Swanage Railway General Discussion

Don't remember the ITV cookie request was so aggressive when I last downloaded cookies a few months ago.
The report refers to an update on a consultation that closed September 19th where some services will be restored and some won't.
The main point is SWR see leisure journeys increasing.

 

Having a look at Realtimes today although there was one cancellation and a couple of delays. Most trains though Wareham ran to time, and looks like the half hour service will be reinstated December if the consultation is approved

 

Swanage Railway website dated December 2nd 2020 , both The local MP and the SR chairman talk of trains between Swanage and Wareham. Unless they are being obtuse one would take it that is from A to B

 

It is strange in many ways. But from closer up, it is brutally obvious why these arrangements are as they are, because of the legal regimes railways operate under - fundamentally different regimes to those that you're familiar with in (I believe) Canada. I look at how much work was required to get the NYMR to Whitby, or NNR to Cromer, both of which are on locked in lines, and then the difficulties of making regular through operation between Worgret and Wareham start to seem much more reasonable. If you look at the thread on the viability of extending the WSR to Taunton (ignoring all the politicking), you'll see very clearly the sort of trade-offs that need to be considered to make it work - and especially what might be lost.

Answering your question, I do see heritage railways continuing to operate for the foreseeable future - because they offer a tourist attraction in their own right. I was in north Wales last week, and visited Beddgelert while the WHR trains were in the village. It was heaving - and emptied when everyone needed to get the train.

I gladly commute by rail, but there is no way on earth that I'd pay heritage rail prices for the privilege - or that I'd expect that railway to be able to lean on it's volunteers to provide me with that privilege.

 

If i don't have to get off at Norden to catch a bus that is!! Despite the Duke of Wellington i think that railways,in our present situation,are good for the countryside and the people. More so when they actually connect up,which is a constant puzzle to overseas visitors as they view these nostalgic railways sometimes only yards away from mainline, but with" no connection to the firm next door"

 

Yes.I loved the WHR and I am looking forward to having a look at The Corris Railway and the Bala Lake Railway. i once heard it said that nobody takes their hobbies as seriously as the British.!

 

Remember it is not a half hourly service it is two trains an hour. They are half hourly from Waterloo, but it becomes gaps of 20 minutes and 40 minutes by the time it gets down here. It is however 30 minutes in the up direction.
So what you connect to and how long the "gap" in the connection needs to be is a question for those who own as crystal ball.

 

Thanks, looking at the consultation, if approved https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/timetables/timetable-consultation-december-2022
the SWR service to Wareham will depend on the time of day, sometimes the 2 trains an hour will have same route in the morning, sometimes different routes, so may keep the gaps of 20 minutes and 40 minutes, (I notice the current Saturday service still follows this with 2 trains an hour)
"Rationale We are proposing to restore the Weymouth services to two trains an hour in both off-peak and peak periods providing additional journey opportunities for leisure travel"
So the emphasis will be on leisure travel so should help Project Wareham in 2022? Although Corfe and Swanage are not mentioned other than on the maps. Will see what the updated Project Wareham business case says, if it is published?

The DMU is now running daytime through to late evening, with paying passengers for the first time, and presumably now have the onboard modules for Realtime trains updates?

 

Appears to be functioning today.
Public timetables for the Roads to Rail event are here: https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/calendar Just click on the day you're interested in and it tells you which is steam and DMU.
Then go to Real Time Trains: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...21-08-27/0600-2000?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt [today's page] for actual times.

 

Will whiston ever come back again for a special weekend. I think a gala with engines that used to run at swanage would be what would get me going down there. I have not been down there because of the rules but a good range of engines would help because there’s are not a lot of sheds or anything to look round like other railways instead.

 

Sooner have 1708

 

Only had chance for 10 minutes at Norden yesterday.
The Standard 2 running round next to Eddystone who whistle seemed very popular.
Also a fine example of a Mk 1 Buffet. Not sure if this is coming or going as I was unable to read the coach number.

 

"an area of outstanding natural beauty" Please sir,can we have those Perenco sidings ASAP!!

 

That could be the buffet carriage the 4TC group have brought (discussed earlier)?

 

This may be a somewhat controversial view:
It shouldn't matter if the railway has use of the Perenco sidings or not, they have a duty as good neighbours and as a business within the AONB to keep their property tidy and not distract from the area's beauty. There really is no excuse for the building materials shown dumped in the picture above. It's as easy to store them neatly in a wagon or shed as it is to pile them at the trackside.

 

Doset Council obviously do not think so or they would not keep wanting to build large housing estates on it, even when local councils do not want them.

 

Of course in Purbeck there was the narrow gauge passenger (someone's grandmother) who lived in Ridge and caught a ride on Secundus (Purbeck's oldest surviving locomotive and resident in Corfe Castle Goods Shed) and traveled up to the Wareham to Corfe road and then walked to Corfe to do her shopping. She returned the same way. However she wasn't a fare paying passenger.

 

The conflict between Central Government imposing a requirement to build so many new houses in each county council / metropolitan authority area, those authorities having to meet those requirements and elected representatives and local residents wishing to see them built elsewhere or not at all.

Not helped by local authorities feeling they could get saddled with huge legal costs if planning permission is refused but granted on appeal by the Minister.

 

Given that the buffet car has air pipes and no buffers and a low loader stood in front of it , me thinks it might be 69332 newly arrived from Meldon?