Project Wareham

When I last did a Wareham to Swanage move the hourly bus was timetabled to leave Wareham 2 minutes before the London train arrived, meaning a 58 minute connection.

The idea of doing the same link with a platform connection and only a 20/30 minute wait seems luxury in comparison!

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Taking your last point first, yes indeed you have done just that. Did I "get the wrong end of the stick"? In many ways I hope I did but fear I did not. It was pretty obvious that I was referring to the railway rather than the town. There is no need to reply to every point made.

Incidentally it has been said to me (by a railway enthusiast) that the cost of parking at Norden is excessive and the use of this facility is affected by the amount of these charges. Opinions of various people of what is "excessive" vary and are very individual but this needs to be watched.

Politicians and gricers are particularly vulnerable to W.I.B.N. sentiments and it is well to recognise this. As I have said at least twice before, I hope my concerns are unwarranted.

PH

 

It would seem to me that SR has come to this situation from a position of strength rather than one of hope.

 

Thanks very much. The A31 can certainly be a pain! Well, I travelled on the first round trip and it was a healthy load. Lots of people got on at Wareham but still plenty of seats. Brilliant to see a Swanage service depart from Wareham, that will encourage more people to travel by train!

 

And if you consider where Swanage has come from (no track etc) to being one of the busiest railways in the country, runs more days than most (daily from March - October), has built a reputation on quality enthusiast events (both diesel and steam) it certainly deserves to have more than a moment in the sun.

 

For those intending to visit the line, the following may be of interest :

Subject : Cromptons Swanage - Wareham Gen from James Cox


There are contractual arrangements between Swanage Railway, WCR and 71A that I summarise thus:-

The job needs 2 x locos top & tail on each day of operation due to track layout at Swanage and lack of time to run round at Wareham.

There are 60 days of operation and each loco should work approx 40 days.

The third loco each day is on maintenance or spare.

The test run of 33025 on Monday showed up a few issues that could not have been detected on Depot at Carnforth. The battering is nearly complete, with a few jobs to be done this weekend.

I intend to rotate the 3 x locos on a 5 day rota. Loco swaps on Mondays.
33025 should replace 33012 on the London end of the train from Tuesday next week.

Then 33012 should replace 37518 on the Swanage end for 5 days.

There will be a coaching stock swap in two weeks time, it is likely that 37518 will be replaced by another WCR loco. 33207 or a 47.

Hopefully this will encourage visitors - especially those with a fondness for either Class 33 or Class 37 haulage.

 

Well, did it today & rather nice it was too.

The condition of the 33 does great credit to 71A

We were hoping that the air con in the MK2 would be working but there is no gas in the system

Loadings were reasonable but not so high as to be uncomfortable.

We really enjoyed the trip, lovely to hear both a 33 & a 37 hard at work

 

Leaving Waterloo yesterday on the 8.00 SWT, first Weymouth train of the day, reduced from 10 to 5 coaches, due to disruption the previous days i believe, full and standing at Waterloo! By Wareham running just over 15 minutes at 11.17 late purely from passenger loading and just made the 11.15, after a mad dash over the bridge as the Swanage train was in the up platform, which left at 11.19 so thank you for waiting! Arrived at Swanage at 12.00. Returned on the 16.23 to Wareham, connection ok, but again full and standing till Woking, even after increasing to 10 coaches at Bournemouth, then a very slow trek round to Waterloo via Virginia Water and Hounslow to Waterloo. Think SWT need to check the weather forecast in future!

 

so is it 2 x 33 (012 /025) running this coming Sunday? I personally thoroughly dislike the WCRC loco livery (which seems to be designed to hide the loco in a rake of steam hauled stock) and would like to ride behind something nicer for my dosh

 

Surely anybody who has travelled from Swanage to Poole and Bournemouth by bus will expect this new alternative to be a success.
Stef.

 

The Purbeck District Council 350+ space car park at Norden is still £3.20p all day.
Granted £3.20 would be excessive for merely an hour but the vast majority park for many hours.
It has been completely/nearly full on several days this year already and we've not yet reached peak season.
Incidentally, the location is ideal for not only Swanage Railway services but it is also near many pleasant walking routes and cycle tracks.

 

£3.20 to park for the best part of a day seems an absolute bargain, even to a Yorkshireman. All car parking in Pickering, whether NYMR, Municipal or private is £5.00/day. The NYMR can't really charge less as their car park would soon fill up with people just visiting Pickering.

 

Out of interest, what is the difference between a quotable 'railway enthusiast' and a damnable 'gricer'? I thought they were much the same thing? So perhaps the railway enthusiast/gricer in question was (qv) "particularly vulnerable to W.I.B.N. sentiments" in terms of realistic expectations of parking costs?

And, as I have said - or at least inferred - might it not be be wise to at least give the service a few weeks to shake down and get a realistic idea of passenger numbers before summoning the Eeyoreisms?

 

Looks like 33025 lasted just one run and been replaced by 33012. Not sure what the problem is as it came off the train under its own power. They did seem to take a long time hooking it up yesterday so whether its something to do with the brake connections but that's pure guess work.

 

I love this service and have used it on two days already. My only suggestion for improvement is that the first train of the day from Wareham to Swanage is much too late for me, so I have taken the bus from W to S a good couple of hours before the first train departs. Not a complaint, and, yes I understand it's complicated and it's early days!! I do love changing trains at W on the way home!

 

You have answered your own question really. In the present state of the interest/hobby a gricer is someone who has "W.I.B.N." ideas. The person I referred to is an active preservationist who does not drive. His wife drives but has no interest in trains. It is her that has to be convinced to pay any car park fee at all on top of the train fare. There will be others the same.

A "few weeks" to shake down? A few months more likely.

PH

 

Well it is a two year trial so that should give sufficient time for an initial shake down and then a review of what has been learnt. My understanding is that there is no obligation to continue any service after the 2 year trial, but clearly there is an expectation that at least the trial level of service will be maintained.

David R

 

Some decent publicity in the Daily Mail Online:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4599772/Train-rumbles-life-time-45-years.html

David R

 

nice if a 47 came with the new stock

 

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/gricer
http://www.yourdictionary.com/gricer
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gricer

Yet you pitched in just three days after it started?

I know you like to post mildly provocative things here and then play the victim card when people disagree with you, Paul, but sometimes you really remind me of the SNP's habit of publicly opining about something and then a day or so later writing something else which contradicts their own earlier assertion, conveniently ignoring that they made said earlier assertion and without a flicker of recognition or wry self-awareness that they are doing it.

Diesel hydraulic fans don't seem to mind that BR(W) did the same thing with the Warships and Westerns back in the day