I must say I have recently, fell in love with the Isle of Wight Railway. Re introduced via Train simulator 2024. I have ichy feet to get down there for a holiday. Thank you for this content.
A great video. It is worth noting that the line from Ryde PH to Ventnor was originally mainly double track, as can be seen by the bridges. I had a weekly runabout ticket in the 60s and travelled on all the remaining lines - Ryde-Ventnor, Ryde-Newport/Cowes.
Not all of it was double track. It was single track from Sandown to Shanklin, Shanklin down to Wroxall, and onto Ventnor, with passing loops, at the stations. Certainly a number of videos on RUclips will show this.
Sorry we missed the last episode. I will get caught up once I get home. We are here in London for the holidays and were at the Museum yesterday. We loved the Hidden London Exhibit.
This is great. Very pleased to be able to see my mothers house at 29:39 all the way from here in New South Wales. I'd love to see an audience live commentary of this Island line video.
I missed the livestream but I do like the Island Line Class 484. I always wanted to go to the Isle of Wight and ride on the train. I might go do that next year.
Yes, the tunnel cut through St Boniface Down. I don't think there is any chance that a train would climb to the top of the hill! I believe the cost of further electrification through to Ventnor was the reason it stopped at Shanklin. The excuse at the time was that the tunnel was leaking and unsafe. Obviously a lie.
@@nigelrowe9162 Correct. Also BR knew from receipts and ticket sales that the bulk of passengers alighted at Shanklin and not Ventnor, during the Summer holiday period, stating that that section of the line was uneconomic. IIRC it was 6 trains per hour to Shanklin and only 2 trains per hour to Ventnor, during the Summer season. To electrify down to Ventnor from Shanklin would need a 4th 33kV /750V DC traction substation, 33kV OH line connection, conductor rail and rolling stock, costing an extra £274k. Money BR did not have sanctioned by government. BR only just managed to electrify down to Shanklin from Ryde PH on £500k with 3 traction subs.
Hi Chris, Alex, Laura and Siddy, it’s been a busy demanding week at work, one more day to go, or work the entire weekend, looking as ever to the next instalment from the team.
Hello Chris, Alex ,Laura and Siddy , I just want to say how much I have been enjoying you fabulous channel. I'm a brit living in Canada where its Minus 24 right now, so to hear Chris mention it being minus 4 on Dec 4th episode gave me a little giggle. Keep up the good work and wishing you all the very best for the new year .
Loved this episode, I used to go to the island every year for holiday from 1956 when I was 8 months old until I was 16. Ryde Pier had a little tramway,they were diesel powered ,which ran on right hand side down to esplanade station. I think that closed when steam ended. The pier used to be very busy when the Cowes line was also open, and I used to love watching the steam engines when they had to change ends. After Shanklin there was Wroxall station and the line went trough a tunnel which come out almost in Ventnor station. I think thats the main reason the line never reopened to Ventnor as the tunnel would probably be too difficult to repair
Also Ventnor station was very inconveniently situated quite a way from the town and a long way above up a steep hill. Changing at shanklin onto the southern vectis bus has probably always been the better option to get to the centre of Ventnor
@@ianpegge9967 Yes and BR knew this from ticket sales and receipts. Ventnor station for all its charm and views was some 300 ft above the town and walking down a 1 in 4 hill was OK, to get to ones hotel, B&B, or Guest House, but the return was not good with 2 suitcases and kids and souvenirs in tow. Alight at Shanklin as you state, and get the but into the town. The other reason was that there was a need for the 4th traction 33kV/750V DC traction substation, 33kV OH line connection, conductor rail and railway stock. Costing £274k a sum BR did not have the sanction to spend by the new Labour Government. BR only just managed to electrify down from Ryde PH to Shanklin with 3 traction subs at a cost of £500k.
I cannot thank you Four enough for all the Saturday evenings that I've enjoyed with you all for company,Have yourselves a wonderful and Happy Christmas and as allways Take care and Stay safe.
