An island to remember…

Arriving over the water to Ryde, both the train and I. Watching it race towards me over spindly iron work as the rails sang the same song as my heart, I welled up. A feeling not of sadness, but purely my passion for railways expressed in a physical sensation, a magical location, an almost timeless moment…

The smart train is older than me by a year or two, but having had a ‘mid life’ rebuild by the now defunct Vivarail, her and four sisters call the island home. Shorter carriages than even a 150 at 60ft (vs 64ft) make her visibly ‘cute’ and my singing heart verbalises a feeling to my good friend Steve…

“I need to model this train”.

This sudden revelation and the excitement and energy that came with it surprises me… I didn’t expect to feel this way about the island, a place I am visiting for the first time. Its toothpaste liveried tube trains and 03 might be etched in to my memory from childhood Ian Allan albums but this feeling feels more visceral, too big to even contain in a sketch or track plan…

A feeling to big for any sketch of track plan

All this before she has even drawn to a stand… a glance down the pier shows the second (disconnected) track still in place and Ryde Esplanade, the gateway to dry land and the line beyond. Stepping on board over the Metro Cammell threshold and settling down in the comfortable but still clearly ‘underground’ seating I wait for the DC traction motors to tune up before their turn at the mic…

 

…and what an opener. The distinctive whine as we roll along jointed track through suburban holiday and retirement homes, past green fields, over clear streams and between woodland glades. We see small holdings and ponies, bus museums and back gardens all the while accompanied by the clickety clack of jointed rails - still ballasted in the warm local shingle which looks lovely but provides an entertaining ride.

The terminus at Shanklin is a lovely building and even on a quiet Sunday morning the railway is busy with locals and tourists… how short sighted it seems today that the rest of the network didn’t survive; for the ease of interchange with boat and bus make this a wonderfully integrated little system. Trundling back to Smallbrook Junction a change of pace is encountered but that is a tale for another time.

For now I’m left with a feeling that those IKEA Mosslanda schemes would be a wonderful muse…

Until next time, more soon…

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