IWCR

I have a note of the shop name somewhere, I will try and find it. It was a family run shop, prewar it was a grocers, mid 50's it sold /repaired motor bikes but the window facing the Royal Oak was marked "Cowes Model Shop" and displayed models (balsa aircraft etc), presumably a son had taken over. When I was at school in Cowes it was still there (railway gone) and traded as a craft shop. Further up Terminus Road was another building at the corner with Granville Road, this was built as a mineral water store for a local firm (Shergolds?), later it was a small garage. In the early 80's it also was a motorcycle shop (Allan Brothers) Pete

Hello A very useful album on flickr (Not mine) contains a good view of the arches and also a view up Terminus Road showing this side of the pub building along with the outside of the railway parcel store. https://www.flickr.com/photos/31890193@N08/sets/72157647305890101 Pete

Hello An enquiry to the IWSR museum would likely end up being passed to me. The three buildings along the boundary with the school I have drawn together with the adjoining co-op bakery and coal depot (which had its roof removed somewhen in the 50's). An SR concrete pway hut was on the railway side. No allotments as such but there was a chicken run and shed, fence wasnt very good as chickens often appear in photos all over the tracks. One feature of the station often missed is that there were arches under the concourse accessed from a path between the building and the coach garage, these would be visible in your model. Pete

Hello I am building Cowes in N gauge to scale. (Station to Tunnel) I would have liked to do it in O but dont have the room, not even for the station building to road bridge I have done quite a bit of research including copying original planning application drawings for surrounding buildings from the IOW record office. I have a copy of the SR 40' to the inch plans. I am gradually preparing drawings of the relevant buildings. Most of the station area now done. Terminus road, no problem, all covered. Cross Street, not so good, to early for planning drawings and patchy photo coverage. Main omission is the old Methodist Chapel which had been converted into a builders store, I have only found this on aerial photos. The terraced stone cottages are reasonably covered and some still survive at the lower end of the street. Carvel :Lane also patchy with drawings for only three buildings. In WW2 the entire Carvel Lane buildings to the south of the station, both sides of the road were destroyed by bombing, I have aerial photos of these both pre and post war, Fountains Coach garage partly survived. Best photo I have of this is during the station demolition when it was more visible. Denmark Road & St Marys Road largely covered or planning drawings identified. The pub was the "Royal Oak" and was quite a large structure which included the Unity Hall meeting rooms for the Oddfellows. Ganges coal yard had two buildings, their original tin hut adjoining the footbridge and the much larger building which had originally been built by the IWCR as a cart shed and stables. Drawings done. Granville Road drawings not started, Cross Street school not started, Denmark Road school done. Co-op done. First base board built (Granville Road Bridge to Carvel Lane), tracklaying started in N finescale including building pointwork from kits. If you want to PM me with specific wants I will be able to help on a case by case basis, not "Yes Please, send it all now" I have already accessed everything the steam railway has and incorporated the information though more still appears, last month a Cowes photo appeared which shows the Cattle Dock still existed during the 1920's and into the 30's, something I had not been certain of. Pete

The ex SECR non corridor stock on the Isle of Wight carried BR green. This comprised Brake Thirds, (Birdcages removed), Composites and full Thirds (rebuilt from Birdcage brakes), All of these were 54' stock. Some of these ran until the end of steam in Dec 1966. Pete

Hello I travelled on rhb around 10 years ago in the winter and I was impressed with the amount of freight carried with mixed trains. One or two Containers on flats was quite common. One station I was waiting at had an electric pass train arrive which detached a single wagon with container from the rear leaving this in the platform as it departed. Station staff then used a small diesel shunter to collect this and place in the sidings under a small fixed container gantry. A car was then driven onto a flat wagon and attached to the rear of another electric train as it made its station stop. Probably more freight in the winter when many mountain roads are impassable. Pete

