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The Ventnor West Branch was the final addition to the Isle of Wight railway network, and used an earlier scheme to run a railway from Shanklin to the railwayless south-west part of the island. [1]
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The Ventnor West Branch was the final addition to the Isle of Wight railway network, and used an earlier scheme to run a railway from Shanklin to the railwayless south-west part of the island. [1]
| Newport, Godshill and St. Lawrence Railway Act 1889 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Citation | 52 & 53 Vict. c. cli |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 12 August 1889 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Isle of Wight Central Railway (Godshill Transfer) Act 1913 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act for transferring to and vesting in the Isle of Wight Central Railway Company the undertaking of the Newport Godshill and St. Lawrence Railway Company to confer further powers on the Isle of Wight Central Railway Company and for other purposes. |
| Citation | 3 & 4 Geo. 5. c. xiii |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 4 July 1913 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The branch was opened by the T between Merstone and St. Lawrence on 20 July 1897. [2] From the day of opening, the branch was operated by the Isle of Wight Central Railway. A temporary terminus was provided at St Lawrence until the extension was opened to Ventnor Town on 1 June 1900. [3] The terminus was renamed Ventnor West by the Southern Railway.
In the days prior to the Grouping of the railways in 1923, the line struggled to make financial ends meet. However, after 1923 the services did improve and some of the increasing competition from road transport was lessened. An extensive programme of modernisation was undertaken by the Southern Railway, albeit with secondhand equipment from the mainland. Some economies were made on the branch by the Southern Railway, most notably the removal of the passing loop and signal box at Whitwell in 1928. The footbridge at Dean level crossing on the outskirts of Whitwell was also removed around this time. The footbridge was re-erected at Wroxall.
Nationalisation in 1948 brought the British Railways emblem to the locomotives but few other significant operational changes. The passenger numbers remained low and the branch continued to lose revenue to more convenient bus services. It was no surprise when closure was announced for 15 September 1952. [4] [5] The branch was visited by a large number of enthusiasts in its final months.
Today all the station buildings are in residential use.
From the junction at Merstone, the line turned south and continued through farmland to cross the main Newport-Shanklin road. The line then continued through farmland to Godshill.
From Godshill the line again traversed farmland on a large stretch of embankment that ran to the small hamlet of Southford on the outskirts of Whitwell.
From Whitwell the line climbed up to the northern portal of St. Lawrence tunnel, crossing the B3327 road at Dean level crossing before reaching the tunnel itself.
The line entered the tunnel and began a long descent to St Lawrence and the terminus at Ventnor West.
Ventnor is a seaside resort town and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, eleven miles (18 km) from Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface Down, and built on steep slopes leading down to the sea. The higher part is referred to as Upper Ventnor ; the lower part, where most amenities are located, is known as Ventnor. Ventnor is sometimes taken to include the nearby and older settlements of St Lawrence and Bonchurch, which are covered by its town council. The population is 5,567 according to the 2021 Census
The Island Line is a railway line on the Isle of Wight which runs along the island's east coast and links Ryde Pier Head with Shanklin. Trains connect at Ryde Pier Head with passenger ferries to Portsmouth Harbour, and these ferries in turn connect with the rest of the National Rail network via the Portsmouth Direct Line. The line also connects to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, a heritage railway, at Smallbrook Junction. For much of its length the line runs alongside the A3055, criss-crossing this road by means of the Ryde Tunnel and bridges at Rowborough, Morton Common, Lake Hill and Littlestairs.
The Isle of Wight Central Railway (IoWCR) was a railway company on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. It was formed in 1887 by the merging of three earlier railways, the Cowes and Newport Railway, the Ryde and Newport Railway and the Isle of Wight Railway,.
The Isle of Wight Railway was a railway company on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom; it operated 14 miles of railway line between Ryde and Ventnor. It opened the first section of line from Ryde to Sandown in 1864, later extending to Ventnor in 1866. The Ryde station was at St Johns Road, some distance from the pier where the majority of travellers arrived. A tramway operated on the pier itself, and a street-running tramway later operated from the Pier to St Johns Road. It was not until 1880 that two mainland railways companies jointly extended the railway line to the Pier Head, and IoWR trains ran through, improving the journey arrangements.
Whitwell is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Niton and Whitwell, on the south of the Isle of Wight, England, approximately 5 kilometres north-west of Ventnor, the village's nearest town. In addition to this, it is about five minutes away from its neighbouring small villages of Godshill and Niton. According to 2001 census data, the total population of the village was 578. There is a variety of stone and thatched housing, as well as some more modern housing, the most recent of which was completed in 2006.
Sandown railway station is a railway station serving Sandown on the Isle of Wight, England. It is located on the Island Line from Ryde to Shanklin.
Merstone is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight. It is home to Merston Manor, built in 1605 in the Jacobean style by Edward Cheeke, and rebuilt in the Victorian era. Merston Manor was first mentioned in the Domesday Book, and the present structure is arguably the oldest brick house on the Island. Prior to the Norman Conquest, Merston Manor was owned by the Brictuin family. The manor now belongs to the Crofts family. According to the Post Office the population of the hamlet was at the 2011 Census included in the civil parish of Arreton.
Ventnor West railway station was in operation from 1900 to 1952 in Ventnor, Isle of Wight.
Whitwell Station, on the Ventnor West branch of the Isle of Wight Central Railway, was opened on 20 July 1897 along with the other stations on the branch. It was equipped with a passing loop, two platforms, a signal box and a substantial station building.
St Lawrence railway station is a former railway station in the village of St Lawrence on the Isle of Wight.
Godshill station was at Godshill on the Isle of Wight on the Newport, Godshill & St Lawrence Railway, later the Isle of Wight Central Railway.
Merstone railway station, was an intermediate station situated on the edge of Merstone village on the line from Newport to Sandown incorporated by the Isle of Wight Railway in 1868
Freshwater railway station was the westerly terminus and largest station of the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway, the platform being extended to accommodate the "Tourist Train", a non-stop service from Ventnor.
Yarmouth railway station, was an intermediate station of the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway.
Wroxall railway station was an intermediate station on the Isle of Wight Railway line from Ryde, situated between Shanklin and Ventnor with an upland situation. To the north lay Apse Bank with its three miles of 1 in 70 gradient and three bridges. The gradient eased in the station but increased again to 1 in 88 as Ventnor Tunnel was approached.
There are several modes of Transport on the Isle of Wight, an island in the English Channel.
There once existed a 55+1⁄2-mile (89.3 km) network of railway lines on the Isle of Wight, which operated both as a self-contained railway network, and as links to ferry services between the island and the South coast of Great Britain. The routes were opened by several companies between 1862 and 1901 and modernised after The Grouping in the 1920s. Most of them were permanently closed between 1952 and 1966, whilst the 8+1⁄2-mile-long (13.7 km) Island Line was temporarily closed in 1966 and rebuilt for electric train services, introduced in 1967. Replacement trains were introduced in 1990, and again in 2021 along with a major renewal of the line. A further 5+1⁄2 miles (8.9 km) have reopened as a heritage line known as the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and there have been several proposals to expand the network further since the 1960s, either with conventional heavy rail or by conversion to light rail.
The Tourist was a train run by the Southern Railway on the railway lines of the Isle of Wight. It was set up in 1933 as an extension of the original East and West Through Train from the previous year. It was the only named train on the Isle of Wight, and one of the very few express trains.