Swanage Railway General Discussion

Swanage Railway Unofficial Facebook Group has a photo of 257 Squadron on the move!
and now at Norden!

 

257 now at Swanage have just seen on the webcam.

 

So... maintenance?

 

Guess there will be testing to ensure any potential problems are sorted.
From https://www.southern-locomotives.co.uk/News/news.html it is not worth keeping to the original plan sending 257 Squadron to the Spa Valley Railway as backup for Sir Keith Park for the 2021 Christmas trains?. (They presumably have diesel backup?).

 

Now all "roped up" with lights and some light steam appearing. Not sure if anything needs doing to it.

 

No

 

Number 34072 certainly looks good!

 

A rebuild to "Jarvis" form, perhaps?

 

Believe very minor 'tweaks' needed but, as boiler has to cool down first, limited time available before this weekend's 'Steam & Lights' . Suspect test run might be next week before 34072 re-enters traffic.
Wonder if the pictured LED lights are powered by separate battery or via the Stones generator?

 

Yes I think not this weekend, taken about 1130 this morning.

Edit as though proving my wife's maxim "you know nothing" it was back in steam by 1545 when I went down to post a letter.
Perhaps the Swanage Railway version of the Red Bull F1 pit stop crew at work!

 

The great clearance work by the railways track gang at Corfe Viaduct has opened up some new vistas, at least until it all grows again!
Plus a busy scene at Swanage preparing for the two lights trains in the evening.

 

We did a trip on the second lights train Saturday evening. We all thought it was a very good experience and at about £5.50 per head more than a regular return trip very good value. Of course as I did the booking I chose coach A in the hope of the U being at the Norden end (achieved!). Lots of noise at it pulled away from the various 5mph areas past the displays. Of course 6 coaches and a QM brake van back on the return Bulleid chatter was absent from Eddystone.
Whole things was well organised, mask wearing close to 100% and all the toplights and droplights were open in our coach at least to generate airflow. Got a bit crowded on the platform before the lights were switched on but OK apart from that.
Did not do it last year in the pre vaccine world, but I felt as safe as I would going in a shop in the town, although as I have said before in my case that may be worse than others as I find crowds of people very difficult to be around now, so it would be stretching things to say I ever feel safe unless I am on my own.
Interesting on Sunday (at least for the first train) the novelty for the non travelling locals appears to have worn off. Last year the bridge and Gilbert Road were rammed every day, but popped up just as the lights were turned on 15 minutes before departure and only one other there. A few more turned up before I left to find a spot where not all I would be able to video was the steam from the U's draincocks. Of course the locals may have learnt that as well by now of course!
Well recommended if you are looking for a lights train in the South West.

 

From 3500 miles away in Canada watching the Lights Train on the Webcams;the hope,the sentiment and the enjoyment! Contrast with the recently published images of the final BR train at Swanage 50yrs ago. I don't think that even the pioneers could have envisioned this. The power of human endeavour against the odds!!

 

Hi All,

please see the below the details for the Swanage Railway Trust's next fundraising project, your support would be massively appreciated.

It’s time for some Tender Loving Care…

We’re delighted to announce that the Swanage Railway Trust has launched a £25,000 appeal to help fund the restoration of the tender belonging to a unique Victorian T3 class locomotive, No.563.

This appeal will support 563’s return to steam for the first time since 1948 when the engine escaped being scrapped so it could celebrate the centenary of London’s Waterloo station. It is hoped to have the locomotive back in steam and hauling trains, for the first time in 75 years, in 2023 for the centenary of the Southern Railway and the 175th anniversary of Waterloo station, the very reason 563 is with us today.

The restoration of the locomotive’s tender is estimated to cost around £50,000 and will be taking place in the Swanage Railway’s Herston engineering works.

The Swanage Railway Trust 563 Locomotive Group chairman Nathan Au said: “The last time that 563 hauled a train was in 1948 so for more than 70 years many thought they would never see the unique T3 locomotive work again. We are working hard to ensure the engine's preservation for future generations to enjoy and the best way to do that is by seeing 563 brought back to life."