Single Bolsters: Intended for long loads such as rails or timbers spread across two or more. Some were allocated to the traffic department, some to the engineers. Last survivors withdrawn in 1967 apart from two converted to match wagons for the "new" LT stock. These lasted until 1990ish, Car Trucks: intended for small vehicles or machinery, mainly used for engineering, eg: Ryde Works would often have one or two loaded with bits of dismantled locos. Last survivors withdrawn 1967. A rake of three Bolsters and one Car truck was often used a as set for moving full length rails. Ballast Wagons: 18 short wheelbase dumb buffered dropside wagons transferred in 1927 for urgent modernisation works. Scrapped in 1931. 10 20ton diagram 1755 steel hoppers transferred in 1947, found to rust badly with sea dredged ballast, Scrapped in 1955 The standard IOW ballast wagon was a 10 ton dropside open but not of LBSC origin, these were ex Contractors wagons later owned by the SECR, Following WW1 war service 20 had been stored at Ashford and were sent to the IOW in 1924. Many were later replaced by rebuilding LBSC opens with the SECR bodywork. Remaining SECR originals also received LBSC wheelsets and boxes resulting in only minimal differences. Last survivors withdrawn 1981 Pete

I have found a photo of "Cowes" in 1930 which has a rear toolbox, no other clear photos of the rear although at least some terriers still had toolboxes when returned to Eastleigh in 1936 (no12 certainly). A photo of "Carisbrooke" at Ventnor West in the late 30's has a toolbox although in an late 1920's photo at Bembridge it has not. A helpful feature is the rear r/h bunker lamp bracket, when a toolbox is fitted an extension bracket is dropped onto this lamp bracket to position tail lamps etc clear of the toolbox, this may be just visible in a 3/4 side view from the front. The toolboxes certainly predate push pull equipment and first appear in photos in Isle of Wight Central days after the bunkers were enlarged. The SR imported terriers appear not to have had them to start with but (some?) were later fitted. Generally it appears rear toolboxes were fitted but there are photos of locos (including ex IWC ones) without them which would indicate they are readily removable. Photos of the drivers side mounted box are rare and I have not yet found a photo showing both on the same loco and at the same time. Pete

The tool boxes seem to be fitted on differing dates. You will have to rely on dated photos. The boxes are made of wood and are probably readily removable / replaceable. Some locos also (or instead) have a box on the drivers side running plate behind the side tank. Possibly these are tool boxes but they could also contain batteries, push pull fitted locos used an electrical system for bell codes and for a regulator position indicator.. Pete

Excellent having another SR tank loco. It is nice to have a good recent selection of Southern Railway locos appearing, yes modellers of some other areas of the country are feeling left out but please remember the SR built no small passenger engines at all hence the pre-grouping engines are those which ran into the 50's and 60's. If you want to build a SR or BR Southern Region branchline model these are the locos you need. The rest of the big 4 built small passengers locos throughout their existence and these have been well covered by makers in the past, yes pre- grouping coverage is limited and this is detrimental to areas such as Scotland where (like the Southern) they carried on till a late date. I would hope that many more earlier designs appear for all areas will appear in due course but like the SR locos a type which lasted throughout the grouping and well into BR days will have better sales than something which vanished in the 1920's/30's. Now (starting to be addressed) appropriate carriages please for all areas, again this is often the stock used on branchlines well into BR days hence a good prospect of sales, model coverage is good for mainlines from mid/late grouping onwards but little for the earlier stock which was often then cascaded to the branchlines. Pete

The "Boring Rig" is a High Voltage power pole, the objects at the top are the insulators for the cables, the blob part way up the pole is a transformer. The apparent roof below this I think is a structure beyond the pole, or could be a temp structure using the power poles posts, (ex WW2 perhaps). This cable route still exists (see Google Earth & Streetview), it has however been upgraded and the pole has been replaced with a more recent version. Pete

The only viable way to run this line currently is as part of a larger franchise. If a stand alone set up under local control it would need subsidising to operate. The local council has no money, indeed may not be able to set a legal budget for its statutory services next year. No chance of any discretionary cash. Any direct government money would not be long term. No money for new stock (and hasnt been for over as century) Second hand stock from anywhere is constrained by the very tight loading gauge with no money to rebuild structures for a larger clearance. Pete

In 1932 there were 48 vans in use, much of the traffic was then lost due to the decision to switch general goods arrivals from St Helens quay to Pickfords wharf at Cowes for onward road delivery As of 1948 twenty one covered vans remained in Revenue traffic with a further five in departmental use. Most of the revenue vans were withdrawn after the Sandown Newport line closure in 1956, after this time there would have been very little van traffic left. A small number would have survived until goods traffic ceased in 1966, but these would have seen very little use in later years, A number of departmental vans lasted into 1967. The SR PMV,s arrived in the 50's and were well used until the end, four were retained in Stores use beyond this and two were used at the closed Newport station for Parcel Storage. Pete

