The Locomotives of the Isle of Wight Railways has been proficiently put together by four members of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, expanding on the acquired rights of a book published in 1982, written by the late Donald L Bradley. They have taken on a task no-one has previously attempted – to compile a definitive history of all the locomotives which have seen service on the island since 14 June 1862, when the first passenger service ran 4¼ miles on The Cowes & Newport Railway.
Although many books have been published about the railways of the Isle of Wight surprisingly little has been written about the sixty or more locomotives which ran on the island’s railway lines. As the emphasis of the book is on the history of the steam and diesel engines, the Ryde Tramway cars and electric stock have been mentioned, but only to complete the history of the standard-gauge.
Chapters cover:
- Historical Summary
- Isle of Wight Railway
- Cowes & Newport, Ryde & Newport and Newport Junction Railways
- Isle of Wight Central Railway
- Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport Railway
- Ryde Pier Tramway
- Southern Railway
- British Railways
- British Rail, Network SouthEast and Island Line
- Isle of Wight Steam Railway
- Industrial and Other Locomotives
The appendices contain tables listing all the known locomotives along with a summary of the information known about each one; the principal dimensions of the original engines; overhaul dates; descriptions of the more notable liveries; working restrictions for the Southern Railway locomotives; and the 1922–66 locomotive shed allocations. Eight colourised photographs have been produced which seek to depict the paintwork of a variety of liveries carried on the steam locomotives.
The authors have pulled together a wide variety of facts and figures which build to give a full picture of the formation and running of the railways, the locomotives featured and, from the early 1950s, the gradual demise of the system resulting in electrification and the running of ex-London Transport tube stock.
The royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to the IWSR to further its activities.
Over 130 photographs, mainly black & white, eight of which have been colourised. Hardback. 256 pages.