Swanage Railway General Discussion

Apologies for maintaining the thread drift. When did the Cross Country services start running on the line? I can remember in the 80s there were services from I think Portsmouth (and Brighton?) to Liverpool and Manchester that were 47 hauled.

It is an interesting line and with a mix of stock. We often muse about what would have happened to x,y,z line if it had survived and I think that had a number of the various East-West lines in South-East England (ie Tunbridge Wells to Three Bridges) that were lost had survived they would probably look a lot like the current Reading- Redhill with traffic feeding Gatwick and a fairly healthy service.

I always think Reigate would make for a very interesting and eclectic small model railway

There is a good thread on 33s on the Reading-Redhill line on rmweb - https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/65529-crompton-hauled-redhill-reading-services/

Some photos surfaced. There is this one of a train at Guildford complete with a Rolls Royce in the car park. The acceleration of a 33 on two coaches must have been good.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/72856291@N05/7096584123/in/photostream/

And this one of a 3R at Reading complete with what looks like a Hearse and Coffin in the background

Sums up the two towns nicely.

 

The Portsmouth cross country workings began in 1982. As you say, they were largely 47-hauled but there was a 12.46 Fridays only Portsmouth-Leeds working which was hauled by a 33. The Brighton workings normally ran via East Croydon and the WLL, although in latter years, the Sunday working ran via Guildford.

I spent two years at Dorking Grammar School (As it then was) in the early 1970s and you could see the passing trains from the classrooms. I remember my Mum coming back from a parents' evening telling me that my French teacher said that although I had come top of the class, this was in spite of it being totally pointless asking me a question if there was a train passing by at the time!

 

There is of course the Heritage Railway corollary to Parkinsons Law: "the number of locomotives, carriages and wagons increases to fill the siding space available".

 

Thats a Hillman Husky aka Hillman Imp Estate. The load space is a bit on the small size for a coffin.

 

I was at Woking Grammar, and from my Form Room I could see the down side of the station. At 11:26 each morning I could stretch and gently lift myself from my chair and watch the ACE pass.

 

If we can move the topic back at least to Dorset, There were two weekday daily through services to Liverpool from Poole and one to Newcastle.
I seem to recall that during the 60;s and early 70's one service was worked by Hymek.
I don't think that any tadpole units ever worked the Swanage branch, unless anyone knows different?

 

Do you specifically mean those 3 car Class 206 units (1201-6) formed from ex-Class 201/EPB stock in 1965? Those, in the main, earned their crust on Reading-Tonbridge workings, via the North Downs line.

 

Was he the guy who was the owner of the Bulleid CK? Used to bump in to him when I was a TTI quite often. I liked him he seemed a nice guy.

Although I am struggling to remember name at moment (Mike Something?).

I seem to remember it blasted cancer again...

 

Yes, That's them.
They did however come to Eastleigh Works for overhaul's so could be found "running in" on local services.
I was actually attempting to drift the thread back to the Swanage Railway!

 

You need to 'mind your thumpers' then!

One thing I'd absolutely love to see on the Swanage, one day, would be a rake of LSWR carriages, in the classic 'salmon and chocolate', with an appropriately liveried loco up front, or if it's No.53, or even a visiting Calbourne in holiday garb as No.209*, bringing up the rear. I'm not fussy!!


*we've had gerherings for classes A4 and A1x, for both Fletcher Jennings and Kerr Stuart locos, plus one hell of a bash for 'Hunslet 125'. What better way to celebrate No.563's return to the land of the living than an Adams gathering? It's not as if O2s and B4s are the most massive preserved locos. Before any says owt about the B4s, William Finlay not being in steam for the Fletcher Jennings event didn't detract from it's worth.

 

Yep, Had nearly twenty years working on them as a guard. and about the same amount of time on the 4TC's !

 

Just to follow up on that point, with the completion of the carriage shed at Horsted Keynes, as I understand it there are just three vintage (i.e. non Mark 1) carriages on the railway that cannot be stored under cover. The railway is trying to dispose of those to interested parties; however, it has been trying to dispose of them for 25 years with no takers, so I suspect at some point they might be scrapped.

That has caused a degree of angst amongst the "everything must be preserved" brigade, but without a concomitant suggestion as to how they might be preserved, or where the resources to restore them would come from; nor what the opportunity cost of restoring them would be.

I did do a chart (circulated via the Bluebell chat group) matching up every non-Mark 1 carriage on the railway and where it fitted into the Long Term Plan, and the three proposed for disposal did not fit the LTP in any case. So sadly, I think the strategy makes sense. Better to have a strategy in which 95% of the fleet is under cover and 5% disposed than one in which 100% of the fleet is nominally preserved, outside, slowly rotting.

Even with that level of carriage storage, the historic vans, wagons and many of the engines are still outside, plus all the operational Mark 1 carriages, so while we are far ahead of many in terms of storage, we still haven't got everything undercover.

For those interested, the vehicles that don't fit the plan, and don't fit the storage, are:

• Maunsell TPO No. 4922. An identical vehicle, 4920 is already preserved elsewhere (Nene Valley), minimising the historic loss. Zero seating capacity, so hard to justify operationally.
• Maunsell corridor 3rd 2356. An interesting and high capacity vehicle, but very fragile. This is probably the one that has raised most hackles when suggested for disposal.
• Maunsell corridor brake 3rd 3724. A low capacity vehicle.

A Pullman that didn't fit the Pullman strategy was recently sold, I believe to another railway. In addition, I suspect the LMS sleeping cars on the railway have a bleak future. A Maunsell nondescript brake vehicle that was acquired as a parts donor, and of which two similar vehicles exist elsewhere, was recently broken up for parts.

Everything else pre nationalisation, I believe, now has a space under cover and a defined place in the railway's long term plan.

Tom

 

Might make a nice Real Ale Bar

 

Mike Stollery..

 

The Caledonian Railway at Brechin, a small line with limited resources, have recently built this gargantuan shed for rolling stock.

 

Have you eardrums and large intestine stopped vibrating yet? Reliability-wise, they were remarkable beasties, but the suburban 3+2 seating did zilch for the interior ambience. Maybe clean windows might have helped, but I never had occasion to find out!

 

The cost of the building is almost incidental. Land is a lot cheaper and in less demand there. They don't seem to have much in the way of neighbours either... I'm guessing labour rates are lower too.

 

How big, and how much, out of interest? Lucky them regardless!

 

but we have footings in,,about 3yrs since but ok
we have a concrete pad for our water tower;dont know how long its been in situ
nice padlocks on the Perenco sidings gates to keep those railwayacs out
and the pieces of a really large turntable; bit of an orphan at the moment
AND soon the green and red 4TC will be going to the Ball dreesed in her best blue and whites
its all good!!

 

It take alot of work to do LSWR carriages

I understand why, especially the other two, but this one seems would a shame as it is the last SR Corridor Third now.

I would love to see it at the Spa Valley and restored there as it would give that line at least one-non-BR vehicle. I have seen historical photographs of 'Restriction 1' carriages forming local trains on the line. I doubt the Spa would want itself currently as I think they got enough dealing with the Mark 1s. Plus are non-BR carriages bared from going to Eridge?

Swanage did have a Maunsell 6 compartment brake third, last of its type as well, but that stayed out too long and had to be dismantled. Some of the volunteers when I talked to them about said its possible to be rebuilt. But don't share their confidence considering everything being done really difficult to do despite reassurances, and some people are talking of restoring LSWR coaches as well now.