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Project Wareham

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by David R, Jul 31, 2015.

  1. DcB

    DcB Well-Known Member

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    • railway reconnection to Swanage
    "The implementation of a Swanage - Wareham rail service will help reduce vehicular trips on the A351 in combination with other measures. The revision of the strategy now includes contributions towards the cost of this scheme."

    Does sound a bit more positive some form of service might take place.
    Hopefully by the summer the SWR Weymouth timetable will be back to twice an hour
     
  2. Jupiter

    Jupiter New Member

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    Not entirely. You can only view the discussions as nonsense if you know the real situation. Failing that, anyone could have hit the nail on the head, we just don’t know it yet.

    The speculations seem to be filling a vacuum of information that exists at a time that’s probably quite close to a service start date.
     
  3. Andy Moody

    Andy Moody Member

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    Until the 2012 Olympics Sailing events at Weymouth, There was only ever a Hourly service from/to Waterloo.
     
  4. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Would that be inclusive of boat trains (which headed onto the tramway, bypassing Weymouth Station itself)?
     
  5. buzby2

    buzby2 Well-Known Member

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    Seem to recall CI boat trains along Weymouth tramway only ever reached a peak of around two services per day after SR became their main route instead of the GW route via Yeovil Pen Mill.
    Most boat trains were, I believe, normally restricted to one return service per day - especially after the Moreton - Dorchester South section was singled.
    However, my aged 'little grey cells' may be mistaken of course. I hope someone with better memory can comment - one way or the other.
     
  6. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Thanks for that. I only really recall Class 33 hauled services from London. Seen plenty of photos of ex-GW panniers on the tramway of course, but I've never had any real idea of what came in from the Yeovil direction.

    Was there ever any regular freight flow over the tramway?
     
  7. Andy Moody

    Andy Moody Member

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    Two return CI boat trains per day, Up was 0550 and 1530 ex Quay and 0955 and 2055 ex Waterloo, but not sure if the night boat trains ran in the winter momths.
    If I recall correctly, the boat trains had ceased by 1987/88 when Moreton to Dorchester was singled for the electrification.
    There was a once a week 0715 oil train from Hamble with fuel for the ferries which was worked throughout to the quay with a 1043 return, It was great fun shunting
    the cars clear of the tramway.
    I also worked a railtour for Woking Homes in 1988 from Bournemouth to The Quay with 33112 a 4TC and 5TCB (A 4TC with an ex REP buffet car and 73134 which was actually named Woking Homes.
     
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  8. 80104

    80104 Member

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    Not sure when that page was written or updated but I suspect some time ago.

    The sentence "Rail re-signalling in 2012 will help to reduce the barrier down time at Wool level crossing therefore reducing traffic queues." could mean either that a) the rail resignalling done in 2012 (ie the past) will help or......b) the rail resignalling in 2012 (ie the future) will help......

    It refers to Norden Car Park which was renamed Purbeck Park about 3 years ago.

    I think but am not sure the Weymouth relief road signing has been in place for some time.
     
  9. oliversbest

    oliversbest Member

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    Memo to DCC and SR
    "Run it and they will come"
    Are we building back better or throwing as many obstructions as possible out for non private car travel?
     
  10. oliversbest

    oliversbest Member

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    Here is a thought stream. Royal Mail and Private carriers send parcels from Wareham to Swanage via SR
    Distribution? Pick up or Electric tuk tuk. > Just checked Electric TukTuks are available in the USA!!
     
  11. DcB

    DcB Well-Known Member

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    https://postandparcel.info/142070/n...stone-unturned-in-trialling-new-technologies/
    Already under test in some places [​IMG]
    Would the DMUs be able to have a secure area for parcels and a way of transfering from SWR trains in Wareham, but the problem is latest SWR EMU trains no longer have goods areas?
    The emphasis now is on providing good wheelchair and pushchair access on trains.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2022
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  12. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Add bicycles to the list. Superannuated units can be fitted up for a second life. I also recall barriers, fixed across vertical handrails, used to close off the front section between leading doors and driver's compartment on multiple units. IIRC that was done specifically to allow carriage of mail sacks. There's no issue a bit of thoughtful design couldn't solve.
     
