Isle of Wight Goods Operations Post 1923

[johnofwessex]

I am told that once the Southern took over most goods traffic on the Isle of Wight was delivered to stations by road, in peacetime at least.

 

So how did it all work?

 

I assume that coal was delivered by sea to Medina Wharf but what about the rest of it, in particular anything that arrived at Southampton/Portsmouth/wherever by rail.

 

Red Funnel had a freight steamer, the Lord Elgin and there MV Balmoral (1949) had a mail room.

 

I would assume that mail and parcels would have been carried on the Portsmouth - Ryde and Lymington Yarmouth ferries 

[The Stationmaster]

Mails would have depended on the contract with the GPO and the late 1920s Letter Mail contract gave them permission to send Letter Mails by any train they chose.  There were no railway road services listed in the contract as it stood in the 1960s conveying mails on the Isle of Wight - in fact there was only one railway  road service listed nationally in the contract and that was Barnstaple Town to Lynton (one railway lorry trip per day).

 

Freight would have been a different matter and clearly rail  haulage of other than coal class traffic would have been unlikely to survive in the island., In fact railway road transport of goods smalls really got underway in some rural areas in Britain between the wars but especially in the 1930s.  So road delivery in the Isle of Wight would be nothing unusual.   I think freight was cincentrated on Newport at one time but that might have been a post war scheme.  How it got to the island I wouldn't know but railway owned vehicle ferry routes to the island existed and would seem logocal for use.

[Wickham Green too]

A look through Mike King (etc.)'s Southern Wagons books will give a flavour of what was available to carry any traffic on offer ......... largely coal from Medina Wharf by my recollection !

[IWCR]

Initially  goods  came  in  at  Medina  Wharf  and  St  Helens  by  sea  and  where  moved  from  these  by  rail.  Parcels  and  mail  (including  newspapers)  via  Ryde  Pier  Head  then  by  rail.  In  1932  the  rebuilt  Medina  Wharf  was  opened  and  all  coal  traffic  concentrated  there,  St  Helens  now  dealing  with  general  goods  and  some  minerals  (normally  ballast).

As  a  guideline  there  were  some  475  open  wagons  and  60  covered  vans  in  use  at  this  time,  other vehicles  included  timber  wagons,  tar  tankers   (for  gas  works  use),  ballast  wagons,  machinery  wagons,  cattle  wagons,  a  horse  box  and  a  boat  truck.

In  1936  incoming  general  goods  arrival  was  moved  to  Pickfords  Wharf  at  Cowes  and  road  delivered,  around  half  of  the  covered  goods  vans  then  being  withdrawn.  St  Helens  remained  in  use  for  large  bulk  items  and  ballast.

A  small  amount  of  general  goods  traffic  remained  between  Island  stations  although  this  declined  over  the  years.  Parcel  and  mail  traffic  lasted  until  the  end  of  steam  mainly  in  the  guards  vans  of  passenger  trains.  Coal  traffic  was  a  mainstay  throughout  though  declining,  (down  to  about  150  opens  by  1960),  public  traffic  ending  in  May  1966  and  loco  coal  continued  until  the  end  of  steam  in  December.

 

Pete

[johnofwessex]

How were goods that arrived at Southampton or Portsmouth taken to the Island as neither St Helens or Medina Wharf were served by the SR's Paddle Steamers, did they have a freight ship as well?

[Artless Bodger]

OT as it is earlier than the period in question, but intrigued by this question I found that for a few years in the 1880s the PS Carrier "floating railway", originally built for the Tay crossing was used to convey wagons from Langstone Harbour to St Helens wharf.

 

Some fish traffic was still carried in the Southern Railway period as A. B. MacLeod had several LBSCR 10T vans lettered for fish traffic, previously fish had been carried in the luggage compartments of passenger carriages, leading to complaints from passengers of their luggage smelling of fish. (Rails in the Isle of Wight, P.C. Allen and A. B. MacLeod).

[IWCR]

Most  goods  arrived  by  sea  by  small  coaster  type  vessels,  the  passenger  ferries  carried  small  items  such  as  mail  which  would  travel  in  guards  vans  or  passenger  rated  vans,  fish  was  an  incoming  traffic  to  Ryde  then  carried  by  passenger  trains,  yes  dedicated  vans  were  provided  by  the  SR.  The  fish  likely  originated  from  the  main  London  markets.  Fish  was  still  arriving  this  way  into  the  60's  but  by  then  on  a  smaller  scale  not  justifying  the  vans.  Likely  fruit  and  other  perishables  were  also  carried.

