Project Wareham

That’s the central-door-locking operating.

 

I have been told it is the electric secondary door locking warning sound.
Modern trains have a more melodious 'hustler alarm' when sliding doors are about to close so am not sure why one of those couldn't have been fitted instead.

 

I completely understand why you took the journey but it’s wrong to say it kept your car off the road unless you would normally drive all the way from Taunton to Swanage for a pasty!

 

Haha. i would normally visit the Swanage once a year, so this was probably my visit this year, who knows. I would normally drive, so as i didn't this time, then it did keep my car off the road!
Ian

 

I note that through fares to Corfe and Swanage are now loaded on www.brfares.com but do not come up as bookable on National Rail or SWR websites so maybe that is work in progress. Fares are based on the day return fare to Wareham plus £10 to Corfe or £25 to Swanage. Interestingly, there are no railcard fares showing whereas it would surely make sense to have a through fare using the railcard discounted fare to Wareham plus the above supplements. As presumably a substantial majority of potential customers will hold a railcard of some sort, they will all have to rebook at Wareham to avoid paying a lot more. This seems to negate much of the reason for having through fares some of which was presumably to avoid having to sell large numbers of tickets on the DMU? This seems to be particularly relevant given a recent post in the other thread re. lack of ticket checking on the SR.

 

In addition to the railcard issue checking the reverse direction a Swanage to Poole return picks up the £5.70 off peak fare from Wareham to Poole (so £30.70) not the bizarrely named SWR evening fare available from the 12:28 service from Wareham towards London.

 

Latest views of the MP whose constituency includes Wareham on the crossing issue can be found on page 29 of the current issue (287) of Purbeck Gazette.
So do not hold your breath on any resolution soon.

https://www.purbeckgazette.co.uk/issues/

 

Well

Well that’s settled then.

 

Does make me laugh.......

 

Still nothing shown on the SWR website regarding fares.

 

There is a 20% discount on any Wareham tickets (for future travel) purchased over the coronation weekend.

A patriotic offer to celebrate the coronation, or a sign that ticket sales are flagging and this is an attempt to bolster them? Either way, it’s worked for me and I’ll be booking.

 

DMU driver and signaller job spec obviously requires someone with long arms.
The token exchange as the 15:19 from Wareham arrives at Swanage yesterday.

 

Our tickets are checked on a recent round trip Corfe to Wareham and the lady was issuing tickets on the DMU back from Wareham using an electronic ticket machine. No checks on a separate steam trip though and I reported this to the railway

 

On our trip from Wareham on the 1719 in March 25 we were stopped outside Norden and could see the last steam hauled train still in the platform. This departed and after two minutes our driver got ready to move forward as the steam had got to Corfe. We then proceeded to Norden and Corfe arriving there on the up line while the 1735 steam railway was still in the down platform. I don’t know how these movements were possible. Can anyone explain?

 

Worgret Junction to Norden Gates and Norden Gates to Corfe Castle are separate single line sections, with a Crossing Keeper provided at Norden Gates working under the instructions of the Corfe Castle Signalman operating the signals and NSKT machines for the respective sections there.

In the instance you describe, the DMU would have been held at the Norden Gates Down Home signal (NX32), which also serves the purpose of the section signal for the Norden Gates to Corfe Castle section. Once the steam service had arrived at Corfe, the Signalman would have reversed the London end pointwork and, having a clearing point, instructed the Crossing Keeper to obtain a token from the NSKT machine in Norden Gates.

Corfe is signalled for running in the Down direction over both roads, making this move nice and simple. In fact this is a regular connection, enabling people off the 1719 Wareham to still reach Swanage.

 

Ok thanks. So more than one token for the same direction can be obtained? I must brush up on my Signalling and Rules

 

As they are 2 separate sections, there is still only 1 token out per section. Once the Down train reaches Corfe this is then clear of the Norden to Corfe section, permitting another token to be obtained at Norden.

It's easiest to think of Norden Gates as a separate signal box, rather than a Crossing cabin in this situation.

 

Out of interest, is there an NSKT instrument at Wareham or does the driver simply retain the token until returning to Norden? If the latter, presumably unbalanced workings require transfer by road? Another question, where does the token section start at Worgret Jcn? Is there sufficient room to get a train off the big railway before the start of the section?

 

There is NSKT instruments at Wareham.
The Swanage pilot driver contacts Corfe Box for permission to withdraw the Furzebrook section token or to replace a token after piloting train onto the mainline

 

NSKT machines on both platforms at Wareham, so tokens can be obtained and returned at both ends of the section.

The Worgret to Norden token section starts at Worgret Junction itself, and release of the token at Wareham gives a slot on PW5247 signal to enable the route to be cleared towards the branch.