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Isle of Wight steam railway future?

Should the Isle of Wight steam railway grab the opportunity to extend to Ryde st John's Road?

  • Yes?

    Votes: 34 65.4%
  • No?

    Votes: 3 5.8%
  • It depends on other factors for example the Island Line closing/finances etc.

    Votes: 15 28.8%

  • Total voters
    52
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Cowley

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Steam push-and-pull trains between Brading and Shanklin? I'm semi-serious; there'd even be, if I'm right, an authentic precedent -- haven't there been in the past, regular push-and-pull workings on some of the Island's lines?

Was the Bembridge branch operated by push-pull stock?
 
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mushroomchow

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A heritage railway would still need an extension to make financial sense, both for their own financial sustainability and to attract grant funding.

I suspect reopening as a heritage line would be even harder to achieve - there are too many houses and businesses built on or using the trackbed, and a longer platform and run round loop at Ventnor would be even harder to accommodate in the industrial estate.

Ah, on second glance the route is pretty much lost to various industrial units beyond the edge of Wroxall, which is a crying shame. I mean, they could extend as far as Wroxall, but if we're being honest, that would be no better than Wootton Bridge in terms of not being a proper "destination". I'd argue that extending to Ventnor, with it being one of the busiest tourist towns on the Island and home to plenty of attractions, would raise its stock in terms of attracting funding, but again I confess the reality is that there isn't any room beyond the tunnel portal to fit a station without some hefty compensation payments to the businesses present.

For some reason I'd underestimated the length of that tunnel too - a station at the other end would be way too far from the town to be useful.

It's all conjecture anyway. There's probably more hope of reinstating part of the Bembridge branch in my fantasy of steam operation south to Brading than there is of doing the same to Ventnor. It is remarkable how much trackbed has survived 50 years of tourist and residential development around the island however, which is nice in itself.
 

Calthrop

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Was the Bembridge branch operated by push-pull stock?

Referring to the little book on the Bembridge branch by Peter A. Harding, informs me that essentially, Bembridge branch trains were always hauled by the loco in each direction; though the line would seem a good candidate for push-and-pull working. The Bembridge branch did experience a short emergency-measure spell of push-and-pull working, powered by a "Terrier" 0-6-0T, in spring 1936 while the "quasi-turntable" at Bembridge station, which aided in running-round, was being enlarged.

Harding implies that the most prominent push-and-pull scene on the IOW was the Ventnor West branch: in later SR, and BR, days. This tallies with a photograph which I have seen of a push-and-pull train, 02-worked, on that branch, shortly before its closure in 1952.
 

Cowley

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Referring to the little book on the Bembridge branch by Peter A. Harding, informs me that essentially, Bembridge branch trains were always hauled by the loco in each direction; though the line would seem a good candidate for push-and-pull working. The Bembridge branch did experience a short emergency-measure spell of push-and-pull working, powered by a "Terrier" 0-6-0T, in spring 1936 while the "quasi-turntable" at Bembridge station, which aided in running-round, was being enlarged.

Harding implies that the most prominent push-and-pull scene on the IOW was the Ventnor West branch: in later SR, and BR, days. This tallies with a photograph which I have seen of a push-and-pull train, 02-worked, on that branch, shortly before its closure in 1952.

Ah ok, thanks for that. It was an amazing system over there wasn't it? Pretty complex for such a small place!
 

387165

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From someone who lives on Mainland Britain, does Stagecoach still own Island Line
 

Calthrop

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Ah ok, thanks for that. It was an amazing system over there wasn't it? Pretty complex for such a small place!

In my eyes anyway, an utter delight while it lasted -- "practical / sensible", maybe something else ! Strikes me as a microcosm, on a roughly 20 by 15 mile island, of our country's complicated and zany railway politics pre-Grouping -- several different railway companies involved, including two mainland companies which owned (but didn't operate) a short section; and in respect of the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport and the Isle of Wight Central: a nominally independent undertaking operated by another company, which nominally-independent outfit in time fell out with the operating company and struck out on its own. As I've remarked upthread: likely, only in pre-1923 Britain !
 
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