Carisbrooke Station (Steam)

The opening of the first railway on the Isle of Wight, which connected Cowes and Newport, took place in the year 1862. In the year 1868, there was talk of constructing a railway that would run from Newport to Freshwater, which is located at the westernmost tip of the island. This first idea did not come to fruition; nevertheless, in 1880, the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway Company received authorisation from an act of parliament to construct a single-track line that was 12 miles long and had three passing places, with the line running from the Isle of Wight Central Railway station in Newport to Freshwater.

1886 saw the beginning of construction at the western terminus, while 1888 saw the completion of the line all the way to Yarmouth. On September 10, 1888, the railway was first opened for the transportation of commodities. Although there were trips with passengers, the line didn’t officially start carrying passengers until the 20th of July in 1889.

Being an addition to the intermediate stations that were located at Carisbrooke, Calbourne, Ningwood, and Yarmouth, Sir John Simeon of Swainston had a private station set up in Watchingwell in July of 1889. In the end, this location was designated as a public station, and it made its debut in a public schedule in August 1923.

• http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/c/carisbrooke/index.shtml

• Images sources:  Nick Catford