It was a tight squeeze but Wightlink’s flagship St Clare accommodated some of its heaviest loads earlier this week when an Ivatt locomotive and its coal tender crossed the Solent to take part in the Isle of Wight Steam Railway’s Bank Holiday gala.
The engine was 20 metres long, 4.6 metres high, 2.9 metres wide and weighed 88 tons on its trailer. The tender was 20 metres long, 4.64 metres high, 2.9m wide and weighed 65 tons on its trailer. They travelled on different sailings.
The driver of the locomotive’s trailer had to lower his vehicle’s suspension to make sure the engine’s funnel didn’t hit the roof.
Keith Greenfield, Wightlink’s Chief Executive says:
“We are delighted to support the Steam Railway when it needs to move engines and carriages on and off the Island. We check the weights and carry out safety assessments each time just to be sure, but we will always help when we can.”
As previously reported by Island Echo, the Bank Holiday gala will feature 3 Ivatt locomotives, donated to the IWSR by the Ivatt Locomotive Trust. They were designed for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway by George Ivatt. Twenty were completed from 1946 to 1948 before the railways were nationalised; the remaining 108 were built by British Railways.