Very HAPPY Christmas and Best wishes for the New Year to the FAB four. Looking forward to what you have in store for the future. Chris, saw your article about Down Street and Churchill in the Daily Mail this week. Very Interesting.
I just subscribed your channel. I have been to IoW two times. Cowes, and Shanklin. I used a beautiful old-fashioned train from Ryde to Shanklin. It was great! I'm usually in the UK every year, visiting a friend in London, last time in 2019, but since the C-drama I haven't been able to get over, it caused a lot of trouble, unfortunately. I miss the UK! Best regards from Germany
Love this series. Just discovered you , and cant get enough. Day tripped to the island in the days of standard stock in br blue and grey. Seeing the guard and the guards bar. Saw the Angel video last night. Remember going there just before it closed whilst doing my telephone engineers training in old street. And then going back when the new station opened. I used to give myself challenges of how many different ways to get from old street to Hownslow . Keep up the great presentation.
Hi all, , really enjoying the latest edition and your comments about the island railways. I can remember when you caught a steam powered paddle ferry from harbour station to Ryde and catching either a steam train to Shanklin or Ventnor, or if you were staying in Ryde you could catch the electric train to the esplanade which ran on the pair of railway tracks on the pier next to main railway which you can see in your film when you go from Ryde pier head and drive to esplanade station.
I think the line from Richmond to Gunnersbury used by District Line trains Is in fact 3rd and 4th rail like the rest of the Underground, not 3rd rail only as on the IoW, for which the D78 stock has been modified.
Hi. Siddy says it must be fun "being a train driver'. I was lucky enough to drive a DMU CL115 on the West Somerset Railway for 10 years or so, and she's absolutely right. I loved it and my passengers could see the line if they were behind me in the leading car. A great honour to be a Volunteer Driver, and I miss the views driving and in particular the great colleagues.
Hi guys. Lovely episode as always. I've really enjoyed watching this year, both live and on catch up, and on Patreon. Have a great Christmas and New Year and here's to a great 2022
I couldn't wait until tomorrow morning to see this episode. Thank you, it was well worth staying up for! Thank you as always to the Fab Four. The pictures of the Island were fantastic. I've done the front seat on the DLR, which is good, but not in the same league as this.
Between Brading and Sandown note the fourth rail lying on the ballast on the right hand side. This was retained when the double track was lifted due to power supply issues. Helped with the earth return apparently. The Shanklin to Ventnor line is a partly covered as a footpath - you can walk the trackbed to just past Wroxall. From Wroxall the footpath climbs over the Down and you can see the brick ventilation shaft for the tunnel around halfway up. Southern Water have a pipe through the tunnel that supplies water to Ventnor - all filtered through the Down with a holding tank on the old station site. You can still see the tunnel mouthes at either end.
I think you will find that the water pipe supplying Ventnor extends under the footpath created from the closed line back to Shanklin. There are apparently a number of manhole covers on that route, which could be inspection pits for the water main. Also Ventnor tunnel has a return sewage pipe on the other side so that must go somewhere.
Interesting about the live rail being furthest away from the platform. Many years ago it was next to the platform on the Underground but after a couple of cases where a person had fallen off the platform and was electrocuted in interests of safety it was moved away to the other side.
As usual, I will catch up with this episode later tonight. I wish all connected with Hidden London Hangouts, presenters & viewers a Happy & Healthy Christmas & 2022.
I have driven trains on that line many, many times in Train Simulator. 😊I know every inch of it. Never been there in real life though. Would like to go some day.
I remember my late wife saying the first time she went this line 6 years ago " This is more like a white knuckle ride than a train raid " Peaple of a certain age will remember riding on the 1st generation DMU,s sitting at the front behind the driver and being able to see out the front like on the DLR.
Yep Western Region West of Swansea, happy days when some journeys through Tenby on Saturdays in the summer were formed of a couple of units coupled together to cope with the passenger numbers on " changeover day" on the caravan sites
Just watched this episode, not sure how many cab trips you have done on the IOW. However I was your driver that took you down to Shanklin, you went to a restaurant for lunch and I came back down to Shanklin in the afternoon with the train to get you back to Ryde Pier Head.
