Today’s entertainment was kindly provided by Ross who gave a very interesting multi-media presentation on the Isle of Wight line from Ryde Pier Head to Ventnor. Ross’s talk included still photographs from the late fifties and early sixties together with a sound recording and reminisces of a trip Ross had taken over the line in his youth.
Starting at Ryde Pier Head we were treated to photos of the various Class O2 locos and locations. At Ryde St John’s Road there was an Isle of Wight Railway crane and an axle box that excited great interest. Moving down the line both Ross and Rob shared their memories of Smallbrook Junction which had no station or platform but connected with the line to Cowes.
There was a photo of an early morning parcels train at Brading, the next station on the line. This train consisted of just an ex-SECR parcels van and apparently it was not
uncommon for such trains to be made up solely of a loco and a parcels van or two. Next up was Sandown where we witnessed photographic evidence of some unusual
token exchange practices. The popular method employed seemed to be to throw the token from the up platform across the track to the loco on the down line. Other methods included entering a carriage on the up line
and passing the token through the carriage window to the loco on the down line.
On then to Shanklin where we saw the aftermath of an excess of zeal from a Class O2 loco which had pushed some wagons off their siding and down a slope where they then overturned. Finally, our journey took us to Wroxall and after sounding a long whistle down through the St Boniface tunnel to journey’s end at Ventnor. Chris
