Yesterday, was one of sorrow for some. Yesterday, was an important event in the history of the London Underground and the United Kingdom transport network as a whole. The old 1938 former London Underground Tube Stock, also known as the Class 483, that had been running on the electrified Isle of Wight line between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin were officially retired, being replaced with modified 1970's former London Underground District Line Stock. The Isle of Wight railway network comprised of several lines then, from what can be seen today. Being built by multiple different railway companies in the Mid to Late 1800's, all being interconnected. In these days, and even into the days of British Railways, steam locomotives were utilized. However, electric operation had been in place on the island pier since the early 1900's, these operation were discontinued by the Southern Railway in 1933 and replaced with petrol engined operation, and later diesels. In the days of steam, only small tank engines, usually of four-coupled wheel arrangement, in particular mostly Adams O2's, Swindon 1400's (In BR days), and a few other engines that popped in and off the island during the days of nationalization. There was a plan to have a batch of BR Standard Class Two tank engines relocated to the island in 1965 to replace the Adams O2's, but electrification lead to these plans falling through and thus the BR Class Two tank engines were scrapped by the end of that year. In BR days, and under the Modernization and Beechings Report, the Isle of Wight network was planned to be all but reduced to memory. But, the Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin line remained. But, a small portion of the Ryde to Newport line has survived as the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. 1923 former London Underground EMU's went into service on the island after steam locomotives were made redundant from the Isle of Wight in 1966 and the EMU's were put into service that year. These old EMU's had their control equipment, including its driving mechanics behind the drivers cab. This resulted in a loss of passenger space. In the 1990's these were replaced with the 1938 London Underground stock and operated the line up until yesterday, when former 1978 D-Stock London Underground Class 484's that used to run on the District Line are being refitted to work on the Isle of Wight, being converted to battery power by Vivarail and the line will be closed until April for upgrades to the line to accommodate these new arrivals. This will mark the end of an era for British rail transport as these sets were the last Pre-World War Two trains still in active revenue service, excluding locomotives on heritage railways. Yesterday was the last call for these Eighty-Three year old ladies seeing regular passenger service, they more than deserve a quiet, and willing retirement. Let's just hope that these old girls find good homes where they can stand as a testament to British engineering.
Music: The Island Song (Instrumental)