Extension down through Boniface Down to Ventnor is possible. The first hurdle is the overbridge immediately west of Shanklin. Not a very big obstacle as the road is quite narrow and there are plenty of spare re-usable bridges Network Rail yards. Even a new bridge doesn’t need to be very expensive, but going by recent costs for projects across UK network somebody will think of a number and double it! The tunnel under the Down may need some work, but will it be big enough for the new 484’s? The station at Ventnor is high above the town, but when we used the bus we had to walk downhill to reach the main town. A shuttle bus could be used and extended further west to pick up passengers, as a possible service would be every 35 to 45 minutes. Just a suggestion from the Southern Hemisphere.
The last time I rode this Railwy was in 1977. The ride quality was atrocious. It was had work just being sat down. You risked you life if you stood up. Great video, thanks guys. 👍👏👏
Why is the track from Ryde Esplanade along the pier no longer used? As it has not been lifted is there a possibilty it may be used again in the future?
Another small reason the D78s might fit in Ryde tunnel and be within gauge might be to do with the fact that D78s run on tube train bogies not sub surface bogies back in the day it made it easier maintenance wise for LT
Another great episode! I always love cab view videos. Happy Christmas, team! (Is there going to be one next Saturday, given that it'll be Christmas day?)
Excellent, would loved to have seen the driving controls as now, and then as D78’s, please also do a documentation of the closed lines on the Island 🏝.
Is there any reason as to why there's is still semaphore signals leaving Ryde and the rest has been upgraded to searchlight colour signalling, And is there any kind of overrun protection when approaching a terminus other than relying on the driver like LT did in the past
may well be old/ex district line train/rolling stock however footage from the cab shows no fourth or middle rail so track is more like southern region track me thinks lots of not only refurbishment but also re-engineering to get/enable ex underground stock to run om this line
It is a real pity that you guy's could not have given us viewers some quiet time just so that we could have listened to the sounds of the train and track, if only for a few moments!
Not all of the lines on the truncated section are double. There are single line sections between Smallbrook Junction to Brading, Brading to Sandown, where there is a passing loop, and Sandown to Lake, and Lake to Shanklin.
I must say I have recently, fell in love with the Isle of Wight Railway. Re introduced via Train simulator 2024. I have ichy feet to get down there for a holiday. Thank you for this content.
A great video. It is worth noting that the line from Ryde PH to Ventnor was originally mainly double track, as can be seen by the bridges. I had a weekly runabout ticket in the 60s and travelled on all the remaining lines - Ryde-Ventnor, Ryde-Newport/Cowes.
Not all of it was double track. It was single track from Sandown to Shanklin, Shanklin down to Wroxall, and onto Ventnor, with passing loops, at the stations. Certainly a number of videos on RUclips will show this.
I'm a train and I approve this video! !! Holy Moly!!!!
Thank you for another great episode you lovely lot.
I enjoyed todays video about the new train at the isle of wight well done hidden hangout team
From paul chapman at east sheen
Sorry we missed the last episode. I will get caught up once I get home. We are here in London for the holidays and were at the Museum yesterday. We loved the Hidden London Exhibit.
So glad you enjoyed the museum!
This is great. Very pleased to be able to see my mothers house at 29:39 all the way from here in New South Wales. I'd love to see an audience live commentary of this Island line video.
❤️
The old line did not go up the hill, instead used it the Wroxall to Ventnor tunnel, which was an impressive three-quarters of a mile long.
I missed the livestream but I do like the Island Line Class 484. I always wanted to go to the Isle of Wight and ride on the train. I might go do that next year.
I’m a driver with SWR but that’s a cab view I will never get to see, thanks guys! Another great production 👍🏻😀
❤️❤️❤️
Once again a great episode and a great use of the old "D" stock., Thank you to all involved.
Great video. I remember the steam trains on the island. Ventnor was a great station.
Even better the second time around! Also looking forward to seeing what you all are gifting each other for Christmas. :)
RUclips told me it premiers in 30 mins and got me all excited 😭😂
Apologies, it was a scheduling mistake. The episode will premiere at 18:00 GMT as usual.
