The last county to get railways marks milestone

An austerity class saddle tank waiting to depart Havenstreet station

While Network Rail and the National Rail Museum celebrate the 200th anniversary of the modern railway, the last county in England to get railways is celebrating an anniversary of its own.

This year the Isle of Wight Steam railway is celebrating 150 years since the opening of the Ryde to Newport line, part of which is now used for heritage steam trains.

When the Stockton & Darlington Railway opened for business 200 years ago, it prompted a wave of railway development, with 25 new lines being authorised by parliament.

Between 1830 and 1871, Britain's rail network grew from 125 miles to more than 13,000.

A small fraction of the network had evolved on the Isle of Wight and therein lies an interesting story.

Although there was a short-lived tramway worked by horses built in the 1830's, which lasted for around a decade, the Isle of Wight got its first modern railway late.

When the Cowes to Newport Railway opened in 1862, it was after the railway mania of the 1840s.

Over the years the island developed a network of 55 miles, serving most of its towns and villages.

Summer trains were packed with holidaymakers from the south of England and beyond, going to-and-from holiday resorts such as Shanklin, Ventnor and Sandown.

Holidaymakers waiting at Ryde Pier Head station to board trains to resorts across the island in 1963

The island was a railway backwater though, and relied on hand-me-down engines and carriages from the mainland.

When the last timetabled steam trains ran in 1966, their replacements were old London underground trains built in the 1920s and 30s.

These and their replacements, which were retired after a record 82 years in service, operated a much-reduced railway on the Island, only seven miles of which were electrified between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin.

The rest of the network was gradually closed from the 1950s, but enthusiasts managed to save some of the Victorian and Edwardian carriages and engines and reopen a stretch of line between Wootton and Smallbrook junction.

The Isle of Wight Steam railway is now one of the biggest tourist attractions on the island.

Chief executive Marc Morgan Huws says it has about 100,000 visitors each year.

The line between Ryde and Shanklin was electrified in 1967, but old tube trains built between 1923 and 1934 were used until the early 1990s

"We bring in about £3m a year into the local economy," he says.

"But actually, we're a really big family of volunteers alongside our staff, as 500 volunteers actually come and work on the railway during the course of the year.

"That's a huge opportunity for people on the island."

Since it started as a preservation society in 1971, the volunteers have helped restore Havenstreet station and signal box to its former glory.

The building was given a Grade-II listing by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport earlier this week.

The last train left from Newport on 24 January 1971

The building has also retained many original features like the lever frame and ticket counter.

The railway is facing challenges though, the cost of living crisis has increased its costs and those of its customers, but coal and climate change are also issues.

Mr Huws says the closure of the last specialist steam coal mine in Wales and the Russian invasion of Ukraine mean the railway has to import coal from further afield.

"We can get coal, but it's coming halfway around the world," he says.

"It's nowhere near as efficient or as good as Welsh steam coal and it's more expensive than it used to be.

"Because it's not good coal, we're burning quite a bit more of it."

He adds that this year's exceptionally dry spring and summer also gave the railway a headache.

Marc Morgan Huws, chief executive of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, says the railway is now one of the biggest tourist attractions on the island

"Like all steam railways across the UK, we're very, very sensitive to the risk of setting fire to very dry fields," he adds.

"We've had to do an awful lot of work, particularly this season, on mitigations against that fire risk."

He still believes the steam railway has a future, despite them stopping running in 1966.

But he adds: "We've got younger generations who don't remember them and we've got to engage with people in a digital age and bring them to the railway."

Meanwhile, in April the railway bought Ashey station, which was built in 1875 when the Newport to Cowes line was opened.

The 150-year-old building has remained almost untouched for decades, and the railway plans to return it to how it would have been in the 1920s at an estimated cost of £550,000.