Swanage Railway General Discussion

These are of course Q paths and still shown as WCRC services so may just be the placeholder that has been in the NR system the last 2 years. Also these times are valid from December 17 2019 to May 16 2020, so also show when the Swanage Railway is closed.
Based on these timings the last service leaves Swanage at 1515 which is very early for day visitors.

 

Agreed. I travel quite regularly for day trips to the Swanage and Corfe Castle area. I travelled on the services run by WCRC in 2017 for the novelty value. However until the services to Wareham allow a good 6/7 hour stay before returning, it won’t be a viable alternative to the car for me.

But it’s early days, and we’ll have to see how the service develops.

 

Thank goodness!

 

There is no Spring Steam Gala or equivalent in 2020.
The Diesel Gala is brought forward to 23rd(Preview Day) –26th April 2020 due to the altered early May Bank Holiday to twin with the 75th anniversary of VE Day. This weekend will now see a War theme, likely with an enhanced, Peak timetable.
Wareham services (90 days) is booked to begin on 5thMay 2020.
Green and Purple timetable return as Wareham days during 2020, with all Wareham DMU paths booked to start and finish at Corfe Castle.
Fireworks nights in during Swanage Carnival and Regatta will see the first evening Wareham DMU service.
Autumn Steam Gala is 9th–11th October 2020.

 

Not sure if the shed work will have started by the time of the next Dorsetman in late March. So this was a record of the second run yesterday passing the site, with a little weak sun reflecting on the casing.

 

Word on the street is that NR's gauging computer has 'issue(s)' with the above, in the Brockenhurst area, so 2nd January movement is not possible currently.
NR trying to find out what it is/they are so the route can be re-certified ASAP.

 

''Computer says no''. <BJ>

 

The penultimate service of 2019 departs Swanage. Unusually with a lamp instead of a disc (on the top bracket so many options of where it could be heading).
BTW anyone able to tell me what the diamond shaped disc in use on the top bracket of the T9 on Saturday represents? (Showing my ignorance!)

 

LSWR version of a SR disc. As the T9 driver is one of the project leaders of the T3, guessing he was offering something different for what was an enthusiast event.

 

Certainly makes a pleasant change, but highly anachronistic. Diamond head signals were abolished in 1917, I believe, and certainly the 1921 Appendix 'Engine Head Signals' page is discs only.
Pat

 

Thanks should have realised as I have some shots at Corfe of the T3 the day before it left with diamond shaped discs.

 

The line may currently be closed but Driver training continues using the Bubble Car.

 

As it was a sunny and mild day I decided to take a walk down to the Dickers Crossing area to check on the progress of the track replacement work. Having fallen into a puddle of cow slurry on this track during the Santa season a couple of years ago I was very careful today as it was very wet and muddy with a heavy bovine aroma!
Progress seems to be going well currently.

 

Thanks for update.
Assuming the 117 DMU returns this month May seems a long way off to start the service, presume the safety procedures take time. Will travellers by rail for the Diesel gala have to get a bus?

If the service just runs Corfe to Wareham will be different from the 2017 90 day trial service, hopefully the timetable will minimise waits?.

Good an evening service will start the week starting 25th July.

If succesful I assume the trail service will be extended to October?, and there will be an evening service for the folk festival in September?

 

I would expect any evening service would be attached to events in Swanage and would not be a regular summer service. Any service would need to show that it is capable of making a profit and that requires customers and lots of them. The Carnival and Fireworks are typical events where there could be a significant demand to acheive a profit. Of course there is also the volunteers required to run evening services. I will be interesting to see what happens in this trial year.

 

Thanks
"customers and lots of them"
SR did well last year with the Flying Scotsman, but will need to generate another type of publicity getting people to use SWR stations via SR to go to Corfe, the Castle, mining museum and the various Swanage events rather than car. In 2017 there was 13,020 passengers via Wareham with no much promotion, and hopefully the figures will be over 18,000 in 2020.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-dorset-41656613
But SR are not always good at getting info out, and there is still no info on the Diesel gala which does not like it will get a Wareham service.

 

Not quite sure in January what detail you expect to be made available? Many locos will be undergoing their winter maintenance so availability may be unclear. There is a perceived (or real?) gauging issue near Brockenhurst which could potentially inhibit the usual mainline convoy. If there was any plan to provide a service to Wareham I am unsure if NR have published their planned weekend work schedule this far out. The SVR for example whose Diesel is in May also has no details available on their website, or for that matter the Steam Gala in April (although some of that has been revealed on here)

 

34053 is leaving railway without tender today (Monday) and has just left Corfe for Norden being towed by 33111 with brake van attached. Where is it going, as access to Herston is not available due to Gas works (or it wasn't last Friday)?

 

If Facebook is to believed, Tyseley.

 

Seeing as a member of the Swanage Ops staff confirmed this there, I'd take it as so.