Above: The mystery carriage just west of Yarmouth station on the Isle of Wight, to which the following article relates. (Platform 14 Ltd)

'I came across your website and your note asking for information on this vehicle. I am not surprised you have been unable to identify it because it is a hybrid.

'The vehicle originates from a grounded body which for many years was situated at Ryde. It was half of a Metropolitan Railway rigid eight wheeler dating from around 1880. A number of these were purchased second hand by the Isle of Wight Railway in 1914 and were used on the line from Ryde to Ventnor; they were withdrawn circa 1928.

'The half body was rebuilt at a local farm in the 1990s using components of a further body of different type and mounted on a chassis fitted with road wheels, possibly in an attempt to produce a horse drawn van. (The result was probably too heavy.) The vehicle then appeared at a stables near Brading and in recent years has been located at Yarmouth Mill.

'The half round ventilators are original and are actually the top part of the doors; this was a Metopolitan Railway feature. The original vehicle would not actually have run through Yarmouth at all.'

Report by Pete Jardine
March 2009