The Isle of Wight is separated from England’s South Coast by the Solent, a strait of water between the island and the mainland, it’s about 20 miles (32 kilometres) long and varies in width between 2 1⁄2 and 5 miles (4 and 8 km), although locally the Hurst Spit narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to just over 1 mile (1.6 km).
It had been a long time since I last visited the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and a visiting friend suggested it would be a nice place to go. A trip to the Island’s railways for most visitors involves crossing the Solent from Portsmouth or Lymington to Fishbourne, Ryde or Yarmouth with (Wightlink) or alternatively Red Funnel offer sailings between Southampton and East or West Cowes. There is also a Hovercraft service between Ryde and Southsea if you fancy something a bit different.
We started our day at Bognor Regis station where one of the oldest trains still running on the British network (a Class 313 in retro Blue/Grey colours) was waiting to take us on our first leg to Barnham, where we changed trains to a Portsmouth Harbour service. We boarded a Wightlink "FastCat" service at Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde Pier Head where a rebuilt ex London Underground train (British Rail Class 484) was waiting to take us onto Smallbrook Junction to make a connection with Isle of Wight Steam Railway trains to Haven Street and Wotton.
On the day of our visit, Isle of Wight Steam Railway trains were in the capable hands of two ex BR Class 2 262T locomotives No’s 41313 and 41298, both matched with beautifully turned out rakes of period carriages. Please join me for a ride along the full length of the line to Wotton and back to Haven Street where we visit the loco sheds, carriage works and museum featuring the “Train Story” exhibition. We also take a look around the cars and busses on show in the field adjacent to the station, before joining a train for another run over the entire line, finally we bid farewell to the railway and make our way to the Island Line platform at Smallbrook Junction. As our ex London Underground train pulled into Ryde Esplanade Station my travelling companion asked if we could return to the mainland by hovercraft, as that would make his day, so that’s what we did arriving at Southsea where a connecting bus was waiting to take us to the town centre and British Rail station for our train home at the end of a memorable day.

Filmed – 24th ‎September ‎2022

Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

To find out more about the railway or maybe to book your own trip, please click on this link https://iwsteamrailway.co.uk/