Swanage Railway General Discussion

It is for another thread, and I completely agree on the combination of factors. However, I remain adamant that D stock are heritage vehicles and, as class 230, have technical capability. Interest, however,...

I also defer to the reminders from others of the range of 117s.


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Just for clarity, by technical capability I mean the capability to continue to maintain the units by heritage operators, not the technical capability to operate the service. Which is another reason for supposing that while, for example, a cutting edge 1940s military aeroplane could remain flying more or less indefinitely, the equivalent 1960s or 1980s planes will be largely out of reach of anyone except state players to maintain in operational condition.

Tom

 

D6515 arrives at Swanage with what I assume is 257 Squadron's own tender.

 

You can find one picture of a DMMU at Swanage Station in the "Swanage Railway in Colour" book by Tim Deacon. Admittedly, it was a ramblers' special, but it does prove that such units are not historically inaccurate on the line even if they weren't as common as, say M7s, Bulleids, Standard Tanks or "Thumper" DEMUs.

There does seem to have been a lot of negative comments posted about the SR's strategy for getting a regular Wareham service up and running. I am sure that no one is more frustrated by the delay than the SR management. It's easy to have the benefit of hindsight and to suggest "You should have been using one of these trains instead" (whatever "these trains" might be) but in view of the number of bodies involved in the Wareham project and the amount of planning which has gone into making it happen, I think it's a reasonable assumption for those of us not in the know to assume that the decision to go for these DMMUs was taken after a lot of careful consideration. Things haven't progressed as quickly as was expected, but the fact is, the alternative which ran in 2017 may have been more interesting from the enthusiast point of view, but made a loss for the railway.

Of course, it would be marvellous to see steam running into Wareham and obviously the upgrading of the Mk 1 coaches to run over Network Rail was undertaken with this in mind, even if there are more hurdles to be overcome before they can carry passengers, but it's a case of one step at a time. This is a pioneering venture. While the NYMR has been running into Whitby for over a decade and now we have the North Norfolk running over NR metals to Cromer, neither of these routes are electrified main lines. I think it's a case of being patient and trusting that the SR management and their partners in the Purbeck Rail Partnership have done and are doing their best in the face of a considerable number of unexpected obstacles to have a Wareham service up and running as soon as possible.

 

I agree that technical capability (for both operation and maintenance) and sufficient interest are essential, but I'm not convinced about the need for historical relevance. Many preserved lines happily operate locos and rolling stock that have some historical relevance in themselves but not on the lines where they are now. And some lines operate ex-industrial steam locos that seem to have minimal historical relevance anywhere.

It's arguable whether the converted Underground stock has any historical relevance at all, but if for the time being it turns out to be the most practicable method of providing connections at Wareham that seems a great deal better than nothing. Reconciling heritage operations, public transport from outside the area to bring customers to the SR, and public transport through to Swanage needs careful management but seems thoroughly worthwhile.

 

I think the point that both the DMUs and a TOC approval is required before the Wareham service can start. Becoming a TOC is not an easy task so both items will prevent an instant start of service and we must all wait and not come up with silly suggestions.

 

There may be a few others extant but I rode in ex london suburban stock on the Swanage Branch in the 1950s and of course Swanage itself has a long association with the City;The review will,I hope,address the question of appeals.
There must be quite a few of us(Yes I am a member!) who wonder what happened to the Salisbury LSWR water tank project which we were told when effected would save the SR five figure numbers using nearby water supply Yes I would love to see the T3 restored to running order however can we see translated into reality the Salisbury Tank appeal?The Tank was obtained for us via the Chalk and Cheese initiative and with the usual fanfare,what do our benefactors think when we do not put their largesse into facts on the ground

 

The water tower project turned out to be FAR more complex than was initially thought. However it isn't a forgotten project and people are working to ensure it becomes a reality. It is a logistical, technical and bureaucratic project that has required immense effort to try and bring these strands together. The water tower team, whilst clearly quiet are actually making progress. It isn't a dead project.
The T3 is clearly just at the starting blocks however, projects don't get much more exciting and this has national appeal so we hope that people who haven't contributed to a SR project to date might consider doing so now.

 

Thank you 007(On Swanage Railway Service) great to know that the project will go ahead..and an incentive for a contribuition to the T3. Do we have any LSWR carriages??

 

The Vintage Carriage Trust is your friend ...

http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=320
http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=315
http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=308
http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=306

(In addition the body from the Drummond Bug survives in a garden in Swanage).

Tom

 

We have an LSWR ironclad and 3 grounded LSWR bodies. Whilst not a project at the moment, the T3 could of course lead to these coaches being restored. However the focus now is the Locomotive. It would be foolish to think that SR wouldn't exploit its most famous asset in order for other projects to gain momentum though.

 

I would like to think that the T3 could prove to be the catalyst for a whole range of other projects around the Swanage Railway. However, for the moment the appeal is only very recently started, the overhaul is in its early stages; as 007 quite rightly states the focus must be on the locomotive, as without this progressing in a timely manner any of the other projects will be a lot more difficult to get off the ground.

 

I am sure you are both quite right. However there is a dilemma here for there is several years (decades?) of work here unless substantial quantities of money are applied (as in the Channel 4 carriage restoration programme)' So either fund raising or actual work has to start in fairly short order if results are to be seen "in our lifetimes".

 

Am looking at the diet books right now followed by a session on the exercise bike

 

We're in the area on holiday and thinking of visiting either Monday or Tuesday. Is it likely to be the standard tank out both days?

Monday appears to show a 2 steam loco service, but from reading up thread , is it still correct only the 1 is available?

 

Chris not sure but Std Tank should be in service check Twitter and FB.

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Monday has never shown anything but a one train service in the timetable, Tuesday one steam, one diesel. 257 was not in steam today, but it does have a full tender of coal now (and also now faces Corfe).

 

Thanks Gladiator. I’d misread Monday as a 2 train service

 

Chris Twitter post indicating 257 Squadron running today

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Talking to staff yesterday, 80104 is due to come out of service for a boiler wash out, 257 should be in service today. Cracking run from the standard yesterday on a return trip. Looks like the pway have been busy with new track being installed and current 5mph tsr in place

All the best matt