Swanage Railway General Discussion

One loco in service today as per the timetable. 257 Squadron in charge. <BJ>

 

And just to prove it at Quarr Farm on the last train this afternoon (not sure about all that leaking steam).
This morning it was doing a fine Tangmere impersonation, but out of deference to those with smoke aversion I will not post my favourite image of the day.

 

Tangmere ….or City of Wells ? <BJ>

 

Thanks for the assistance all.

We went down today for an enjoyable visit, though the less said about Swanage town centre the better! The Pullman observation car was a good way to see the line, if not a little bit like a greenhouse.

I assume the 5mph slack with relaid track has been laid over nights bearing in mind the daily running?

A picture from the 2nd service of the day arriving at Norden

 

Earlier this year, Swanage Railway had a tamper fettling the track in places where it was needed, but it was unable to fettle the bit under Nursery Bridge near Harmans Cross. Owing to a surplice of moisture in all the wrong places, a complete re-lay of that section was required, but the opportunity to do it was not available until now.
The Track Team is now doing that job, but can only work after the daily services have finished. That means working from around 6pm to around 2am, doing a bit at a time.

 

Is a surplice of moisture a wet one of these?

 

For those who wish to see what stock Swanage Railway is looking after, there is a public page http://www.srstock.co.uk/

 

All power to the elbows of the guys working those hours. We noticed when our train was leaving 1 of the class 33's fired up and a ballast train further along the line which looked like it was all set to go out. The joys of daily running for a significant period of the year!

And having just realised the image didn't load on my previous post, a picture of 257 Squadron coasting into Norden in the morning fog.

 

Good to see a steam loco photo. Diesels are of no interest to me. (The roads are full of them )

 

Perhaps a few more of these on the road would help.



Author Geni
Copied under terms of Creative Commons License.

 

Down in New Zealand, round Gisborne way on North Island, they once had something similar (built by Straker) converted to run on 2'-6" gauge. Unfortunately, I'm unaware of any photos of said contraption!

 

Whilst I also prefer steam to diesel locomotives I hadn't considered that the amount of road transport powered by diesel had any bearing on this. If steam powered road transport was more common would this detract from our fascination with steam locomotives?

 

Steam locos are far more expensive to repair and run, so put your hands in your pockets and donate to one of the steam loco restoration projects.

 

How do you know what I do with my money? Actually I support a Heritage Museum and a couple of heritage projects which I consider to be well run and not profligate with their finances.

 

I noted on the webcam that there is a BG/BSK Mk1 in BR blue grey livery. New acquisition or support coach?

 

Hi there, it is the TBSK from the 4TC, it was delivered to the railway earlier this year and is having some further work completed.
Information can be found at 4TC Goup

 

Many thanks

 

To be well informed of what has gone on recently on the Swanage Railway, there is a page on their website that lets the public have access to a newsletter

Lovely to hear!!

 

There is a page on the Swanage Railway Website that is linked to a voluteers newsletter that reports on the goings on. https://swanagerailway.co.uk/volunteers-diary
Well worth a read

 

In the mid 1920s Steam Foden Lorries carried 20 loads of stone a day from Langton to Norden to be loaded on the narrow gauge railway. Then "Thames" pulled the waggons across the heathland to Goathorn pier where the stone was loaded into barges, to be pulled by Steam Tug out of the harbour to be dumped into the sea to form the "Training Bank". This allowed the tide to scour the sand out of the entrance to Poole Harbour. Wish I had been there to see the action - all three road, rail and boat powered by steam.