h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The IOW Railway has consistently been one of the top scoring franchises since the break up of BR with regards punctuality and cancellations.
No doubt someone will say that it's so because of the size, but given the age of the trains, it's no mean feat to keep it all going.

Well written and edited, a to both BB and Lil for the article.

A map would help - almost impossible, I know. It's over 30 years since I was there and I find it very difficult to visualise all those places in my head. Seems crazy that a place that size would ever have had FIVE railways, but I guess Victorian holiday makers didn't want to walk.

A place that size - well, take a look at London. London's tiny, same as Paris and New York, yet they have railway lines & subways everywhere! But then, the Isle of Wight isn't that small - no-one really wants to walk 26 miles to the other side.
But thanks for having a read.

Having been born here on the Island your piece on the railways bought back many happy memories to me, I was able to travel on all those lines as a child and would often with friends go off for the day to explore. We would catch a train from Newport then on towards Sandown getting off at Alverstone next to the Mill. There is a river there where someone hired boats which we would use to have a wonderful day. Ah memories, Thanks for bringing them back for me.....

Alas the lines closed before I was born, but I've grown up hearing from everyone how good they used to be, and I too in a way miss the ability to travel by train across the Island, even though I was never able to.
But then, there are so many schemes to re-open the lines suggested each year that it's not ever forgotten. Whether they'll happen or not, who knows?

There's a diagramatic map and a few pictures here: http://www3.mistral.co.uk/daveparker/iow/#MP

I've always been fascinated by the IOW railways (and railways in general - the routes, not the rolling stock) - my dad lived there during WWII but I'm too young to have seen anything pre-beeching. I used to walk along some of the derelict trackbeds when I was there on holdiay as a kid. It was this sort of thing that led me to working for British Rail (computer bit, timetables etc) until I was unwillingly privatised.

Thanks for lkeaving that picture - I've definately never seen a diagram like that before.
I too often enjoy walking along the old railway lines to different places, but I also feel frustrated that there isn't a very good rail network on the Island, which is made worse knowing that at one time there was one.
So, what area of British Rail did you work for?