THE ISLE OF WIGHT RAILWAY - 40 YEARS OF PRESERVATION (Railway Preservation Series RP03)

The railways of the Isle of Wight have always held an attraction for the people who visited the island as, right down to the end, they remained a microcosm of the way railways had looked all over Britain during the late-Victorian and Edwardian eras. Small tank engines and non-articulated coaching stock, tiny picturesque stations, and stunning rural countryside as the lines meandered their way down to attractive holiday destinations. Holiday-makers and locals alike all loved the Wight railways, and then one day it all came to an end. The Island's railways had always been seasonal and were never really profitable, so they were ripe for closure under British Railways, and by the mid-1960s it seemed as though all the railways would be lost. In the end, the Shanklin to Ryde route was retained, albeit operated by former London Transport tube train stock. However, a band of enthusiastic volunteers were determined to save something, and this book is a concise history in words and pictures tracing the 40 years of railway preservation on the Isle of Wight. From its shaky start back in the 1960s, through trials and tribulations along the way, the dedicated volunteers at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway have created a tourist line to be proud of. The authors, Dave Walker and Terry Hastings, have tried to present an overview of this fascinating story of a time when money was scarce but ambition and desire to succeed was enough to conquer every problem.

Title: THE ISLE OF WIGHT RAILWAY - 40 YEARS OF PRESERVATION (Railway Preservation Series Vol 3)
Author: Dave Walker & Terry Hastings
Format: PB 72 pages
Publisher: Trans-Pennine (Nostalgia Road) Publishing
Pub date: June 2007
ISBN 10: 1903016703
ISBN 13: 9781903016701

List Price: £9.95