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Ryde Rail: A History of Tube Trains on the Isle of Wight


RichardLong
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I'm pleased to announce my new book to be published by Crecy Publishing on 31 May 2019.  Covers the history of the Ryde-Shanklin line from the Beeching Cuts to the present day.  Also includes the Island's diesel shunters and the Ryde Pier Tram.  50,000 words and around 120 (mostly colour) photos.

 

http://www.crecy.co.uk/ryde-rail

 

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Edited by RichardLong
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One forgets the initial summer Saturday service of five 7-carriage trains an hour running throughout between Pier Head and Shanklin which was quite something to see, and well thought through one might add. Sadly the demand soon dropped off and with it the service intensity.

Incidentally all those trains were met with buses on route 39 to Wroxall and Ventnor at Shanklin, which may well have been the most intensive regular route that the island ever saw. During  January, February and March 1967, when the train service was replaced by buses, those buses ran between Esplanade and Shanklin as "Rail Replacement" and then continued to Ventnor as Southern Vectis service 39, an arrangement unusual, and possibly unique, in itself.

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Ordered here.

 

The use of already-retired tube trains for many more years on the Isle of Wight is in itself a fascinating subject.  However the Island was no stranger to receiving retired London underground railways stock having had some steam-hauled carriages (not "tube" stock therefore outwith the scope of this publication) sent over many many years earlier.

 

I recall seeing some which I believe were Metropolitan Railway stock in use as chalets on The Duver near Bembridge some time ago in addition to those remaining as farm sheds around the Island and restored for use by the IoWSR.

 

One representative 4-car unit of Standard stock has been claimed by the London Transport Museum and is under restoration in The Depot at Acton.  An operational unit of 1938 stock survives on the underground also.  But I wonder if any of the present generation of cars will see any further use either on or off the Island when their time finally comes.  That time cannot be very far off judging by the condition of them.

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I was on the Isle of Wight for my summer holiday last year and we travelled the full length of the line on the tube trains and it was a lot of fun! They are very bouncy (probably worse than the Pacers!) and very fast at accellerating away from station stops!

 

Sam

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I have stocked this book in my shop and would like to add to the positive reactions that Richard has mentioned above.

 

The book is really nicely produced, has a good range of interesting and well reproduced pictures (mostly in colour) and is a fascinating story well told. A lot of the  story was completely unknown to me and the text includes a discussion of the latest possibilities for the line(s) on the island.

 

If you are interested in the subject and like having books in your life then I would heartily recommend that you get yourself a copy.

 

Thank you and well done Richard and Crecy for a great production!

 

Simon Castens

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5 hours ago, Not Jeremy said:

I have stocked this book in my shop and would like to add to the positive reactions that Richard has mentioned above.

 

The book is really nicely produced, has a good range of interesting and well reproduced pictures (mostly in colour) and is a fascinating story well told. A lot of the  story was completely unknown to me and the text includes a discussion of the latest possibilities for the line(s) on the island.

 

If you are interested in the subject and like having books in your life then I would heartily recommend that you get yourself a copy.

 

Thank you and well done Richard and Crecy for a great production!

 

Simon Castens

 

Thank you, Simon!

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Hi Richard , thanks for work done a good read and great pictures, in coordination with the small volume with extensive unit number info I think the definitive history has been done.  Noted last week there were adverts for an Island line driver or two... 

as  oft said in Simon`s part of the world  - "proper job." 

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My copy arrived today.

 

To say I was impressed by the size, weight and presentation of the book when set against price would be an understatement.  I have perhaps become too accustomed to the A5 format softback book of the Capital Transport style rather than this hard-cover A4 volume.

 

The content is (thus far - I have flicked through the pictures and read the early chapters) comprehensive and very readable.  We start with the final days of steam and the transition to electric working.  It took some time to get all the stock onto the Island and numerous mainland views are included.  Additional material at the end includes faults and failures of the tube stock and diesel shunter 05001 / 97803 and the proposal to use class 503 units upon retirement from Merseyside.  The index is good and the list of chapter-by-chapter references has the hallmark of an experienced writer of academic material.  The font is particularly clear and easy to read.

 

I am very happy to add this to my modest library graced as it is by a superb image of the Standard stock on the front cover and in the knowledge that it should stand as the definitive reference work to the tube train era on the Isle of Wight which is likely to end soon one way or another.

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33 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

My copy arrived today.

 

To say I was impressed by the size, weight and presentation of the book when set against price would be an understatement.  I have perhaps become too accustomed to the A5 format softback book of the Capital Transport style rather than this hard-cover A4 volume.

 

The content is (thus far - I have flicked through the pictures and read the early chapters) comprehensive and very readable.  We start with the final days of steam and the transition to electric working.  It took some time to get all the stock onto the Island and numerous mainland views are included.  Additional material at the end includes faults and failures of the tube stock and diesel shunter 05001 / 97803 and the proposal to use class 503 units upon retirement from Merseyside.  The index is good and the list of chapter-by-chapter references has the hallmark of an experienced writer of academic material.  The font is particularly clear and easy to read.

 

I am very happy to add this to my modest library graced as it is by a superb image of the Standard stock on the front cover and in the knowledge that it should stand as the definitive reference work to the tube train era on the Isle of Wight which is likely to end soon one way or another.

 

I could not have put it better myself!

 

Great book!

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Wrote an article about the island line electrics in Today’s Railways Uk magazine a few years back and thought I knew all about them, however, after purchasing this book I found that I didn’t! It is an excellent read and full of photos, well done to the Author and I can thoroughly recommend the book:good_mini:

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