Great episode,thank you.Have a great xmas you four lovely people.
I'm sure Ventnor station wasn't on top of the hill! It was through a long tunnel and in a cutting just the other side of the hill
Yes, the tunnel cut through St Boniface Down. I don't think there is any chance that a train would climb to the top of the hill! I believe the cost of further electrification through to Ventnor was the reason it stopped at Shanklin. The excuse at the time was that the tunnel was leaking and unsafe. Obviously a lie.
@@nigelrowe9162 Correct. Also BR knew from receipts and ticket sales that the bulk of passengers alighted at Shanklin and not Ventnor, during the Summer holiday period, stating that that section of the line was uneconomic. IIRC it was 6 trains per hour to Shanklin and only 2 trains per hour to Ventnor, during the Summer season. To electrify down to Ventnor from Shanklin would need a 4th 33kV /750V DC traction substation, 33kV OH line connection, conductor rail and rolling stock, costing an extra £274k. Money BR did not have sanctioned by government. BR only just managed to electrify down to Shanklin from Ryde PH on £500k with 3 traction subs.
Hi Chris, Alex, Laura and Siddy, it’s been a busy demanding week at work, one more day to go, or work the entire weekend, looking as ever to the next instalment from the team.
Hello Chris, Alex ,Laura and Siddy , I just want to say how much I have been enjoying you fabulous channel.
I'm a brit living in Canada where its Minus 24 right now, so to hear Chris mention it being minus 4 on Dec 4th episode gave me a little giggle. Keep up the good work and wishing you all the very best for the new year .
We love you! Thanks for watching! Loads more good stuff to come! X
Loved this episode, I used to go to the island every year for holiday from 1956 when I was 8 months old until I was 16. Ryde Pier had a little tramway,they were diesel powered ,which ran on right hand side down to esplanade station. I think that closed when steam ended. The pier used to be very busy when the Cowes line was also open, and I used to love watching the steam engines when they had to change ends. After Shanklin there was Wroxall station and the line went trough a tunnel which come out almost in Ventnor station. I think thats the main reason the line never reopened to Ventnor as the tunnel would probably be too difficult to repair
Also Ventnor station was very inconveniently situated quite a way from the town and a long way above up a steep hill. Changing at shanklin onto the southern vectis bus has probably always been the better option to get to the centre of Ventnor
@@ianpegge9967 Yes and BR knew this from ticket sales and receipts. Ventnor station for all its charm and views was some 300 ft above the town and walking down a 1 in 4 hill was OK, to get to ones hotel, B&B, or Guest House, but the return was not good with 2 suitcases and kids and souvenirs in tow. Alight at Shanklin as you state, and get the but into the town. The other reason was that there was a need for the 4th traction 33kV/750V DC traction substation, 33kV OH line connection, conductor rail and railway stock. Costing £274k a sum BR did not have the sanction to spend by the new Labour Government. BR only just managed to electrify down from Ryde PH to Shanklin with 3 traction subs at a cost of £500k.
Soddy have a look at Barmouth bridge in Wales.
I cannot thank you Four enough for all the Saturday evenings that I've enjoyed with you all for company,Have yourselves a wonderful and Happy Christmas and as allways Take care and Stay safe.
Love Siddy jumper. Bought that exact jumper for my Dad. Unfortunately he passed away in dec 2020 and now I have it back I my collection
Great episode once again... Head to the Bus museum also while you are on the Island 😀 will get on the island train when I stay there next time.
Very HAPPY Christmas and Best wishes for the New Year to the FAB four.
Looking forward to what you have in store for the future.
Chris, saw your article about Down Street and Churchill in the Daily Mail this week. Very Interesting.
I just subscribed your channel. I have been to IoW two times. Cowes, and Shanklin. I used a beautiful old-fashioned train from Ryde to Shanklin. It was great! I'm usually in the UK every year, visiting a friend in London, last time in 2019, but since the C-drama I haven't been able to get over, it caused a lot of trouble, unfortunately. I miss the UK! Best regards from Germany
Love this series. Just discovered you , and cant get enough. Day tripped to the island in the days of standard stock in br blue and grey. Seeing the guard and the guards bar.
