A brief history of the Island’s Railways

The Isle of Wight Steam Railway and its place in the history of the Island’s railways.

The Isle of Wight Steam Railway passes through five miles of unspoiled Island countryside between Wootton and Smallbrook Junction, recapturing the days of the branch line railway.

Until the 1950’s the island boasted 55 miles of railway line. Of these the ‘main line’ from Ryde Pier Head to Ventnor was the busiest, also serving the principle holiday resorts of Sandown and Shanklin. At the other extreme, the rural lines to Freshwater and Ventnor West were never profitable and epitomise the sleepy country branch line.

Timeline of the Isle of Wight Railways

Our stations – A history

Smallbrook Junction

The station at Smallbrook Junction opened in 1991. Historically there was never a station on this site, just a signal box at the junction of the lines to Ventnor and Cowes.

The Ryde & Newport Railway opened their new line on 20th December 1875, the last mile of which ran parallel to the Isle of Wight Railway’s track from Ventnor to Ryde. The two lines converged at Smallbrook Junction, although for many years there was no physical connection until they reached Ryde St John’s Road.

The Southern Railway, who took over the operation of the Island’s railways in 1923, created a new junction and signal box at Smallbrook which opened on 18th July 1926. This new connection was used during the busy summer months to speed up the flow of trains onto the single line railways to Cowes and Ventnor. In winter the two tracks reverted to single line operation controlled from Ryde St John’s Road.

In February 1966, the railway to Newport and Cowes closed. Smallbrook Junction signal box was dismantled in January 1967 and the tracks removed in 1971.

The volunteers of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway relaid over three miles of line from its base at Havenstreet to Smallbrook and Network SouthEast, then operators of the electrified Island Line, generously funded the construction of this important interchange station. Smallbrook Junction had, for the first time, its own station which opened on 20th July 1991.

Located over the fence, between the platforms, are the concrete foundations of the 1926 signal box, carefully retained as a tangible reminder of the railway’s past.

Ashey Station

Ashey is a small rural station in the middle of nowhere. The grandness of the station was probably due to Sir Henry Oglander of Nunwell; he objected to the railway passing through his best pheasant country and the building, which is a mirror image of the ‘Royal’ station at Whippingham, may well have been a way of placating him. The station was styled ‘Ashey for Nunwell’ for some time, presumably to add a little significance to an otherwise inconsequential location.

For years Ashey was the only crossing place between Ryde and Newport, it boasted a 12 lever frame to operate the loop and ½ mile branch to Ashey Down Quarry. In April 1882, a race course was opened immediately south of the station, bounded on one side by the quarry branch. Originally three meetings a year attracted 3,000 visitors a day.

By 1907, the quarry was disused and the branch cut back to half its length, the remaining portion used for stabling up to three complete trains which provided a ‘mobile’ grandstand. The tracks at Ashey were rationalised by the end of 1927, after the opening of the new passing loop at Haven Street and racing ended in 1930 when the wooden grandstand was destroyed by fire in suspicious circumstances. The station returned to its sleepy existence. Eventually ground movement necessitated the building of a new three coach platform on the Down side which opened in June 1961, and it is this structure which we use to-day. The old station building was available as staff accommodation but was never popular and became near derelict. It was put on the market after the line closed in February 1966 and is now in private hands.

Soon after arrival at Haven Street, the Steam Railway secured a lease on the trackbed from Wootton to Smallbrook Junction thus preventing any unwelcome building or rights of way issues which may have prevented future extension of the track. This wise move kept the way safe for nearly 20 years before reconstruction started. As part of their support of the rebuilding programme, the Isle of Wight Council generously donated the freehold of the whole trackbed to the Steam Railway….it was time to get building!

Today, Ashey remains a quiet backwater, trains stop by request and its an ideal place for a picnic or a ramble off into the countryside; but don’t expect any mod-cons, this is rural Wight at its best!

Havenstreet Station

When the Ryde & Newport Railway opened in 1875, the station at Haven Street was incomplete and its location was of little consequence to the operation of the line. Even by 1876, work was still not complete and when eventually finished it comprised no more than a collection of wooden shacks on a single platform, its not surprising that the rural backwater serving Hethenstrete (road of the heathens) barely got a mention in timetables.

