Slight distraction

Of the New England narrow gauge variety.

What to model... Part 1

Iain Rice refers to Tony Koester's "Layout Design Elements" in Designs for Urban Layouts: "... specific contained examples of track layout, industrial installations or other facilities that have a direct and fundamental relevance to the model". So what identifies the railways of the Isle of Wight?

In the past, it would have been a selection of second hand tank engines and second hand coaches.

Today, it is the retired Tube trains, they are an iconic feature of the line. Now it would be possible to model the line as it is, there is a set of articles in the June, July and I think September 2008 issues or Railway Modeller that covers the line based on a visit in 2007 by Myles Munsey.

Now it could be decided that at some point the whole network was updated, the restrictive tunnel at Ryde Esplanade cleared and standard modern rolling stock replaced the ancient Tube trains. Either Siemens Desiro trains or Bombadier Turbostars run from the pier head to Shanklin.

But would that be identifiable as the Isle of Wight?

Only if the rest of the layout was a true and accurate model of the line. And it would be nearly indistinguishable from any other modern railway.

In the March 2011 edition of Model Rail, there is an article by Richard Foster positing the survival of Ventnor station into the electrified era (it is claimed that the line was cut back to Shanklin because the section to Ventnor would have required an additional substation). The track layout is derived from the 1939 plan published in Southern Rails on the Isle of Wight Volume 2, by Ian Drummond.

Ventnor is one of the most easily identifiable former stations, like a model railway the trains ran out of a tunnel mouth into the station, making an accurate scenic break.

So what would Ventnor look like if it had survived?

Well one of the key changes at the former station site is the large water tank near the tunnel mouth. Though this feature may be associated with the water pipes currently occupying the railway tunnel that would make it so expensive to reopen, they are also an identifiable part of the current location. The rest of the station site is occupied by various industrial units.

At its simplest, the line could have been reduced to a single line terminus, which would be rather boring (you could just model Shanklin if you wanted that). The Model Rail version makes a few changes to the layout but the strange moving bridge required to access the island platform remains. Iconic it might be but it is unlikely to be acceptable for the modern age.

So imagine that money was found to provide the additional substation and third rail was provided to Ventnor station. What parts of the line could survive.

Well, one platform face is an obvious requirement, but again boring. So if the platform adjacent to the station building is kept (I will call it platform 1, I have not found a reference to the platform numbering when it existed) but truncated to provide access to the former island platform (taking the Foster plan to its logical conclusion). So, the former island platform is kept, platform 2 provides additional access to the train in platform 1, so passengers can exit the train via platform 1 and enter on platform 2 or some combination of the two. Platforms 1+2 would deal with the normal electric service. Platform 3 retains its run round loop, and possibly a few sidings.

Goods services would be extremely limited on the Ryde pier head to Ventnor railway, there is no real method of getting the goods on or off the railway from the outside. The main access point for goods entering the island was Medina Quay on the Newport Cowes line. With that part of the network gone (but wait for later postings) there is no opportunity for a proper goods service so we are stuck with infrastructure trains.

So for the Ventnor station model, two or three 1938 tube trains would provide passenger service, and  03179 would provide motive power for the departmental service. The Island Line book lists the modern stock, most is available ready to run.

A track plan will follow later.

Reality - or how the railway contracted.

The railways of the Isle of Wight can be broken down into the following parts (see the map posted earlier):

Ryde to Ventnor (Shanklin to Ventnor closed 1966)
Ryde to Cowes (Closed to passengers in 1966, final closure 1971)
Newport to Sandown (Closed 1956)
Newport to Freshwater (closed 1953)
Merstone to Ventnor (West) (Closed 1952)
Brading to Bembridge (Closed 1953)

The Ryde to Cowes and Ryde to Ventnor lines would have served a population over 100K, the existing lines serve about half of that. There is a large amount of tourist traffic on the remaining stretch of line between Ryde pier head and Shanklin.

Dull numbers

So having decided to tamper with history a bit, there is the question of how much of our reality do I keep.

Well to start with, let us look at the population of the Isle of Wight and its distribution compared with the railway system at its height.

Town/village	Pop\K
Isle of Wight	140
Ryde	30
Newport	23
Cowes	17
Shanklin	8
Ventnor	7
Sandown	5
Freshwater	5
Bembridge	4
Wooten	4
Totland	3
Brading	2
Yarmouth	1

Yarmouth, Ryde and Cowes are also busy ferry ports, and Newport has/had a busy dock yard (and a slightly dodgy swing bridge for the railway). Fishbourne has a car ferry terminal but the nearest station is Wooten.

I suspect the above figures do not include all of the Newport Sprawl (Carisbrooke etc.).

All population counts from Wikipedia, 27 March 2011.

Isle of Wight Railways

We have probably all seen the existing Island Line railway operation, either in books or magazines, or while visiting the Isle of Wight. The surviving line, though charming with its elderly 1938 tube trains rattling through the delightful countryside like pit ponies in retirement, is but a fragment of a previously extensive railway system.

Some kind soul created this useful map showing the lines on the island:

Post closure development has erased a lot of the line's alignment. A major road development at Newport has removed all signs of the railway station, and the the route to Cowes is almost untraceable on Google Maps.

Other parts are still visible, often as walks and parts of the Sandown - Newport -Cowes line makes up part of National Cycle Route 23.

So what might have been in a more Railway friendly universe?

To be continued...

References:
Map from Wikipedia commons
Wikipedia article on present Island Line
Hardy, Brian (2003). Tube Trains on the Isle of Wight. Harrow Weald, Middlesex: Capital Transport. ISBN 185414 276 3.