History of the Islands Railways

This is not quite the end of the story: The steam railway continues to develop, adding new facilities and restoring further locomotives and carriages. Our Strategic Vision explains our future…

Thanks to support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, our Train Story Discovery Centre opened in 2014, adding greatly to the facilities at Havenstreet station. As well as telling the story…

With considerable help from Network SouthEast (then operators of the Ryde-Shanklin railway) and numerous other organisations and local authorities, the Steam Railway was able to rebuild over 3 miles of…

The original station at Wootton, which closed in 1953, was situated in a cutting on the opposite side of the road. Volunteers attempted to re-build this but were thwarted by…

December 31st 1966 saw the end of 104 years continuous operation of the Island’s railways by steam locomotive. Only the railway from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin was left operational.…

The Beeching Report proposed the closure of all the remaining lines on the island. Despite a spirited campaign, the line from Ryde to Cowes closed in February 1966, followed in…

British Railways wasted no time in closing the loss-making lines to Ventnor West (1952), Bembridge (1953), Freshwater (1953) and between Newport and Sandown (1955). The lines from Ryde to Cowes…

Following the Second World War in 1945, the railways generally were in a run down state. Heavy war traffic, lack of investment and manpower all taking their toll. As part…

Britain’s numerous independent railways were grouped into four main companies on 1st January 1923. This was a Government measure in the early post First World War period to make the…