486 031 despite its more modern front look (pictured below at Lake in May 1989) was a reformed unit from 1985 and known as the vintage set. This compromised the best historic features still to be found of the stock and this train was a regular performer on the line. Very unusually the motor driving car at the Shanklin end of this set was given a name and known as Indomitable.
A couple of VECTIS units (built 1927/34) had a more modern front look. This is 486 031 at Lake.
Tube trains came to the Isle of Wight almost by accident. Originally a batch of tube stock was bought at nominal scrap value from London Transport in 1965 as the Southern region wanted to retain a shuttle train service on the pier to connect with the ferries. The rest of the line would close. The section from the pier head to St Johns Road would be electrified and serve a bus station there for onwards journeys.
In that same year, the Minister of Transport, Mr Fraser, rejected the proposal to close the line southwards to Shanklin and replace it with buses. This early purchase of tube trains that year ensured a further batch could now be procured for what would be a substantially modernised line. The Government made a capital expenditure of half a million available for the purpose of electrification.
The VECTIS units originally ran in either three or four carriage sets and were often marshalled into lengthy seven car sets. These were later reformed into five and two car units. The 485/486s should have all gone by 1990, however the last sets ran in 1992. This was in part due to their ability to hold the track better and sustain timekeeping – which essential for keeping the then 20 minute line frequency. This was something the 483s couldn’t do very well.
VECTIS unit running alongside the post-war housing estates at Shanklin. Summer 1989.
Of the eighteen class 483 units (nine train formations) that came to the island, at least three have now been scrapped (002 and 003 at the time of writing – 2017.) A couple are kept for spares. This leaves technically four sets to work the line, but the actual availability, given the difficulties of spares, is problematic. Currently (Nov 2017) its said just three are available.
The newer 483 stock had its merits but hasn’t exactly given the line a huge re-invigoration. The trains constitute a glorified shuttle service with very uneven intervals that offers two trains twenty minutes apart then a gap of forty minutes before those two services once again! Most trains are simply a pair of carriages thus conveying an impression there is little desire to give much in terms of passenger capacity and comfort not only that in the summer these Class 483 two car trains get terribly overcrowded at times – just like the tube!
In my view I much preferred the 485/86 tube stock which at least had serious character and rode the tracks so much better than the 1938 stock. I remember the very first days of the 1938 stock. After just one single trip on the 1938 stock it was apparent ride quality was appalling. Even the drivers didn’t like the awful motion these gave and most were left in the sidings at Ryde depot until a solution could be found to stop the trains’ violent track hunting. Ultimately I preferred to wait for services that constituted a train of 1923/24/27 stock and this made me appreciate these veterans even more.
.Class 485 041 has just left St Johns Road and is heading towards Ryde tunnel 1989.
The 485/86 units really worked their armatures hard and one could especially feel these seven car trains muscling their power especially heading south. They certainly had much go whilst the 483s didn’t – and that in large because the 483s couldn’t stomach the track quality on the island. The best place to sit on the 485/486s was of course in the front carriage, right next to the motor compartment and the power dispensed by these units upon leaving either Brading or Lake stations in a southbound direction can be described as stupendous. The weight of the trains meant these would be powered practically almost into Shanklin station itself – from Norton Common (midway between Brading and Sandown) the line is on an almost rising gradient.
One other issue for the newer 1938 stock was that the track laid in 1966/67 came in 55 foot lengths. That was the maximum size that could be conveyed on the ferries of that time. This meant the track was somewhat less rigid considering the shale formation but that was not so apparent until the 483s entered service. During testing these had been run on the mainland railways where much longer sections of rail combined with properly selected ballasting no doubt gave the 483s on test a most satisfactory ride quality.
To resolve somewhat the issues the line faced with the awful ride quality of the 1938 tube stock, a rail tamper machine was shipped over to the Wight for about a week in the early 1990s. This worked overnight possessions to sort the track’s dreadful state and make the rails’ overall geometry more consistent. This drastic measure at least enabled a few more 483s to begin work as both ride quality and timekeeping could be better maintained.
