Following the successful conclusion of the appeal to raise funds for the Heritage Lottery Fund supported repair of O2 Class locomotive W24 'Calbourne's boiler, the Isle of Wight Steam Railway launched its next major project at the recent 'Work's Outing' weekend. The objective is for a Rolling Stock Storage and Display Building to be built at Havenstreet, enabling the railway's unique and historic collection of Victorian and Edwardian carriages to be kept under cover when not in service, away from the harmful effects of sun, wind and rain.. The plan is for a four road shed, each road capable of storing four bogie coaches or their equivalent, with a total size of some 75x25 metres. This will provide a covered storage and display facility for all of the railway's restored locomotives, carriages and wagons, including items scheduled for completion during the next 15 years under the Heritage Lottery Fund assisted Carriage & Wagon restoration programme.

Isle of Wight Steam Railway Fundraiser Simon Futcher launches the appeal at the 'Works Outing' Event - Saturday 27th May 2006.

It is planned that construction will be in the form of a two bay pitched roof structure with a dividing firewall down the centre. The building will be an "off the peg" agricultural barn formed of plastic coated steel cladding over a steel portal frame. It is estimated that having the rolling stock under cover will halve the time currently spent on maintenance which obviously means far more time to spend on restoring yet more historic railway vehicles for service on the railway. Another major benefit is that the building will have public access, giving visitors the opportunity to view the achievements of the railway's restoration teams at close quarters, which is not always possible at present as carriages are often stored in sidings away from publicly accessible areas.

A1x 'Terrier' No.W11 'Newport' heads a train of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway's immaculately restored Victorian 4-wheeled coaches. This appeal will see these historic vehicles stored under cover, away from the ravages of the elements, when not in passenger service.

The railway intends to apply to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant to cover 75% of the £500,000 it is estimated the building and associated trackwork will cost and so is launching this appeal for £125,000 as 'matching funding'. The target is to raise the necessary money by the end of 2009.

This project is the Isle of Wight Steam Railway's largest since the three mile long extension to Smallbrook Junction was opened fifteen years ago and will be a major step forward for the Railway and its visitors. The Heritage Lottery Fund as we know it is likely to come to an end in the next few years so it is vital that the railway's part of the money is raised as quickly as possible. Please send any donation you can to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway Carriage Shed Appeal, The Railway Station, Havenstreet, Ryde, Isle of Wight PO33 4DS. If you are a tax payer, we can reclaim the income tax on your donation through the Gift Aid scheme. Please click here to download a Gift Aid Donation form.

See the Carriage & Wagon and Locomotive pages for more details of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway's historic rolling stock fleet.

Fundraiser Simon Futcher watches carriage restoration project leader Pete Jardine make one of the first donations to the appeal.