If you think of Isle of’s and trams its probably fair to say that the first one which springs to mind is Man and not Wight! But the Isle of Wight, off the Hampshire coast, was once home to a Pier Tramway in Ryde and there remain some artefacts of the line on the island at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway which was recently visited by David Mee.
The Ryde Pier Tramway ran from 1864 to 1969 and was originally horse drawn before going electric then petrol and finally diesel. With Ryde Pier in effect being three piers, the tramway ran on the central pier with the western pier used for road and pedestrian traffic and the eastern pier for the railway (which still operates today). Work is currently underway to refurbish the central pier for use by pedestrians.
The Isle of Wight Steam Railway runs for 5 miles between Smallbrook Junction and Wootton and includes an excellent museum at Havenstreet. Known as the Train Story Museum it contains two tramway related exhibits.
Drewry Railcar 2 was built in 1927 and is a reconstructed body on the original chassis and trucks. These vehicles worked on the tramway from 1927 to 1969 when it closed for the last time. They were originally built with a petrol engine and were refitted with diesel engines in 1959. They usually worked with a trailer with work currently in hand to build a replica.
Also in the museum is Pollard Tram from 1886. This was built by Pollard and Sons of Ryde for use on the Pier Tramway when electric traction was installed in 1886. Withdrawn in 1927 it was sold on for use as a holiday chalet before being rescued in 1978.
We take another look at the Pollard Tram. Behind it we see one of the 1938 Tube stock which was converted for use on the main Isle of Wight Railway and remained in use until fairly recently. (All Photographs by David Mee, 11th May 2023)