Steam Locos of a Leisurely Era 1864
2-4-0Ts – Isle of Wight Railway
Wroxall as running in 1928
From the opening of the line in 1864 until the amalgamation of 1923, the whole of the heavy summer traffic of the Isle of Wight Railway, which may be regarded as the ‘main line’ of the island, from Ryde to Ventnor, was worked by the seven 2-4-0Ts owned by the old Company. The first three, Ryde, Sandown and Shanklin, came from the works of Beyer Peacock in 1864, followed by Ventnor in 1868, Wroxall in 1872, Brading in 1876, and finally Bonchurch in 1883. The last one was a little larger than her sisters, and had Ramsbottom safety valves in place of spring balances on the dome. The cab was also modified.
As soon as the Southern took control in 1923, they immediately sent two LSWR Adams 0-4-4Ts to assist in working the line, and many others followed later. Sandown was in poor condition at the time and was sent over to Eastleigh and scrapped; the others, however, became SR Nos. W13-W18 (the Nos. W1-W12 having been allocated to the other two island systems’ engines, the Isle of Wight Central and the Freshwater Yarmouth and Newport). In IOWR days its engines had never been numbered.
Ventnor was the next to go, in 1925, Brading in 1926, Shanklin in 1927 and Bonchurch in 1928. Wroxall lasted until 1933, but the original Ryde, then the oldest engine on the Southern Railway, was sent over to Eastleigh in 1932 with a view to preservation. Unfortunately this did not come about, and after storage in the paint shop for several years it was broken up in 1940.
First four engines Later three engines
Driving wheels 5’ 0” 5’ 0½”
Pony wheels 3’ 6” 3’ 6½”
Cylinders 15”x 20” 17”x 24”
Pressure 120 lb 120 lb
Weight 30½ – 31½ tons 34 – 35 tons
Varied with individual engines
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