With an incredibly rich history to tell – given its Victorian heritage – the T3 is unique because it is the only surviving tender engine designed by renowned locomotive engineer William Adams.

“As the only steam locomotive currently owned by the Swanage Railway Trust, a working T3 gives us the opportunity to show our visitors what the railway was like during the industrial and social development in Dorset at the end of the 19th century. 563 is a direct link to the Swanage Railway's past – right back to the early days of the London and South Western Railway when holiday makers first visited Purbeck by train.”

Donations towards the restoration of the T3 tender can be made by visiting the Swanage Railway Trust website at www.swanagerailwaytrust.org/appeal

To find out more about the work of the 563 Locomotive Group and how you can help visit www.563locomotivegroup.co.uk and the Swanage Railway Trust 563 Locomotive Group Facebook page.

 

Yes an excellent experience and well worth viewing from Northbrook Road Bridge and other vantage points along the line.

It does pose a very interesting question whether interest will remain high in lights trains and whether Swanage, and indeed other HRs, will choose to revert to traditional Santa Specials next year or stick with lights trains. I am of course presupposing that many HRs will not have the resources to operate both lights trains and Santa Specials.

 

It is good that some people can see the train more but they will probably get made to plant some trees back to make it carbon neutered I think more railways will get into trouble for this as the environment people realise and they use the smoke as and excuse

 

That's a new one.

 

[QUOTE="...... to make it carbon neutered [/QUOTE]
I was carbon neutered when I gave up smoking!

 

It is a interesting topic, what is likely to happen is in the coming years is more and more lines move towards the lights until there's a breaking point where a big line goes back mainly due to running traditional Santas is now the abnormal event much how the lights where a few years ago.

As for running both, the issue is just the complexity, if you run both your asking the infrastructure and staff to handle double the number of trains a day.
Some lines can like the bluebell but most cant, also some lines will run the lights stock during the day with the lights off as santas and others wont which would require double the coaches

 

On the Bluebell we do indeed run both. Our overall offering is far larger than previous years (in terms of number of trips and crew required), though the Santa component is reduced. It has basically been Santa two trains, with two departures from each end (i.e. four passenger services in all). In previous years I think we ran three trains and about 7 trips from memory (two trains providing five trips from Sheffield Park, and one providing two trips from East Grinstead). The decrease in Santa trips is more than compensated by the extra SteamLights trips, particularly because they run mid week as well, so from a volunteer point of view, that is a particularly arduous requirement.

We do use the SteamLights loco and carriages to run one of the weekend Santas (obviously with the lights off). that caused some raised eyebrows when I mentioned it before on another thread, but it seems logical to me particularly in reduced loco requirement. Midweek, the loco generally just does the SteamLights, there being no midweek Santas during school term time, though we have had a few midweek daytime dining services that have used the SL loco.

How we run both types of service together is I think quite efficient in loco and rolling stock terms, but is obviously a big ask for volunteers. I can't say it is my favourite time of year, but I tend to grind and bear it because it provides a massive cash injection at a time that it is sorely needed (both in terms of time of year, and also because most railways are still in a post-pandemic financial rebuilding phase). You only have to count the seats on a train, multiply by the fare to get the per train revenue, and then compare that with what would be achievable or likely on a normal operational day when many trains aren't full, some people take multiple trips, some seats are discounted for members, large groups etc.

As a further point: most town centres get lights from about mid November onwards. Many National trust and other properties have big "lights" events (Kingston Lacy, to take an example near Swanage). They have the advantage of being secular, appeal to a wider age range than traditional Santas, including all-adult groups, and can continue into the early new year (running Santa on January 4th would feel a bit odd ...) Seen in those terms, Santas are more niche, i.e more restricted both in terms of when they can run and who they appeal to. So I suspect lights trains are here to stay for a while yet.

Tom