Hello, Thank you for your kind comments. As a young train spotter I started out taking photos with a little Brownie camera but found that this did not really capture what steam locomotives were all about. So when I left school in 1964 and started work I bought a portable reel to reel recorder and began to record sound. Then a friend of mine obtained a second hand cine camera and I was so impressed with his films that I decided to save up and buy one myself which I did in December 1965. Sound was still important to me and I continued to record alongside filming. Modern technology for film transfer and editing allowed me to marry the two back together onto DVDs. It has been very satisfying to receive positive comments such as yours and it makes the time and effort involved so worthwhile. Peter.

@@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv I was born on the Isle of Wight many years after the end of steam. 1984. I have been fascinated by the days of steam on the Isle of Wight all my life and own many dvds and books, but the dubbed sound or lack altogether of sound on the dvds and videos was a barrier to really experiencing what it was like. Not so with this film of yours. Thanks for getting me closer than I thought possible. Tim

Hello Tim, I thought you might be interested in my recollections of I.O.W steam. I live in the North East and first became interested in the railway on the island through an article in a railway magazine and together with a friend who had relatives in London we made our first visit in 1965. At that time the railway ran from Ryde to Ventnor and to Cowes. Arriving at Ryde Pier Head we were greeted by our first sight of O2 tank engine W35 Freshwater.at the head of a train consisting of non corridor stock. It was like we had travelled back in time! I had a portable reel to reel tape recorder which captured the sound of the westinghouse brake pump as we waited to depart for Ventnor. The route had several steep gradients which also made for good sound recording of the engine working hard. The highlight of the return journey was leaving through Ventnor Tunnel. I remember the dank smell in the dark confines of the tunnel and sound of the engine working hard with rattling coming from the connecting rods and valve gear. On the afternoon we travelled to Newport and back to Ryde where we camped in a field near to Smallbrook Junction. The next day we took a very early train to Cowes before a run back to Ventnor in the afternoon before catching the ferry back to Portsmouth in the evening. All of this was done on a special ticket which gave unlimited travel on the system. In all we saw 15 engines in operation on the intensive summer timetable .