The ‘Last Train’ from Newport

Isle of Wight Steam Railway Marks 40 Years Since the Final Train Steamed Out of Newport Station

The final train to leave Newport Railway Station in January 1971 will be remembered and ‘re-enacted’ this Sunday morning, 23^rd January 2011, when ‘The Last Train Walk’ leaves the site of the former station and heads to Wootton and Havenstreet on The Isle of Wight Steam Railway.

The event will mark the date, virtually 40 years to the day, when the very last steam train left Newport hauling the fledgling IW Steam Railway’s rolling stock to Havenstreet Station, to begin a new chapter in Island railway history.

‘The Last Train Walk’, which is open to the public (subject to a modest charge), will begin at 10.30am outside the Hamilton & Marshall building (just by the dual carriageway in Newport) - the approximate location of the former Newport Railway Station building. There, a blue plaque commemorating the former station site will be fixed to the wall of Hamilton & Marshall’s and will be unveiled by Major General Martin White, Lord Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight.

The walk will commence after the unveiling and will be led by knowledgeable guides from the IW Steam Railway. It will follow the course of the former track-bed wherever possible, heading through the short Snooks Hill tunnel, past Fairlee and Binfield, and on past the former Royal Station at Whippingham where 40 years ago a letter was set down for onward conveyance to Her Majesty The Queen. Walkers will finally arrive at Wootton Station, now the western terminus of the IW Steam Railway, where at 1pm they will be able to board a steam train from Wootton to Havenstreet. The train will be headed by the Steam Railway’s first locomotive No. 24 ‘Calbourne’ which hauled the final trains out of Newport in 1971. It is hoped that the train will also comprise the three carriages which formed one of the final steam trains from Newport on 24^th January 1971 (LBSCR-built bogie coaches Nos. 4168, 2416 & 6349). At Havenstreet a light lunch will be available for walkers.

There will be a modest charge of £10 for adults and £5 for children to cover train fare and the light lunch, with any surplus going towards further restoration work on our historic locomotives, carriages and stations.

“2011 is a very special year for the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and this is the first of many 40^th Anniversary events we’ll be staging this year”, said Railway Chairman, Steve Oates. “It’s terrific to be marking in this way such an important date in the history of the IW Steam Railway, and I’m really pleased that a number of Steam Railway members who were there 40 years ago will be taking part in Sunday’s event.”

Among those expected to take part is IW Steam Railway Engineering Manager Bob Huxtable, who was one of the footplate crew on the locomotive 40 years ago, IW Steam Railway Operating Assistant Terry Hastings (see his personal recollections below) who assisted with planning the move to Havenstreet and travelled on the very last train, and founder member of the Wight Locomotive Society (the forerunner of the IW Steam Railway) Iain Whitlam who was on duty at Newport Station on the day of the last train. 40 years on, Bob Huxtable will be taking part in the walk, while Terry and Iain will be guard and conductor on the trains running between Havenstreet and Wootton.

Walk Details

Members of the public are very welcome to take part in the event. Walkers should meet next to Lidl’s car park, Newport (OS500894) from 10.15am.

There will be a modest charge of £10 for adults and £5 for children to cover train fare and the light lunch, with any surplus going towards further restoration work on our historic locomotives, carriages and stations.

Walk distance is 3 miles (one way). Duration 2 hours (one way – walk only).

Much of the route is muddy and uneven, so suitable clothing and stout footwear is recommended. All walkers take part at their own risk.

40th Anniversary Steam Trains

For those not wishing to take the walk, a special 40^th Anniversary service of steam trains will be in operation on the IW Steam Railway.

Trains will run between Havenstreet and Wootton (and return) at 11am, 12noon, 2pm and 3pm. Tickets: Adults £5, Children (5-15) £3.

24^th January 1971 – A Personal Recollection from Terry Hastings

“Sunday 24^th January 1971, a date that will go down in history – Well, in the history of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway at least. At Newport as it dawned bright, pumps were lifting water from the track drains into the locomotive and other water barrels, and last minute preparations to run four steam hauled trains to Havenstreet were well under way. The lack of mains water had been caused by the impending sale of the railway land to the local authorities. As part of this process the water supply, which the W.L.S. had been using for four years without charge, was cut off and the only alternative was to use the track drains as a reservoir by blocking the outlets.

The locomotive crew (Bob Huxtable and Tom Jackman) was at first under the supervision of former BR steam driver Tony Tiltman, and his ex boss Ivor Davies from Ryde Works also gave advice along with WLS member John Wenyon from Eastleigh Works. Later model maker Don Young joined for a trip but as the day wore on Bob Huxtable and Tom Jackman were left to their own devices with a guest appearance of this author on the footplate of the very last trip.

The WLS had a commitment to its members to tell them when the move was to take place. We were in the middle of a postal strike and it was years before texts and e-mail. The then Press Officer Richard Newman and friends did their very best to contact as many as possible and he was able to issue them with tickets for the very last train from Newport. George Wheeler was the person who had undertaken training of guards and shunters over the previous months and he set out the timetable and method of working for the ‘move’. It was planned to run two  passenger trains at 10.40 and 12.15 of three carriages each,  then two goods trains, (we had by now acquired a number of additional goods vehicles from the defunct Vectrail), all this was interlaced around Rail Motor Car (the tram) and light engine workings. Somewhere in the middle of all this was a stop at the one time Royal Station of Whippingham where a letter was set down for onward conveyance to Her Majesty The Queen … She must have remembered it as she came to visit us at Havenstreet 33 years later!

The schedule was all very optimistic but how often does moving home go exactly to plan? At about 8.30 pm the last Rail Motor left Newport, the station deserted and silent had seen its last train. The tram crew were fighting a battle of which few knew in the euphoria of the day, they had run out of gaffer tape to stick a leaking fuel pipe and one of their number was holding the connection together, the transmission had given up the ghost hours ago and was held together with a succession of bent 6” nails whose lifespan depended on the use of the right foot of the driver! They had been booked into Haven Street at 5pm but it was gone 10 when the crew arrived in the local pub to a great cheer from the crowd and a rendition of The Runaway Train on the piano by the landlord.

We had arrived, day one at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway was over and we all slept well for the first time in a week.”