Last summer we spent a week on the Isle of Wight and visited the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. We got a day rover which also allowed us to take a trip on the Island Line too. This was well worth doing as travelling on an old tube train through sunny green countryside was a memorable experience. We caught the Island Line from Smallbrook Junction to Brading, then back to Ryde Pier Head. After having a snack and watching the hovercraft coming in from Portsmouth we headed back to Smallbrook Junction for what was suppose to be a 10 minute wait for the steam train. Unfortunately the locomotive had problems and we had a 45 minute wait. This gave me the opportunity to take some more photos of the Island Line trains, and to chat to one of the volunteers who told us that they would like to extend the line to Ryde St John's Road by running over the Island Line's tracks. Apparently South West Trains are sympathetic to this plan as it would simplify their timetables by eliminating the need to stop at Smallbrook Junction, but I don't think there are any official plans in place yet. Once we were back at Havenstreet we had our lunch and looked round the station and museum, and workshops where there was a carriage being painted and a stripped down O2 class. I liked this retro-style poster for the L&B railway.
Here's a couple more photos, the rest are on Flickr in sets for the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and the Island Line.
