Loco sheds and other railway buildings...
Discussion
Those early photos from Swindon took me back. In the late 1950s I lived in Wootton Bassett, as it was then, and was an avid train spotter at the town's station. 'City of Truro' in particular holds special memories, I saw it frequently in its pale green livery together with Castle class and many other GWR locomotives.
Great days, wish I'd had a camera back then.
Great days, wish I'd had a camera back then.
The Wareham to Swanage branch line was closed by BR in January 1972, after a stay of execution from 1967 due to local campaigning to keep it open.
It's said that, despite a campaign to raise the money to buy the line largely intact, BR took up over 7 miles of the ten mile branch line "out of spite". It took seven weeks to rip up the line, and thirty years for volunteers to relay it.
I was at Corfe Castle Station recently, and I'm aware of the role it had as a location for the filming of the Big Country pop video for the top twenty single 'In A Big Country' in 1983. Here are a couple of comparison pictures I took on a visit to the Swanage Railway "Winter Warm Up" running day...
40 year-old pop video for the full experience...
...there were plenty of locations (and angles) I missed because my pictures were taken while trying to catch trains and make it on time to a reservation for Sunday lunch. I plan to go back at some point to grab more locations and better comparison angles. Almost all the locations are still there, the only question is accessibility now that the railway operates again and some properties are in private hands. https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/history
The running day involved two steam locos and two diesels taking turns to haul passenger services the length of the line, along with a demonstration freight service fitting into the schedule hauled in turn by various locos.
It's said that, despite a campaign to raise the money to buy the line largely intact, BR took up over 7 miles of the ten mile branch line "out of spite". It took seven weeks to rip up the line, and thirty years for volunteers to relay it.
I was at Corfe Castle Station recently, and I'm aware of the role it had as a location for the filming of the Big Country pop video for the top twenty single 'In A Big Country' in 1983. Here are a couple of comparison pictures I took on a visit to the Swanage Railway "Winter Warm Up" running day...
40 year-old pop video for the full experience...
...there were plenty of locations (and angles) I missed because my pictures were taken while trying to catch trains and make it on time to a reservation for Sunday lunch. I plan to go back at some point to grab more locations and better comparison angles. Almost all the locations are still there, the only question is accessibility now that the railway operates again and some properties are in private hands. https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/history
The running day involved two steam locos and two diesels taking turns to haul passenger services the length of the line, along with a demonstration freight service fitting into the schedule hauled in turn by various locos.
Edited by yellowjack on Monday 22 January 12:00
P5BNij said:
The turntable at Swanage came from Old Oak, the longest surviving of the four which were once under cover inside the vast roundhouse, opened on 17th March 1906 
There are a few other "additional items" at the Swanage Railway. There's a footbridge at Corfe Castle Station from (i think) Croydon, lifted when the line there was turned over to trams. And also a large signal box. No doubt there are other elements forming part of the Swanage Railway which were salvaged/saved from other locations. It's a lovely line to ride, great staff and volunteers, and the scenery is pretty hard to beat too.I rode on the very last BR service Wareham > Swanage, Swanage > Wareham. I've got a little certificate somewhere.
Once the campaign to reopen the line was established the whole scheme still hung in the balance for years while Dorset County Council (or whichever authority it was) dicked about trying to decide the route for the Corfe Castle by-pass, one option being to utilise the trackbed east of Corfe.
Closing the railways / disposing of the trackbeds was really dumb thing to have done in this part of Dorset. I've no doubt that lines from Blandford and Ringwood, through Wimborne and Broadstone to Poole and Bournemouth, would be very viable nowadays.
Once the campaign to reopen the line was established the whole scheme still hung in the balance for years while Dorset County Council (or whichever authority it was) dicked about trying to decide the route for the Corfe Castle by-pass, one option being to utilise the trackbed east of Corfe.
Closing the railways / disposing of the trackbeds was really dumb thing to have done in this part of Dorset. I've no doubt that lines from Blandford and Ringwood, through Wimborne and Broadstone to Poole and Bournemouth, would be very viable nowadays.
Yertis said:
I rode on the very last BR service Wareham > Swanage, Swanage > Wareham. I've got a little certificate somewhere.
Once the campaign to reopen the line was established the whole scheme still hung in the balance for years while Dorset County Council (or whichever authority it was) dicked about trying to decide the route for the Corfe Castle by-pass, one option being to utilise the trackbed east of Corfe.