The  SR  had  a  number  of  small  coasters,  barges,  tugs  etc  but  a  lot  of  use  was  made  by  private  companies  vessels.

Prior  to  the  first  car  ferries  barges  were  often  towed  behind  the  paddle  ferry  or  by  a  dedicated  tug  for  moving  bulk  items,  road  vehicles  or  livestock,  at  Ryde  these  were  landed  at  a  slipway  adjacent  to  Esplanade  station.  (now  the  location  of  the  Hovercraft  terminal).

The  "Carrier"  ran  for  several  years   but  was  not  a  success,  the  crossing  was  often  to  rough  for  it  to  operate.  There  are  no  known  photos  of  mainland  wagons   on  the  Island  (or  vice-versa)  but  there  must  have  been  some  use,  there  are  records  of  bills  from  mainland  companies  for  in  traffic  wagon  repairs  for  IWC  wagons  so  some  of  these  found  their  way  over.

A  traffic  gone  in  early  SR  days  was  oil,  this  was  carried  in  "Royal  Daylight"  private  owner  tankers,  this  appears  to  have  originated  from  Newport  where  there  were  oil  tanks  serving  the  Power  Station,  (behind  what  is  now  the  Bargemans  Rest  pub)

These  would  have  been  served  by  sea  to  the  adjacent  wharf.  Several  Island  stations  had  a  small  oil  terminal  for  these  tankers  which  carried  Naptha  (paraffin)  used  for  domestic  cooking,  heating  and  lighting.  Another  Private  Owner  traffic  was  chalk  from  Shide  Pit to  Cement  Mills  carried  in  open  wagons  in  a  "Vectis  Cement"  livery  and  latterly  "Blue  Circle",  this  traffic  ceased  early  in  WW2  with  the  closure  of  the  Cement  Mills  due  to  the  high  risk  of  attacks  on  coastal  shipping  delivering  the  product.

During  SR  days  virtually  all  of  the  Island  wagon  fleet  was  replaced  with  new  or  recently  built  stock,  this  was  almost  all  of  LBSC  design  which  standardised  the  Islands  fleet  and  allowed  the  SR  to  remove  a  good  number  of   non_RCH  compliant  vehicles  from  mainland  traffic.  Goods  brakes  were  ex  LSWR  Road  vans.

 

Pete

[Wickham Green too]

2 hours ago, IWCR said:

... A  traffic  gone  in  early  SR  days  was  oil, ... During  SR  days  virtually  all  of  the  Island  wagon  fleet  was  replaced  ...

Two Adams A12 tenders were taken to the Island in 1947 as replacements for IWR tar tanks - but I've no idea what traffic they were intended for.

Most rolling stock seems to have been transferred by floating crane - which must have had more deck space than you'd expect !

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Wickham Green too

[bécasse]

15 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

Two Adams A12 tenders were taken to the Island in 19447 as replacements for IWR tar tanks - but I've no idea what traffic they were intended for.

 

Tar (as a by-product) from Ryde Gas Works (rail connected on the upside between St Johns Road and Esplanade) I suspect. Probably used in highway maintenance.

[Wickham Green too]

There were a number of mainland wagons boarded for 'Tarred Stone Only' which would imply a depot, or three, somewhere on the system where the ingredients were mixed ........... was there a similar depot somewhere on the island ? : seems odd to transport large quantities of tar in liquid-ish form otherwise ( no steam heat ) 

[IWCR]

No  "tarred  Stone  Wagons".  There  were  several  Gas  Works  very  near  the  railway  as  well  as  Ryde  which  had  internal  sidings,

Cowes,  Shanklin  and  St  Helens  had  adjoining  sidings,  Newport  received  deliveries   from  the  running  line  on  the  viaduct  above  which   incorporated  a  coal  chute.  Perhaps  the  Tar  traffic  was  to  concentrate  the  Tar  to  one  of  these  sites  which  could then  handle  tarred  roadstone  for  road  delivery  or  for  export  by  sea  as  chemical  feedstuff.  Tar  would  not  have  far  to  go  so  could  be  delivered  before  it  cooled  if  timed  correctly.

 

Pete