Swanage Railway General Discussion

From the BBC
"The relaunch of the engine coincides with the centenary of the Southern Railway and the 185th anniversary of the formation of the London and South Western Railway."
Presumably hoping to get 563 working during the peak Summer season.

I see on the webcam 6615 seems to be in the station linked to carriages, presumably to run the evening service, rather than the DMU? But also ready to take over from steam if the weather conditions stay dry, even if some trackside growth has been removed?

 

What evening service?

 

Tonight and tomorrow I imagine.

 

Roads to Rail this weekend?

 

Stock for the evening service being prepared at Norden this afternoon.

 

I understand that the group are hoping to get 563 ready for running-in and 'snagging' during this Autumn. Large amounts have been achieved thus far but quite a bit still needs to be done and some thousands still need to be raised to pay for it.

D6515 and 33111 are available for steam replacement services if necessary. The lineside is amazingly dry as are quite a few of the adjacent fields.
The DMU ran additionally on Friday, in conjunction with the Roads to Rail event but was never considered for Friday and Saturday evening services for this show.

 

A couple of the late operations at Swanage last evening involving D6515.
Also thought I saw a Nightjar hawking moths over the Northbrook Road bridge area. I have never seen one that close to the town before.

 

https://www.modernrailways.com/rail...vJw&utm_content=263707509&utm_source=hs_email

Cross Country HST farewell tour from Leeds to Swanage on Tuesday 26th September.

 

Brilliant, my favourite modern traction, if not all-time.

 

There is no effort being made to launch 563 in the high season.
The engine will arrive and the aim is Autumn for Public launch.
Dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

 

And your point is?
Maybe it wont be ready in time for the high season......ever thought of that before posting a negative comment?

 

007 knows more about the workings of the 563 project, and the reason it isn't planned to launch during the summer, than pretty much anyone else.

Less a negative comment, than a statement of fact.

 

But Swanage can fill trains in the summer so why launch 563 in the summer?

Now in the autumn that's different

 

It is a statement of fact. The 563 group have been VERY careful not to rush the engine at any point in its restoration.
We want the highest quality restoration possible and have never been bound by dates or pressure to deliver the engine in a certain timeframe.

So when I say no effort perhaps that is a wrong wording.
Plenty of effort is going on to get the engine finished, but the effort at all times is focused on quality not timescales.

Like I said, once we have navigated the final few turns we will post details of the launch in due course….it won’t be long!

 

Oh the joys of reading the written word differently than the way it was written....

 

Better to do a good thorough job than rush and then have a series of running problems as some have done in the past, it,ll be ready when it is ready and then hopefully there will be a good 10 years of seeing it running, enough time for all to sample it !

 

The other thing with 563 is it will be necessary to do a fairly intense period of running in and crew training before entering service. We aren't aware of anyone alive who has crewed a T3, so I'm sure there will be a few things we'll find out about their characteristics!

 

It makes most sence to use the quieter time to iron out any snags, to get to know how the engine performs, and to maximise its potential, as has been said, there is no one alive who can tell the best way to fire and drive an T3,

 

On the subject of 563:

 

Have any coins been tossed about ‘who gets a go first?’