Yes Ventnor would have required an additional substation, but a problem was the Electricity supply was inadequate at the required location and a dedicated high voltage feed would have been required (approx 5 miles pole route). By this time Electrification had been chosen for the Ryde Shanklin line, (rumoured to be from an overorder of 3 substations for the Bournemouth Electrification) BR were prepared to do this and reopen the Ventnor section if the IW Council paid for the additional substation and feeder. This was deemed to expensive to fund. Ventnor suffered badly with the loss of the railway and took many years to recover, indeed some say it still hasnt. Pete

Ryde to Shanklin was retained in 1966 following the enquiry to determine the Island lines fate, total closure had been proposed. At the time Summer foot traffic on the Ryde Ferry was still very high particularly on Saturdays (traditional holidaymaker Change Over day), it was identified that the roads and buses to the principal holiday area of Sandown & Shanklin would not be able to cope. Foot passenger traffic numbers were falling however and BR anticipated that the line could be closed within a few years. BR actually acquired sufficient Underground stock to operate to Ventnor and Cowes in case these were to also remain open, a diesel electric conversion was intended. This stock was held at Micheldever then scrapped once the line closures were confirmed. Now 50 years later the line is still carrying a good number of passengers, (still very seasonal) but has suffered from minimal maintenance, now having reached the stage where just about everything is life expired at the same time. Closure is not an option in the Franchise document and just leaving the existing system "as is" and carrying on with the patch up and mend it is unlikely to last through the next Franchise. The stock is nearly 80 years old and whilst Ryde St Johns depot do an excellent job keeping it going they are running out of solid material to weld to. The line remains part of South West Trains for the next Franchise period and this franchise is out for tender now. Clearly investment and renewals are desperately needed, what will actually happen is down to whoever wins the franchise, this will be known along with their intentions next February. Extensions to the line would not be cost effective at this time, in the future? who knows? If Portsmouth ever gets its Tram network a Tram tunnel to Ryde and conversion to a Tramway could be viable though expensive. Extensions to Newport and Ventnor may then be realistic. Pete

The preserved "Royal Daylight" wagon is not an Island original but of a similar type. Actual numbers unknown but at least two. these carried Naptha (Paraffin) Known depots at Cowes, Newport, Ryde St Johns, Freshwater & Ventnor West, loaded traffic would have originated from St Helens. The FYN covered open is in fact a livestock wagon, many similar mainland conversions were carried out in WW1 for military traffic of Horses. The second photo shows one alongside the Cattle Dock at Freshwater. The last photo shows Ex GER vans arriving at St Helens for the Central, the full version of this photo has another van behind the loco of similar type but with additional external planking over the bracing timbers, a grounded body matching this has recently arrived at Havenstreet from Arreton on the Island and is a potential restoration. The FYN goods brake shown is an ex LBSC Stroudley vehicle, the IWC had at least three of these, one of which was sold to the FYN and two being rebuilt as larger Road Van type vehicles. A grounded body in original condition still exists on the Island in private use, possibly the ex FYN vehicle though some details suggest not and a similar grounded body was located at a Freshwater branch station during Southern times. Pete

The ex IWC wagon did retain its axleboxes, unfortunately this vehicle wasnt preserved. The ex IWC wagon preserved is the crane match, this was recorded as ex LSWR, it currently has LBSC boxes, it was heavily rebuilt at least once in SR times and may not be the IWC original, however the frame construction is very different from the LBSC vehicles which would have been the likely source of any replacement.. The Price & Reeves wagons originally had grease boxes, these post WW2 were replaced with LBSC No7 oilboxes. Note: the axle length is different from LBSC standards hence solebar spacing is different and LBSC wheelsets could not be used when the boxes were changed. The wheelsets in 62888 are actually stamped GWR with 1920's dates, presumably the best fit available at the time. Pete