A principal landowner in the village was one John Rylands, a Manchester cotton mill owner who is probably better known for founding the John Rylands Library, an Alma Mater for religious scholars. His philanthropic works at Haven Street included the gasworks and adjacent cottages opposite the station. These were constructed in 1886, and also necessitated the building of a short siding to deliver coal to the works. The gasworks became disused in the 1920’s and the building used as a barn; the siding lingered on for another 30 years although little used.

In 1926, the station took on a new lease of life when a new island platform and station building were constructed. Haventstreet was a more convenient place to cross trains between Ryde and Newport which enabled the old loops at Ashey and Whippingham to be closed.

The ‘new’ building at Haven Street is that which you see to-day, it’s a single story structure designed to be operated by a single man. The signal-box doubles as the booking office and is located to one end, the central portion is a waiting room whose quarry tiled floor is evidence that the front of this area was once open to the weather before being enclosed in the 1930’s. At the far end of the building are the toilets, the ladies are led off the waiting area, gentlemen have to brave the elements on their way to the flat roofed extension … although it was always thus in the original plans.

Back in 1934, the station forwarded 60,986 gallons of milk to Newport and strawberries and carnations went to Covent Garden, much of this was loaded from a special timber platform built on the south side of the line close to the bridge which crosses the main road, this platform had direct cart access from the station yard. The exact date of its demise has yet to be determined but was probably around the time of the Second World War.

In the 1950’s the Post Office instigated the contracted name Havenstreet to prevent confusion although this was only partially adopted by the railway….and remains thus!

The railway closed in February 1966 although the track remained in place and the building boarded until the Steam Railway arrived on Sunday 24th January 1971.

Whilst it would have been ideal to have preserved the station’s rural idyll the requirements of a modern visitor attraction and the need to service and maintain the locomotives and carriages necessitated change. The old coal siding was reinstated at the same time as sidings connecting into the locomotive workshops; the old gasworks was purchased and now houses a small museum and store. A new shop was constructed on the site of the old tar pits and later volunteer accommodation was provided in a similarly designed building next door.

At the south-western end of the station, new sidings have been laid to accommodate an ever increasing volume of wagons and rolling stock, much of which is used by our engineers to maintain the track and lineside. Behind the Shop-Museum complex a further workshop for carriage and wagon restoration was built. This building is available to visit on most operating days and provides an up close insight into vehicle restoration.

Wootton Station

When the line opened in December 1875, Wootton station was described by Inspecting Officer Col. Yolland as a “new road side station”. It lacked amenities such as name boards, clock and conveniences….the situation was little improved by 1879!

The platform was in a deep cutting alongside a three arch bridge carrying Beech Road,(later Station Road) over the line, about a mile from Wootton village. In 1907, a station masters’ house was constructed high above the station and an arch of the bridge was bricked in to provide ladies toilets. A booking office was also later provided in this way. To the east of the bridge an access road was provided to a new 110ft siding which was worked from a ground frame.

The station was closed on Monday 21 September 1953, although occasional trains would stop to set down or pick up local staff members until the line closed. The difficult clay conditions at the station site required constant maintenance and part of the old platform was cut back due to encroachment. The line finally closed in February 1966 and lay dormant until 24th January 1971.

The Steam Railway received less than a weeks notice to quit the Newport base and move their locomotive and rolling stock to Havenstreet through the troubled site at Wootton. A small team cleared the collapsed bank from the track and packed up the rails to allow passage of four very heavy passenger and goods trains.

Steam Railway trains started running from Havenstreet to Wootton Station Road Bridge at Easter 1971; the following year a survey of the old station site suggested it could be stabilized and reused. Work commenced but came to an abrupt halt some months later when, after a period of very heavy rain, the whole bank was in immanent danger of collapse! The scheme was abandoned and the cutting filled together with the whole area under and around Station Road bridge, which, incidentally still exists under the road by the station bus stops. The Railway made plans for a new terminus further east but it was not until 1977 that the first engine was able to run round its train. The station formally opened in August 1986.

We’re in the process of recreating an Edwardian station at Wootton with a new station building and goods shed.