Isle of Wight coaches

One of the unique aspects of the Isle of Wight railways was that virtually all the rolling stock that ran on the Island was second-hand! This tradition was maintained throughout the Southern Railway and British Railways eras thus creating a living museum of Victorian style rolling stock that, in part, still gives good service today. Another curiosity is that there were no toilet facilities allowed on the Island's trains, to prevent contamination of the water supply, so it is fortunate the lines were short - even if the journeys were far from speedy!

The majority of the stock was ex-LBSC or ex-SECR air-braked carriages that were suitable for the weight restrictions on the Island, some six of which were purchased by the Wight Locomotive Society at the end of BR steam for eventual use by the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. Five of these have been restored and are in regular use. A further two IoW ex-LCDR grounded coach bodies were sourced and purchased by the railway and have been restored to form push-pull set 484.

photograph by Keith Harwood

The Isle of Wight sets changed their composition much more frequently than their mainland counterparts as individual coaches were swapped frequently. In later years the set numbers were actually painted on boards that were screwed to the vehicle ends to facilitate the frequent changes.

This was was one of the six cars set for the Ryde to Ventnor line, the set number series was 490 to 494, 497 and 500 in June 1960. It is not possible to say if there are six vehicles, in this shot, as the far end is obscured but the vehicle nearest the camera is a brake second, of LBSCR origin, that was IoW diagram 210. This vehicle is possibly 4163, one that is known to retain its panelling, with the exception of where the ducket was removed on the end of the Guards Van. Additionally, 4163 was allocated to the set in 1960.

photograph by Keith Harwood

Set 500 was booked to be a six car set and allocated to the Ryde to Ventnor service. In common with all IoW sets it had an ex-LBSCR Brake at the Ventnor end (the vehicle nearest the camera in this shot) and an ex-SECR one at the Ryde end, only one ex-SECR brake per train because of their weight. The set formation was (from the Ryde end) ex-SECR brake second, compo, 3 seconds and the ex-LBSCR brake second. However, in this photo, and the one below, the ex-SECR brake is the second vehicle, not the first. The vehicle nearest the camera is identifiable as there was only one ex-LBSCR five compartment brake second extant at this time, 4168, which was formerly SR 3870. This vehicle is now preserved on the IoW at Haven Street.

Set 497 and 500 details from Glen Woods

The same set 500, in the same location, but this time taken from the "north" end. Note that with the ex-SECR brake within the set there is no visible set number at this end. The nearest vehicle is an ex-LBSCR second which places it in the number range 2404-2417. When vehicles were removed from sets, which occurred quite frequently on the IOW, they were not always replaced in the 'booked' position within the set.

(More photos of this set on page 2)

photograph by Ray Soper

Typical IoW train on Whitely Bank, between Shanklin and Wroxall.

photograph by Richard Neal

All photographs are copyright

First | 2nd

This page was last updated 23 June 2003