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  13. Andy Moody

    Andy Moody Member

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    Oh my goodness me!
    All Royal Mail goes by road here in the UK, The Railway lost the Royal Mail contract 20 years ago, coinciding with the introduction of a dedicated fleet of new Diesel Loco's 67001-67030. There is however a small fleet of EMU's class 325 , that operate a service between Willsden (London) and Shieldmuir (Glasgow).

    Carrying Royal Mail on our DMMU service? Sorry but I don't think you would get that idea past the OR&R somehow.
    The Poole to Wool resignalling was commissioned in May 2014 not 2012.
     
  14. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    I agree, though perhaps not for the same reason. Swanage delivery office is in Kings Road East, just far enough from the station to add one final transshipment to the additional one at Wareham, which use of Swanage trains would dictate. All in all, a complete non-starter.
     
  15. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    You mean aside from the inefficiency that would result from being unable to include Swanage on a round robin trip delivering to and collecting from other places too. And that’s before we consider all the other transshipments between road and rail to get to that point.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
  16. oliversbest

    oliversbest Member

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    Rocks in the Roadway!! So now a simple hand pull trolley move is a transhipment problem.?? Something like this would be a great visual for companies like Amazon,Fedex etc and good publicity for all involved.
    SR should get into the business of community involvement. I am deffo a steam enthusiast and a long time SR supporter(1976) however as an earlier poster stated DCC is going to want some tangible effort from SR to justify its investment. More to the point will the SR survive as a six mile steam railway only?. That was definitely NOT the vision of the Swanage Railway Project! Surely the function of a railway such as SR is to provide transportation of goods, services and passengers between population centres. That was the original purpose of railways so one could argue that there is a heritage aspect to that! And indeed is the revitalized line to Oakhampton not carrying bicycles, and Scotrail adapting 153s for the same purpose?
     
  17. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Yep 100% (aside from, as you say .... dah-dah-dee-dah) I'm unaware where the main sorting hub is down thataway (Bournemouth? Poole?), but with or without a rail component, transhipment has ever been a bane.
     
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  18. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    How many times do you estimate that you would use such a service each week, and what do you think is a reasonable fare for doing so?

    Tom
     
  19. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    Trust me, the way modern logistics firms work, that transhipment would be seen as a problem. They are trying to eke out every last bit of cost from their businesses, so having to employ someone to meet a train, gather a few mailbags, and then move them to a delivery office would be an issue. Especially when you consider that they'd have to do the same at the other end of the line, and lose the efficiency from using one person to drive a round. The railways lost the Royal Mail contract because the timekeeping wasn't reliable enough to fit with the increasingly tightly scheduled Royal Mail transport, meaning that it because better value for Royal Mail to run a lot of lorries at intervals through the night than one train.

    You also mention bikes. I don't know the score on the Okehampton line, but the Scottish Government have funded the 153s for the West Highland. At the same time, SWR are under pressure from DfT (and the Treasury) to cut costs and capacity - meaning already limited capacity on mainline trains is being pared back.

    The overlap of heritage and commuter railways has often been discussed; it's a bad mix - just look at the WSR thread on through trains for discussion of the issues. I am approximately the same age as the Swanage Railway preservation scheme; I am not the same person I was when I was born, and my views have changed. It's not unreasonable that the Swanage Railway's views may also have evolved.
     
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  20. DcB

    DcB Well-Known Member

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    https://www.gwr.com/travelling-with-us/on-our-trains/bringing-your-bike
    GWR does allow bikes, but only 2 per train and best to prebook, SWR also has restrictions
    https://www.southwesternrailway.com/travelling-with-us/travelling-with-a-bike
    However Okehampton and Norden have bike hire, so if the Wareham service restarts, travel by SWR, change at Wareham and hire a bike at Norden!
     

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