Saw the Angel video last night. Remember going there just before it closed whilst doing my telephone engineers training in old street. And then going back when the new station opened. I used to give myself challenges of how many different ways to get from old street to Hownslow . Keep up the great presentation.
Enjoyed seeing the cab eye view, great way to see the line.
Another really great drivers eye view. Wishing you all a happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous new year
❤️
Hi all, , really enjoying the latest edition and your comments about the island railways. I can remember when you caught a steam powered paddle ferry from harbour station to Ryde and catching either a steam train to Shanklin or Ventnor, or if you were staying in Ryde you could catch the electric train to the esplanade which ran on the pair of railway tracks on the pier next to main railway which you can see in your film when you go from Ryde pier head and drive to esplanade station.
That map is superb Alex. As are you!
🥰🥰🥰 you babe!
I think the line from Richmond to Gunnersbury used by District Line trains Is in fact 3rd and 4th rail like the rest of the Underground, not 3rd rail only as on the IoW, for which the D78 stock has been modified.
Thanks for contributing!
Hi. Siddy says it must be fun "being a train driver'. I was lucky enough to drive a DMU CL115 on the West Somerset Railway for 10 years or so, and she's absolutely right. I loved it and my passengers could see the line if they were behind me in the leading car.
A great honour to be a Volunteer Driver, and I miss the views driving and in particular the great colleagues.
Hi guys. Lovely episode as always. I've really enjoyed watching this year, both live and on catch up, and on Patreon. Have a great Christmas and New Year and here's to a great 2022
I love the fact you’re one of our Patreons, Dazzle. Thanks so much for always supporting or work…and for laughing in all the right places!
I couldn't wait until tomorrow morning to see this episode. Thank you, it was well worth staying up for! Thank you as always to the Fab Four. The pictures of the Island were fantastic. I've done the front seat on the DLR, which is good, but not in the same league as this.
Between Brading and Sandown note the fourth rail lying on the ballast on the right hand side. This was retained when the double track was lifted due to power supply issues. Helped with the earth return apparently. The Shanklin to Ventnor line is a partly covered as a footpath - you can walk the trackbed to just past Wroxall. From Wroxall the footpath climbs over the Down and you can see the brick ventilation shaft for the tunnel around halfway up.
Southern Water have a pipe through the tunnel that supplies water to Ventnor - all filtered through the Down with a holding tank on the old station site. You can still see the tunnel mouthes at either end.
I think you will find that the water pipe supplying Ventnor extends under the footpath created from the closed line back to Shanklin. There are apparently a number of manhole covers on that route, which could be inspection pits for the water main. Also Ventnor tunnel has a return sewage pipe on the other side so that must go somewhere.
was taken on the steam train in the 1950s had an uncle living there on a farm was about 5,
Interesting about the live rail being furthest away from the platform. Many years ago it was next to the platform on the Underground but after a couple of cases where a person had fallen off the platform and was electrocuted in interests of safety it was moved away to the other side.
As usual, I will catch up with this episode later tonight. I wish all connected with Hidden London Hangouts, presenters & viewers a Happy & Healthy Christmas & 2022.
The Cambrian line railway viaduct at Barmouth is very long across the estuary :-)
I have driven trains on that line many, many times in Train Simulator. 😊I know every inch of it. Never been there in real life though. Would like to go some day.
I remember my late wife saying the first time she went this line 6 years ago " This is more like a white knuckle ride than a train raid " Peaple of a certain age will remember riding on the 1st generation DMU,s sitting at the front behind the driver and being able to see out the front like on the DLR.
Yep Western Region West of Swansea, happy days when some journeys through Tenby on Saturdays in the summer were formed of a couple of units coupled together to cope with the passenger numbers on " changeover day" on the caravan sites
Just watched this episode, not sure how many cab trips you have done on the IOW. However I was your driver that took you down to Shanklin, you went to a restaurant for lunch and I came back down to Shanklin in the afternoon with the train to get you back to Ryde Pier Head.
