These cuts had a significant effect on the Isle of Wight, as all remaining lines except for that linking Ryde Pier Head to the tourism towns of Sandown and Shanklin were closed during the early months of 1966.  This ushered in the end of the steam era on the Isle of Wight, as the last remaining line was electrified in early 1967.

Calbourne was kept by British Railways to pull engineers works trains at Ryde.  Running in parallel to the end of steam-powered trains on the Isle of Wight, a group of individuals decided to try and save some of the Island’s steam heritage by seeking to purchase an O2 locomotive.  They formed the Wight Locomotive Society and were successful in purchasing Calbourne thanks to a generous donation from wildlife artist David Shepherd.

At the time, Calbourne was stranded at Ryde, and needed to be transported by road to the abandoned station at Newport, where the Wight Locomotive Society was based, in 1969.  Having been asked to vacate Newport station, Calbourne pulled the last train to leave Newport station on 24 January 1971 to her new home at Havenstreet.  When the Wight Locomotive Society started operating a passenger service in Easter 1971 between Havenstreet and Woodhouse Crossing on the line towards Wootton, Calbourne was the locomotive pulling the carriages.

Calbourne was used extensively on the line, before the arrival of other locomotives joined the collection to share the workload.  The arrival of extra motive power also allowed Calbourne to be periodically withdrawn from service to undertake necessary maintenance.  The further addition of other working locomotives since has meant that, more recently, the Isle of Wight Steam Railway has been able to limit her use in order to protect and preserve our flagship locomotive.

Currently presented in the malachite green livery of Southern Railway, Calbourne returned to steam in August 2024 following the fitting of new tyres.