The Isle of Wight Steam Railway is marking 50 years on the Island, with celebratory events planned later in the year.
Unfortunately, the national lockdown meant that the planned celebration event to mark the 50th anniversary had to be cancelled.
But instead, a small ceremony was held at Havenstreet to mark the occasion, watched by thousands of supporters online. The day saw the return to steam of the line’s flagship locomotive, number 24 Calbourne, which had hauled the trains in 1971.
A series of events have been planned to celebrate the steam railway’s 50th birthday, including a gala weekend in June and guided walks along the Island’s former lines.
History
On January 24, 1971 crowds of well-wishers flocked to Newport station and lined the line to Havenstreet to witness the town’s last trains.
In the late 1960s, the preservation group had assembled the Island’s sole remaining steam locomotive, carriages and wagons at the old Newport station.
At the time there were hopes that trains could run along the whole line from Ryde to Cowes. The section through Newport was destined to become the town’s bypass, and the preservation society had to find a new home at Havenstreet, away from potential developers.
In January 1971, the group were given just one week’s notice to move everything to Havenstreet before the scrap merchants started to lift the track.
There were lots of obstacles to overcome, with trains needing to run over 5 miles of heavily overgrown track which had closed 5 years earlier. At Wootton, torrential rain had washed away part of the trackbed, leaving the rails suspended above a sea of mud.
Volunteer, John Woodhams, worked as 15 year-old schoolboy to clear vegetation from the line, and is now a driver at the steam railway.
He said:
“Until the first train had got across, nobody really knew whether it was possible.
“After all the uncertainty and destruction we’d experienced at Newport, there was a feeling of hope and new beginnings that we could establish a railway at Havenstreet.”
Four trains ran that day, hauling the society’s carriages and historic wagons to their new base.
The final train departed in darkness, whistle blazing as it crossed the Medina viaduct for the last time, signalling the end of 109 years of railway history at Newport.
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