Swanage Railway 2012 Winter Works

The Swanage Railway is undertaking substantial infrastructure work in the Swanage Railway 'throat' area. The cost is calculated to be around £100,000 if no major problems are encountered.
Track bed in the area is being excavated to a depth of 6 feet and a new drainage network installed. The only strange items unearthed so far have been many large lumps of stone amongst the hundreds of Tons of clay and dirty ballast. It is believed this stone has been there since the formation was constructed during 1884.
BBC South Today filmed a progress report on Saturday but it is not certain when it will broadcast the piece. A write up appears on: Swanage Railway News Gallery - Page 803
Progress blogs are being prepared for the extensive Winter Works and will appear on Swanage Railway's "Behind The Scenes" page shortly: Swanage Railway Around The Railway - Behind the Scenes Engineering

 

"The only strange items unearthed so far have been many large lumps of stone amongst the hundreds of Tons of clay and dirty ballast".

Given the historical presence of stoneyards in the area, maybe that is not unexpected.

I am told that railway is/was running 'shuttles' between Norden and Corfe Castle (at the request of the local council?) in order to provide a P&R service to Corfe. I'm surprised there is the demand - what do people DO in Corfe in January ? :sleep:

 

On a nice sunny day, or indeed a cloudy, mild one, a wander up to the castle is a very attractive option.

The village church is also worth a visit.

Corfe has several good watering holes, and a terrific National Trust cafe which serves great soup.

It's one of my favourite places in the world!

 

I can't vouch for the soup in the cafe, but......do you get enough people doing that sort of thing in Jan to warrant a scheduled P&R service????? Frankly, if it was a nice day I would just park at Norden and walk to Corfe - good exercise and cheaper!

 

In todays news:
BBC News - Swanage station gets new drainage system

 

You may be surprised, over the first 2 weekends of January the service carried a total of around 100 adults; never going to set the world alight, but certainly a worthwhile contribution to the bills at this time of year.

 

Behind The Scenes covers the Railway's Winter Works.
The latest Blog (No. 5) goes up to 7th February) is available on: Swanage Railway Around The Railway - Behind the Scenes Engineering

 

Latest blog available at http://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/engineering/winterworkblog6.pdf