Swanage Railway General Discussion

We seem to be getting well and truly carried away here.
Why on earth would we want to run a DMMU round in Wareham down sidings ? Any suggestion to run Steam on the Wareham Corfe/Swanage service is pure fantasy, Only the 3 car class 117 and the 121 Bubble car, are permitted to run this service.
The only time 31806 or 31874 would be likely to go out on the main line is to work a Weymouth or Swanage Main Line service to Southampton. top and tailed.

 

Being able to stable the DMU in Wareham sidings in between runs would greatly increase operational flexibility. Hence why Swanage railway have a desire to gain access to these sidings.

31806 and a set of Mk1s have been mainline certified exactly for the purpose of running to Wareham.

 

And your source for this information is...?

 

Appalling picture by me it shows 31806 and five mark 1's (+Jenny) running on the mainline though Dorchester South back in 2018... I think that's prove enough...

 

@Andy Moody Interested to know when you say "we" are you speaking on behalf of the SR, or is this just your opinion? Thanks.

 

This is the mainline test run for 31806. It doesn't prove that it has anything to do with running to Wareham. If @Alan Kebby or @ady can show otherwise, I'm sure a number of Swanage Railway members would be asking some awkward questions!

 

Well running to Wareham is the only reason why 31806 was main registered. The fact she was able to help run the Great Briton Railtour was just a bonus. In 2016 the railway won a grant from the government to pay for the registration of the engine (well... it was meant to be N class 31874 that got the upgrade but her delays to her overhaul saw 31806 being given the chance) plus the required work to get five coaches up to mainline standard (admittedly while they can be towed across network rail metals in test trains at the moment, central door locking has yet to be fitted which I'm guessing is awaiting funding). The five coaches are the ones seen in my rubbish photo. I don't really understand why Swanage Railway Members would be asking awkward questions as that has been a know plan for awhile...

Here's a link to the original 'official' press release back in 2016... https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/ne...nage-steam-trains-to-the-main-line-at-wareham

 

Yes this has been common knowledge for some time. It has been stated in various official communications from the Swanage railway, such as the one Ady links to.

I don’t understand why there would be any awkward questions?

The Wareham services are intended to be mainly DMU run, at least initially. However the aspiration is there to do some trial runs with steam too, and hopefully develop these over time.

 

I assume prior to 2023 the coaches could run with secondary door locks and a steward per coach as per a mainline tour if it was on an occasional basis?

 

I think it's all in the wording. It's an aspiration. If the Wareham project was seen to include the costs of steam operation, then some questions may be asked as the costs have escalated somewhat for the diesel units. As @ady has noted, grants were obtained for the steam registrations, and if costs were seen to be allocated from the Wareham project for the operation of these, then perhaps questions? Or perhaps I have misunderstood what the Wareham project is all about, and, of course, that could also be true!

 

The mainline overhaul of the the DMUs was funded by a specific grant. Likewise the mainline work to the U and Mk1s was funded by a separate grant. I’m sure all costs are properly accounted for, and there will be no need for any awkward questions.

Project Wareham is about reopening the line to Wareham. DMUs are certainly a big part of that. However the development of steam services is also potentially a part of project Wareham. I think that’s where your misunderstanding lies.

 

(Deleted)

 

You are clearly closer to the detail on this project, so I'll give way on this one!

 

This might help http://swanagemoguls.com/2018/04/17/31806-takes-to-the-mainline/
The word "Occasional" is mentioned re the Wareham- Swanage service.

 

That’s not the impression given by the Swanage Railway’s press release when they were awarded a £75k grant from the DfT, which explicitly mentioned “regular steam trains from Swanage to the mainline at Wareham”. Is that no longer still the intention?

https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/ne...nage-steam-trains-to-the-main-line-at-wareham

Tom

 

Are we perhaps somewhere between getting the Wareham service established and what follows, once it is?

 

Certainly NOT on behalf of Swanage Railway.

 

This is interesting - an advertised outing onto mainline for U class https://www.railwaytouring.net/uk-day-trips/the-dorset-coast-express-1

 

Deleted an after curfew message

 

With regards to the Wareham sidings, the first road, the longest, I presume was the Goods shed head shunt. The other two sidings, from google look like they are about the 500 feet long compared to the Swanage station loop which is 600 plus, maybe a bit tight to create a run round loop? Removing, or shortening the head shut would give a lot more clearance to the main line. Also, there does not seem to be any form of access to the sidings from the industrial estate which may limit their use.