Two VECTIS units at Sandown station in 1989.
In regards to the state of the track, the district engineer responsible for the line once called the entire route between Ryde and Shanklin his “40 mph siding!” (see The Future of Island Line – Options Report.) That is essentially what the track was. It used 55 foot lengths of rail suitable for sidings and beach shingle as a base. As I have now reiterated a number of times, the 483s were just no match for this.
In short I had been so terribly excited that the 1938 tube stock would be working on the island, but those early experiences proved very disappointing. It was indeed an embarrassment to be sat in a brand new Class 483 and be thrown all over the place, and the train driver having to go very slowly because this bit or that bit of track on the Island line simply sent the class into mass convulsions.
VECTIS unit at Los Altos Park, Sandown, amid the Isle of Wight scenery. October 1989.
In the late 1990s, I revisited the island to see how the 483s were by then progressing. I spent a few days at Shanklin and sampled the 483s at various times of day and night, including the last turns at night (which involved a train to Ryde Pier Head and back down to Esplanade and then getting a bus from there back to Shanklin) it was interesting to see how the 483s performed at various times of the day which indeed constituted a difference. By then the track’s stability had got so much better and I was able to see how the 483s performed under different conditions. They were by now a most appreciable replacement stock for the Island Line.
The important aspect however was their flexibility and the need to add extra units where necessary and this gave the line a good image. A drop in passenger numbers was soon reversed and this increased. However given the current state of the line and lack of train capacity numbers or people using it has once again dropped within the last eight years. This chart from Wikipedia shows the rise and fall in the line’s patronage since 1997. The Class 483s perhaps brought a brief period of full stability and reliability in services which soon proved rather futile as a dearth of spares and parts forced more and more units out of service – with many being scrapped. Apparently the sea at Ryde was less kind to the 483s!
The VECTIS units at least had a better run than the Class 483s because first of the mark these had been so plentiful and in many ways despite their greater age, they were easier to maintain and not quite so susceptible to the vagaries of the salty sea air as the 483s were.
The section by Lake Cliff park with the sea visible through the trees.
Sad to say it seems there will never be a six car train to be seen on the line again. One problem is the availability of the Class 483 units. The other is the line’s power supply has become long in the tooth and is unable to support more than a couple of units. There are severe voltage drops on sections of the line which meant sometimes there was barely enough power for the trains. It was found the voltage could be as low as 350v DC on some sections of the line!
(Note the line received some upgrades in 2020-21 including Rowborough substation for the introduction of the Class 484s thus hopefully the lack of juice in the third rail isn’t so critical for these newer units.)
The latest report – November 2017.
Will the line survive the next fifty years? Despite the many surveys, reports, recommendations, it seems no-one knows. The new franchise, South West Railway, very recently weighed in with their own report – and it wasn’t widely publicised.
(As is widely known now, the line received a considerable upgrade and a new passing loop at Brading during 2020-21 however that hasn’t meant the end of the line’s problems as there are other issues still.)
485 044 fresh from the Isle of Wight at Morden Depot Open Day November 1990.
Brief 2020 update featuring the 484s’ arrival on the Wight:
Finally its happened! Fifty Four years after the first ever electric trains were ferried across the seas (well the Solent actually) to the Isle of Wight, the third generation of trains sourced from London’s Underground were sent across the waters this week from Portsmouth to the island itself. The first of these with the very smart new look arrived on the 19th November 2020 and here’s a couple of items from that momentous day….
Useful links:
Railways on the Isle of Wight (Wikepedia)
Announcing the Isle of Wight Community Rail Partnership (Nov 2005)
Some upgrade work/track repairs needed as a result of flooding (Jan 2014)
The tram conversion idea (Feb 2016)
The Future of Island Line – Options Report (PDF Feb 2016)
Local MP meets SWR to discuss Island Line (Aug 2017)
The diesel, battery or flywheel train solution (Nov 2017)
Developing a more sustainable future for Island Line (PDF Nov 2017)
Updated 2022.