Closing the railways / disposing of the trackbeds was really dumb thing to have done in this part of Dorset. I've no doubt that lines from Blandford and Ringwood, through Wimborne and Broadstone to Poole and Bournemouth, would be very viable nowadays.
As would the Somerset & Dorset line down to Bournemouth West. A few years ago a mate and I walked part of the route around Bath and Midford, the latter being one of the locations in the Ealing films classic 'The Titfield Thunderbolt'. We sampled the lovely old pub below Midford Viaduct where Ivo Peters often took rest when he was photographing the line in its heyday. His S&D books are an utter joy to peruse.Once the campaign to reopen the line was established the whole scheme still hung in the balance for years while Dorset County Council (or whichever authority it was) dicked about trying to decide the route for the Corfe Castle by-pass, one option being to utilise the trackbed east of Corfe.
Closing the railways / disposing of the trackbeds was really dumb thing to have done in this part of Dorset. I've no doubt that lines from Blandford and Ringwood, through Wimborne and Broadstone to Poole and Bournemouth, would be very viable nowadays.
Yertis said:
I rode on the very last BR service Wareham > Swanage, Swanage > Wareham. I've got a little certificate somewhere.
Once the campaign to reopen the line was established the whole scheme still hung in the balance for years while Dorset County Council (or whichever authority it was) dicked about trying to decide the route for the Corfe Castle by-pass, one option being to utilise the trackbed east of Corfe.
Closing the railways / disposing of the trackbeds was really dumb thing to have done in this part of Dorset. I've no doubt that lines from Blandford and Ringwood, through Wimborne and Broadstone to Poole and Bournemouth, would be very viable nowadays.
Any idea why they don't use the line up to Wareham as the track is still present?Once the campaign to reopen the line was established the whole scheme still hung in the balance for years while Dorset County Council (or whichever authority it was) dicked about trying to decide the route for the Corfe Castle by-pass, one option being to utilise the trackbed east of Corfe.
Closing the railways / disposing of the trackbeds was really dumb thing to have done in this part of Dorset. I've no doubt that lines from Blandford and Ringwood, through Wimborne and Broadstone to Poole and Bournemouth, would be very viable nowadays.
Thundersports said:
Yertis said:
I rode on the very last BR service Wareham > Swanage, Swanage > Wareham. I've got a little certificate somewhere.
Once the campaign to reopen the line was established the whole scheme still hung in the balance for years while Dorset County Council (or whichever authority it was) dicked about trying to decide the route for the Corfe Castle by-pass, one option being to utilise the trackbed east of Corfe.
Closing the railways / disposing of the trackbeds was really dumb thing to have done in this part of Dorset. I've no doubt that lines from Blandford and Ringwood, through Wimborne and Broadstone to Poole and Bournemouth, would be very viable nowadays.
Any idea why they don't use the line up to Wareham as the track is still present?Once the campaign to reopen the line was established the whole scheme still hung in the balance for years while Dorset County Council (or whichever authority it was) dicked about trying to decide the route for the Corfe Castle by-pass, one option being to utilise the trackbed east of Corfe.
Closing the railways / disposing of the trackbeds was really dumb thing to have done in this part of Dorset. I've no doubt that lines from Blandford and Ringwood, through Wimborne and Broadstone to Poole and Bournemouth, would be very viable nowadays.
https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/wareham-services
https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/calendar
The following link is to an article referencing the use of the Class 117 DMMU set over NYE/NYD just gone, and it mentions last summer's Wareham services too. But nothing about running the service again in summer 2024, so who knows? Maybe it wasn't financially viable?
https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/news/view/explore...
Edited by yellowjack on Tuesday 23 January 10:48
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/B3toK7oe.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/tyZ7eaCE" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/tyZ7eaCE.jpg)
Meanwhile, back at the route of the Lambourn Valley Railway, I wondered if there was any surviving evidence of the line where no housing development had taken place.
I love it when a plan comes together.
Where the line crossed the Kennet and Avon in Newbury. No evidence of the bridge or embankment south of the canal.
No idea why I hadn't been to look before.
I love it when a plan comes together.
Where the line crossed the Kennet and Avon in Newbury. No evidence of the bridge or embankment south of the canal.
No idea why I hadn't been to look before.
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