Swanage Railway General Discussion

Well if you do, give me a wave; I'm Swanage Signalman tomorrow.

 

Thanks Nick. I'm hoping to squeeze in a photo and then a ride. If she's facing Wareham, provisional plan will most likely see me at Swanage on the 3.20 train and if so, will look out for you. Not 100% sure about going yet as forecast is a bit miserable first thing, but very much hoping to come.

 

It was a lovely day today, cold in the wind, but the sun shone most of the day.
Here is the T9 after preparation this morning, ready for the day ahead: -

 

Thanks for sharing. Yes, a great day in spite of that biting wind! The Purbecks looked magnificient in the late autumn sunshine. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and gave Nick a wave as we pulled away from Swanage. The T9 is a lovely loco - my first run anywhere behind it. I was surprised how quiet it was - 4 coaches, even on Herston Bank, didn't seem to cause it to break sweat. Glad the services were so well patronised - a lot of other lines shut shop in November.

 

Thanks for the wave; and just for completeness, a quick shot of where I was all day on Saturday. The weather down here the last few days has been pretty good, I'm looking forward to seeing some of the photographs from today's charter with 30120.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-34986104

 

I heard (possibly) untrue that the Dartmouth Railway lot are lending Swanage "Car No. 13" for a while. Load of Xmas baubles?

 

Just seen that from the DSR's facebook page. The first time Car 13 and 14 will have been together since the 60's. Spent many of my early preservation days helping look after 13 so the thought of seeing both together will ensure a I make a trip to Swanage at some point.

 

Car No.13 is heading up to Swanage to help out over the Christmas period. It will be leaving the DSR on Monday and it will return back to the DSR after Christmas/New Year.

 

Should look a very interesting combination. The Devon Belle is not needed on the Santa trains and the good news is that all Santa Specials are fully booked. The Belle does not have the seating capacity needed and it is replaced by a normal service car.

 

First day of the Santa trains at Swanage today, very busy it was too. The Standard 4 tank was on Santa duties, the T9 on the dining train and the M7 on overnight steam heat and standby.
Going to do it all again tomorrow!!

 

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/ne...ay_line_to_reopen_after_40_years_next_summer/

David R

 

Pullman observation car 13 and 14 together https://m.facebook.com/swanagerailway/posts/903267293055169


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Hello,

The August timetable for 2016 is blank.....something special going on?
This is the online timetable.
Or am I being as dumb as ever?

Nick

 

Not being dumb Nick; I'll mention it to our Passenger Services people.

 

With the Green timetable as currently published, what will the DMU do at Norden when the steam Train comes in and leave before it? Will they change back to the previous ones when they know what's happening with Project Wareham?

 

I note that the 16 wheelsets for the DMU Wareham-Swanage service in 2016 have been declared scrap. Are the body shells good enough that it is worth
buying replacements? Could an alternative say a class 73 and 4TC unit be worth considering.

 

Ouch! How much are DMU wheelsets? I'd heard loco wheelsets quoted at 40K a set. I'd hope the non-powered axles would at least be a lot cheaper.

JP

 

Swanage have 2x 3 car class 117 and a class 121 DMU at Eastleigh, so a total of 28 wheelsets. A class 117 set will be scrapped (the 3 worse bodies from both sets). 28 minus 16 gives us 12, but Swanage need 16 wheelsets to produce a class 117 and 121 set.
Also the class 121 had an overhaul a couple of years ago and I believe was fitted with TPWS whilst in service with SWT.


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The SR site now saying that there will be no DMU service from/to Wareham in 2016. The plan is for new wheelsets for these 50 yr old machines to be made offshore. Just thinking that a great opportunity is being missed to trial some "made in the UK" answers to branch line running such as the PPM large bogied version or indeed some of the LUL stock which Mr Shooter has acquired and has great ambitions for. Would either of these options cause frowns on the average punters brow. Or is SR quite happy NOT to operate this service in 2016
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