 | Island Lines |  |
| Island Lines | |
| The Freshwater Yarmouth & Newport Railway | Oakwood | |||
| R.J. Maycock & R. Silsbury | £14.95 | 176 pages | Hardback | 2003 |
| This is a well put together and illustrated account and record of an impecunious railway company and the railway that it built to west Wight. The photographic coverage concentrates on the pre war years, covering all aspects of the line's infrastructure, stock and operation. Chapter 13 describes the ill fated Solent tunnel project and a further volume will cover the SR and its successors Islandwide in more detail. In summary this is an appealing book on a charming subject. | ||||
| The Isle of Wight Central Railway | Oakwood | |||
| R.J. Maycock & R. Silsbury | £22.95 | 288 pages | Hardback | 2001 |
| A detailed history of the largest of the Isle of Wight railway companies, itself the result of an amalgamation of three smaller companies. The wonderfully scenic route to Ventor West was part of this empire and is fully covered, photographs even including some construction shots. The detailed history is taken up to the Southern Railway, with future volumes set to cover the later periods in detail. Although largely textual, this is a very attractive book and the illustrations include scale drawings of stock and signalling diagrams for all the stations. | ||||
| The Isle Of Wight Railway | Oakwood | |||
| R.J. Maycock & R. Silsbury | £19.95 | 240 pages | Hardback | 1999 |
| A very nicely produced book, which for the first time sets out in detail the history of Wight's first and last railway from Ryde to Ventnor. Admirably, if not amazingly, the book's copious photographic coverage is nearly all of the pre Southern Railway era. Beyer Peacock 2-4-0s and ex North London Railway coaches were running well into the 1920's, setting a precedent for eccentric rolling stock which has been followed ever since. | ||||
| The Isle of Wight Railways Cowes to Newport | Irwell Press | |||
| Oliver Smith | £7.95 | 56 pages | Softback | 1993 |
| An illustrated history of the Cowes to Newport line, one of the most interesting pieces of the Wight railway network. All stations are covered including the fascinating Medina Wharf complex with its own tiny private halt, the highly model railway like Mill Hill station and prosaically named Smithards Lane, just up the hill from Cowes Gasworks! | ||||
| Isle of Wight Steam Passenger Rolling Stock | Oakwood | |||
| R.J. Maycock & M.J.E. Reed | £12.95 | 192 pages | Softback | 1997 |
| From its early beginnings right up until the present day, coaching stock on the Wight railway network has been formed from a wide variety of superannuated stock from the mainland. This fully illustrated book gives a complete and detailed account of what was used and where, together with the modifications made for island service, such as the push/pull fitting of four wheeled LBSCR stock for the line to Ventnor West. This policy resulted in the late survival of wonderfully archaic rolling stock - I think my favourite image in this book is the improbable looking Stroudley horse box, resplendent in Southern Region livery. | ||||
| The Jersey Eastern Railway | Oakwood | |||
| Peter Paye | £14.95 | 208 pages | Softback | 2007 |
| Given that this railway closed as long ago as 1929, this book is a remarkably comprehensive history and account of this individual line. Built to standard gauge, and employing quaint Kitson built 2-4-0 tank engines and antiquated coaches, the railway was profitable in its day before bus competition led to liquidation and final demise. This is an Oakwood reprint of the 1999 book published by the author, a fact which is strangely not mentioned in the 2007 book. | ||||
| The Piers, Tramways and Railways at Ryde | Oakwood | |||
| R.J. Maycock & R. Silsbury | £16.95 | 176 pages | Hardback | 2005 |
| Did you know that Ryde's pier was the first to be built in Britain? First opened in 1814 it reached its present length of ½ mile in 1840 - a severe disadvantage until a horse tramway was opened in 1864. Later extended from the foreshore to St. John's Road the tramway was subsequently cut back when the present railway was built and finally closed in 1969 - latterly run under the aegis of British Railways using two Drewry railcars. The whole intriguing story is related in this book, complete with an excellent collection of photographs from all eras, map extracts and track and signalling diagrams. The railway proper is also covered, right up until the present day - a fascinating story. | ||||