenstreet so is readily accessible for photos etc.

    Andy
     
  6. City of truro fan

    City of truro fan Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2015
    Messages:
    783
    Likes Received:
    84
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Honiton
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Why don’t they just join it to the main run and have steam run on the main run in the summer as it would be so much popular people would go there to just see a bigger length of nothing else.
     
  7. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

    Joined:
    May 30, 2009
    Messages:
    21,065
    Likes Received:
    20,773
    Location:
    1016
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Why on earth would they do that? Additional crew, extra coal and I'm not certain that the head shunt at Wootton will easily take two locos.
     
    Paulthehitch likes this.
  8. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Messages:
    26,103
    Likes Received:
    57,428
    Location:
    LBSC 215
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I think it would be long enough for ‘Kilmersdon’ …

    Tom
     
    ghost, beavis, John Petley and 3 others like this.
  9. Musket The Dog

    Musket The Dog New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2022
    Messages:
    165
    Likes Received:
    380
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Leicestershire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    As I understood this I thought it was referring more to running IWSR trains on the Island Line, rather than dragging a dead W11 around as a curiosity?

    I think there are several reasons, foremost amongst which is that when it was last approached it appears that South Western Railways (The operator of the Island Line) are not as keen to see it happen as their predecessors. They don't really need it to, as it stands they gain out of transporting people to Smallbrook who want to access the IWSR via the Island Line. Added to that there is need to make multiple locomotives suitable for use on the mainline, and pass out their wide variety of coach types. There would be a requirement to run around trains at Ryde so a solution would be needed for that which doesn't disrupt the normal passenger service or the IWSR would need sufficient power to top and tail trains. This is assuming that the additional number of people who will flock to the line to ride the extra 1 mile into Ryde will cover the costs of all of that.

    Unless you meant just hand over the whole mainline to the steam railway in the summer, in which case all you need to do is convince SWR that they don't want to make any money from their commuter line in the busiest season of the year for them.
     
    nanstallon and Matt37401 like this.
  10. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

    Joined:
    May 30, 2009
    Messages:
    21,065
    Likes Received:
    20,773
    Location:
    1016
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Is there not also an issue with clearances through the tunnel at Ryde? And then there are platform levels. The list is endless.
     
    Musket The Dog likes this.
  11. Paulthehitch

    Paulthehitch Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2020
    Messages:
    1,090
    Likes Received:
    1,093
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Hayling Island
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Indeed so. There are ''little'' things such as mixing wooden carriages with third rail electrics which are of no consequence to WIBNites..
    Incidentally, last year was the most lucrative the IOWSR has ever had despite Island Line being closed.
     
  12. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

    Joined:
    May 30, 2009
    Messages:
    21,065
    Likes Received:
    20,773
    Location:
    1016
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    The IoWSR is a good example of doing what it does and doing it well. Other heritage lines are just as good, of course, but on the Island it's the only show in town and it's therefore good that it captures the important historical heritage well.

    Sorry to digress but it is a shame that the link with the Island Line was severed at Smallbrook and that the First/MTR dimension is lukewarm towards the railway? Lucky in a way that the interchange exists at all as it clearly brings income to the TOC and people to the line. That said, the hourly service on the Sunday needed careful planning to get home and I gather that on the Saturday not all Island Trains stopped when it had been requested that they did.

    And on the WIBN angle, in the same way that the Swanage Railway has seen the benefit in running to Wareham I am surprised that it hasn't been possible to run from Smallbrook into Ryde St Johns. It's not as if the Island Line runs an intensive service and the double track section remains - no connection, of course.

    I guess that there is simply nothing to be gained, other than, of course, the direct and visible access to a centre of population.
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2022
  13. ilvaporista

    ilvaporista Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2006
    Messages:
    4,240
    Likes Received:
    5,291
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    C.Eng
    Location:
    On the 45th!
    Well done Swanage, they kept that quiet....
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2022
    Big Al and Jamessquared like this.
  14. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Messages:
    26,103
    Likes Received:
    57,428
    Location:
    LBSC 215
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Has the Swanage Railway actually seen a benefit in running to Wareham (sic)? The first trial ran at a substantial loss; since then, while everyone is apparently too polite to say so, it appears that no-one is in a hurry to repeat the experience.

    Of course, a mainline connection - on the mainland, not on the Isle of Wight where the logistics is very different - has a few tangential benefits like easier access for mainline plant such as tampers, ballast trains; incoming stock for galas; the occasional charter. Those aren't to be sniffed at, but aren't what most people would call "running to Wareham". I'd question how much benefit the Swanage Railway has seen from the latter: one loss making summer trial, followed by nothing since.

    Tom
     
    Bluenosejohn, MellishR and 35B like this.
  15. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2017
    Messages:
    12,172
    Likes Received:
    11,493
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Brighton&Hove
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Weren't TOC charges cited as the principal reason for the loss-making pre-covid trial service? The most valid question seems to revolve around uptake, where after the last couple of years, caution is understandable.
     
    Paulthehitch likes this.
  16. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Messages:
    26,103
    Likes Received:
    57,428
    Location:
    LBSC 215
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Yes, to a point, since they were effectively paying hire for locos and stock; and wages for the staff operating the service, i.e. a distinct difference from the normal heritage railway business model of primarily volunteer operating staff.

    But the alternative to contracting a TOC to run the service would be for the Swanage Railway to become a TOC in its own right (as the NYMR are); and that has its own costs (certification, compliance etc, for both crews and rolling stock). The point is, that last mile on the mainline is very costly.

    I suspect we are arguing in violent agreement, but I would take issue with @Big Al's comment "that the Swanage Railway has seen the benefit in running to (W)areham" - I struggle to see any evidence of that benefit. If you can't make a summer-only mainline connection to a seaside holiday resort that suffers from clogged roads profitable, I struggle to think where else such a service might be remunerative!

    Tom
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2022
  17. Paulthehitch

    Paulthehitch Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2020
    Messages:
    1,090
    Likes Received:
    1,093
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Hayling Island
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    WIBN has infected preserved railways since they were devised. The visitor attraction function and the ''public service'' one simply get in one another's way. Both local politicians and gricers can be prone to WIBN.
     
    Bluenosejohn and MellishR like this.
  18. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2017
    Messages:
    12,172
    Likes Received:
    11,493
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Brighton&Hove
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    There's a reasonable case to be made that our entire movement is the consequence of a WIBN question arising in the summer of 1950. :)
     
  19. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

    Joined:
    May 30, 2009
    Messages:
    21,065
    Likes Received:
    20,773
    Location:
    1016
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Lovely one. The speed of the fingers gets ahead of the brain when doing too many different things. Have tweaked original.
     
    ilvaporista likes this.
  20. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

    Joined:
    May 30, 2009
    Messages:
    21,065
    Likes Received:
    20,773
    Location:
    1016
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Just so and my comment wasn't a particularly serious one. Possibly a good idea at the time of Smallbrook but hardly worthwhile now. Probably all that's needed is a better relationship between Island train times and heritage trains as, logically both should benefit. In my case and faced with just under an hour to wait because the heritage railway was running 10/15 late I simply had another ride up to Havenstreet and back.
     

Share This Page