I have a few images of the line when operated by steam to Ventnor
Caught up at last been busy working in retail is there a railway on the Isle of man will there be some more purple line videos
Purply line episodes approaching again soon!
Extension down through Boniface Down to Ventnor is possible. The first hurdle is the overbridge immediately west of Shanklin. Not a very big obstacle as the road is quite narrow and there are plenty of spare re-usable bridges Network Rail yards. Even a new bridge doesn’t need to be very expensive, but going by recent costs for projects across UK network somebody will think of a number and double it! The tunnel under the Down may need some work, but will it be big enough for the new 484’s? The station at Ventnor is high above the town, but when we used the bus we had to walk downhill to reach the main town. A shuttle bus could be used and extended further west to pick up passengers, as a possible service would be every 35 to 45 minutes.
Just a suggestion from the Southern Hemisphere.
the Isle of white was a popular honeymoon place up to the 1960s
The last time I rode this Railwy was in 1977. The ride quality was atrocious. It was had work just being sat down. You risked you life if you stood up. Great video, thanks guys. 👍👏👏
Although Portsmouth harbour station is over tidal water, I'm not sure I'd call it open sea. It is in a harbour after all.
Don’t tell the others but I agree!
Why is the track from Ryde Esplanade along the pier no longer used? As it has not been lifted is there a possibilty it may be used again in the future?
I guess where it stays in place, maybe it could in the future?
Is there a bit of line with at Southampton Harbour/Lymington over water?
Another small reason the D78s might fit in Ryde tunnel and be within gauge might be to do with the fact that D78s run on tube train bogies not sub surface bogies back in the day it made it easier maintenance wise for LT
they also alternate pick-rails to even wear on the collection shoes
GOOD POINT! I’ve heard that before too
When is wad london underground it had 4th rail now it on 3rd rail ex district line sub service line on island white?
How do you define open water. Forth Bridge Tay Bridge just about every other railway viaduct over a major estuary
OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH BINGO!!!!!!!
Another great episode! I always love cab view videos. Happy Christmas, team! (Is there going to be one next Saturday, given that it'll be Christmas day?)
OH YES! Xmas Day is going to be magical this year
With all the empty platforms it’s a wonder the line still runs !!
It was a test run. Not open!!
Does anyone know if an AWS system is in use on this line? Haven't seen any obvious AWS ramps in this video. 🤔
Excellent, would loved to have seen the driving controls as now, and then as D78’s, please also do a documentation of the closed lines on the Island 🏝.
The "Co-Driver" on the Mainline is known as a "Second Man" or you could call the from the Observers Seat!
Is there any reason as to why there's is still semaphore signals leaving Ryde and the rest has been upgraded to searchlight colour signalling, And is there any kind of overrun protection when approaching a terminus other than relying on the driver like LT did in the past
Why do London Underground and tube trains use whistles? Network Rail Trains have used two tone horns for years which are more distinctive.
Southern region EMUs uses depot whistles, most of them anyway.
may well be old/ex district line train/rolling stock however footage from the cab shows no fourth or middle rail so track is more like southern region track me thinks lots of not only refurbishment but also re-engineering to get/enable ex underground stock to run om this line
Yup loads of work done to the trains and they look and are great
Soon hopefully the train might travel to Ventnor.
Nice idea but fraught with problems.
No, Portsmouth Harbour station is built over the sea!
Ryde esplanade and the platform gap is truly dangerous.
I'm sure the charging sockets will work just fine with Android phones, not just iPhones :)
🤣
It is a real pity that you guy's could not have given us viewers some quiet time just so that we could have listened to the sounds of the train and track, if only for a few moments!
Hythe pier railway.
You got enough have 2 tracks 2 trains can go pass each other this single is bull shit?
Not all of the lines on the truncated section are double. There are single line sections between Smallbrook Junction to Brading, Brading to Sandown, where there is a passing loop, and Sandown to Lake, and Lake to Shanklin.