Swanage Railway General Discussion

Drove one when I first lived in Canada ! ....1974 ....only a rental ...lol .....3 speed manual transmission , different ......needless to say they were not popular !

 

There is a good history piece on Youtube here. It was ahead of its time and supposed to be cutting edge but problems occured in development. It could have been so different but ultimately it ended up with a similar reputation & performance to the Pacer train.

 

Loss total aside one thing for sure is that the passenger numbers would have been lower had the dmus been used.Many of the persons who travelled last year were us cranks there for one reason,loco haulage on the main line even if only for approx one mile,and then the full length of the branch with top and tailed 33s and a 37 for 60 days.There would be basically no enthusiast interest in riding the units.

 

I've been an enthusiast for over 60 years and I would be very interested in riding in them. Just as I was delighted to travel behind the Cl33/37s last year.

 

Oh I dunno ..... the panoramic qualities of 1st gen dmmu's are a very marketable feature. I used to love the views fore and aft when travelling the Cambrian Coast Line and miss this on more modern stock.

 

I came from Canada last year to ride the Swanage branch behind the 33/37 combo , will come back again to ride the Dmmu s when they are running .....

 

That's very worthy, but I cannot help thinking that attracting visiting rail fans from Canada probably isn't the basis of a viable business case.

Tom

 

Interestingly it looks like a number of the doors have been sealed up

David R

 

As long as it’s attracting enough paying visitors that’s all that matters. Whether they come from Canada or Swanage is irrelevant, their financial contribution is just as important.

 

If I talk it up to others ..non railfans , they may visit ...you have to spread this around ...and no Canada s fans are not going to support the viable business case ..but it all helps !

 

The problem though is whilst having a service to Wareham may meet an long standing aim, is it in reality viable given the additional costs ?
It must need to meet a set number of passenger loadings but what if those numbers turn out to be not what was envisaged? no railway can afford to run at a loss.
As the majority of people will travel to norton by car, i would imagine the norton - swanage section is where the most profit can be got, if loadings do not match whats been planned can the railway afford to operate on the section to the junction with NR except as a means to get visiting tours and engines to or off the line?

 

I think you mean Norden.....

Anyway the purpose of the trial service is to discover if the Wareham services are a viable option. The Swanage Railway seems pleased with how last years trial went. Once the Swanage Railway starts running the service itself, and it’s not lining WCRCs pockets like last year, hopefully it might at least break even. Understandably the Swanage Railway is being cautious, so it doesn’t put its well established and popular steam services at risk.

It’s worth remembering that Dorset County Council have put millions of pounds into project Wareham. So they are going to expect some sort of service to be run, and won’t allow the Swanage Railway to just give up.

 

Baby steps, it has to be given a bit of time (and patience) from the the outside looking in there seems to be a willingness from all sides to want to make it work, I really couldn't see this working under BR (if they could be bothered with it at all) it's a difficult thing to start but once up and running I can see it being a winner.

 

Politicians are as addicted to wishful thought as the most benighted of gricers. Most unfortunate that there will be a gap in the experiment so, on the one hand, build up of custom is interrupted whilst, on the other, the opportunity to identify how much "nine days wonder" effect there is will also be impeded.

PH

 

For the record, WCR did the Swanage - Wareham job last year at a price comparable to the other two TOCs that priced for it. WCR could also provide stock, to cover for the extra work needed to the TC, which was necessary. WCR loco and coaches hire was discounted compared with “Railtour” use, to reflect the low mileage, low speed of the operation.

The only organisation to have lined its pockets in association with the Swanage Branch, is the one that threatened to plain line Worgret Junction, unless they were paid not to.

 

The whole plan might be wishful thinking. Or it might be based on careful analysis of the forecast demand, the costs, the risks and the overall benefits. What evidence do you have that it is either one or the other?

 

I didn’t mean that as a derogatory comment. I was just making the point that WCRC would obviously and understandably have a profit margin built into the price it quoted. If the Swanage Railway runs the service itself, it won’t be paying someone else’s profit margin, so the figures should stack up a bit more favourably.

 

A few of shots of this weeks engineering activity, including a now gleaming signalbox.

 

Rumour alert on - 41312 possibly leaving Swanage metals on Thursday 1st February - Rumour alert off.
Hope it won't be too long before it comes to the seaside again. Lovely engine.