May 31, 2025|Reports

“Meon Valley Railway” – Alan Wallbank & Martin Rogers

Seventy seven members and visitors came to see Alan Wallbank’s film about the Meon Valley Railway and hear a short follow up talk from Society Treasurer Martin Rogers on the ‘cost’ of the Meon Valley Railway at our AGM on 27th May.

Alan approached the Society in 2019 when he was researching his film and several members had given him material. The film included old photos of the line, its layout and the different stations and changing use over its short life between 1903 and the 1955 (when it closed to passenger traffic) and the Fareham to Droxford section’s later use for freight until 1965 and then for the experimental Pacerailer. This was an experimental railbus developed by Charles Ashby intended for use on the Cowes to Ryde line, sadly that never happened. In 1970 the connection to the Fareham to Botley line was cut off, although the track continued to be used by Charles Ashby.

Martin followed Alan’s film with a talk entitled The True Cost of the Meon Valley Railway. The cost estimate of the 22.5miles of line including numerous bridges, two tunnels, a 725 ton viaduct at West Meon, four identical stations, three halts, main line and sidings and a lot of cuttings and embankments was £400,000, the equivalent of £64 million today. Most of the work was completed by pick and shovel by the 600 navigators – navvies for short – who lived in temporary huts and tents alongside the track. Martin gave a detailed account of the death of each of the seven navvies that died whilst building the Meon Valley Railway. For every one that died there must have been many other that were badly injured, not being able to work again, and those more fortunate that were injured but were able to return to work. Many horses, donkeys and asses would have also died during the construction. It was an amazing feat of engineering but was the price of human lives, animal deaths, etc worthwhile for a railway that lasted just 52 years?