Isle of Wight Railway Art
Compiled by Roger Simmonds
Opposite: A train from Cowes departs Esplanade for the Pier Head hauled by ‘O2’ class No. 29 Alverstone. Crowds appear to be boarding the tram on their way to the ferry. Alverstone was included in the third batch of ‘O2’s sent to the Island in 1926 and was in active service here for exactly 40 years.
Above: No. 18 Ningwood awaits departure from Ryde Esplanade to Ryde St Johns around 1964. Most drivers had regular engines allocated to them during this time. Ningwood was favoured by well-known Driver Frankie Ash and his Fireman, Terry Hatcher. The necessary gradient to take the line down to clear Ryde Tunnel can clearly be seen. It was the entrance to Ryde Tunnel that was the scene of a fatality in 1954 when lengthman Dudley Saunders was hit by a train and killed whilst in the process of retrieving a crowbar. The tunnel was prone to flooding, disrupting train services, the line being below sea level at this point. Following the end of steam and introduction of low height tube stock the permanent way through the tunnel was raised to try and reduce the effect; unfortunately this has severely restricted the height of any stock able to operate, a restriction that persists to this day. Severe storms and extreme tides can still cause flooding of the tunnel in 2020.
Head
Trains, Light
and Coaching Stock only Ryde Pier Head and Ryde St John’s Road.
Ventnor
11
1 Ryde Pier
and Ventnor (all stations) also Newport and Freshwater 2 Cowes and Ventnor via Merstone 3 Goods
Engines
4 Newport and
West 1 2 3 4
Isle of Wight Railway Art
Above: Giving the impression of wrong line working, No. 30 Shorwell is heading a Ryde to Cowes train. In fact by the date of the photograph, 14 October 1961, Smallbrook Junction box had been switched out for the winter service and trains for Cowes and Ventnor respectively take the appropriate road at St Johns station with the section from St Johns to the divergence point operated as parallel single lines.
Opposite top: A Ventnor to Ryde service heads past Smallbrook Junction signal box on 26 June 1965 headed by No. 24 Calbourne. Smallbrook was said to be the most photographed signal box in the UK. Usually this was snapped from on board a train but this time the intrepid photographer has made his way along the footpath to reach the site. It has never had vehicular road access and still does not to this day; the new preservation steam railway station operating as an exchange point only on operating days. Smallbrook box had 24 levers with 4 spare.
22
Isle of Wight Railway Art
Above: Leaving Shanklin for Wroxall the line climbed across Apse Heath at a gradient of some 1 in 70 for a mile and a quarter. Here we see No. 33 Bembridge ‘in the collar’ on a Ventnor bound train breasting the bank around 1954. The shallow cutting is predominantly sand, appropriately named Sand Cutting. In the far background is Brading Down.
Opposite: In Sand Cutting No. 20 Shanklin works a Ryde to Ventnor service passing under one of several bridges on this section. The permanent way is looking well maintained in this circa 1954 image.
44
Ryde to Ventnor