Good Pictures, Some details: The Ex IWR 4 plank Ballast Wagons referred to are not IWR, (Isle of Wight Railway) they were Ex SECR and an early SR import. Originally they were contractors wagons built for Price and Reeves for use on works relating to the LCDR and SER merger, then taken over by the SECR on completion. They were requisitioned for WD service in WW1. on return they were stored at Ashford until sent to the IOW. After steam ended only one was retained for any length of time (62888, pictured, now preserved), a second similar vehicle comprising an IWC underframe with the SECR bodywork, and eight post steam conversions using LBSC open wagon underfames with SECR bodywork (four of these have been preserved, three of which have been returned to their original 5 plank open bodywork). Some of the LBSC vans were as stated used for PLA traffic on passenger trains, a few of these later being specifically designated for Fish traffic following customer complaints about smelly luggage. This carried the unique Island livery. An LBSC van of the correct type is preserved on the Island however this is not an original IOW vehicle. One side is lettered as a standard van, the other with the Fish markings. The picture showing the coal train at Shanklin has the train shunting into the Gas Works siding, it would appear to be collecting empties, once these are clear the two loaded wagons will likely take their place. Pete

I was an Engineer on a ship which once delivered coal to Hunterston. This came from Hay Point, Australia The trip took 46 days non stop Pete

The belle was formed of Stroudley & Billinton 4 and 6 wheel stock up to 1930 when these were withdrawn. These are known and vehicle types can be detailed What the post seemed to be asking for would be the stock which followed these. This I dont know, a possible would be the early Brighton Bogie stock, some of this was even built using body sections from earlier 6 wheelers. Perhaps contacting the Brighton Circle would get a definitive answer. Pete

The strange piece of rolling stock in the WD photo is for testing gun barrels, these could be mounted on it and fired on the ranges. Not however a true railway gun. (No gun barrel is fitted in this photo). One of these still exists carrying an 18" gun barrel and is preserved at the Royal Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson near Portsmouth. Pete

All the IOW examples also have softer springs fitted. All these were Parcel & Mail Van underframes these were originally designed for passenger rated trains and built accordingly. (rated for 70mph working) The softer springs are used due to the weight difference in the finished loaded vehicle, an empty original PMV (whatever the body) will be a harsh ride Many railways produced both carriages and vans on similar or identical underfames. The use was irrelevant Yes the PMV frames are later and there was by then no corresponding passenger carriage but this doesnt make them in any way less suitable. The big difference in riding in a 4 wheel carriage is noise, Because you are not isolated from the wheelsets and brakes by secondary bogie suspension all brake noise is more noticable, this is more so in a third class vehicle which do not have a double skinned or insulated floor. Lack of comfort due to the more primitive suspension compared to a bogie carriage is not a problem at heritage railway speeds, what is prominent on the thirds are the narrower seats and reduced leg room, this is due to the standards of the time rather than underframe construction. Pete

The Royal Sandrock burnt down years ago, its been replaced by housing. Would have been still there during steam days though. Any line along the undercliff would have been a nightmare to maintain, its one of the largest coastal landslip zones in europe. The Ventnor to Niton road has been closed for some years now due to slippage. In "What If" land however anything is possible. Pete

There were a few Private owner wagons in earlier years. The largest batch were owned by a concrete manufacturer and carried chalk from Shide Pit to Cement Mills, these were 4 plank opens fitted with end doors for unloading on a tipper. They were marked "Vectis Cement" and ran later in Blue Circle (Portland Cement) livery. These ceased during WW2. In pre- grouping times a local timber merchant (Sharps) owned some bolster wagons and the Anglo American Oil Company ran two tank wagons marked "Royal Daylight" for Naptha (Paraffin). Post WW2, None hence all traffic wagons prefixed S in BR times. Pete

Re Carriage bodies: It was the railways practice to paint out all ownership lettering etc when these where being sold on. This often meant a quick all over coat of the current livery colour. This could result in a new livery colour appearing on an already withdrawn vehicle. The bodies you saw may have been ex LCDR bogie vehicles which had been withdrawn around 1949 although I would not expect any of these to have been left by then. Many of these bodies were sold from a field near Cement Mills north of Newport More likely it would have been surplus stock withdrawn following the Sandown line closure (Feb 1956) which would have been in BR Crimson of fairly recent application. These vehicles would have been mainly LBSC with perhaps some SECR Most of these were scrapped at St Helens Quay though it is possible some were at Newport. Pete