Swanage Railway General Discussion

Hmm. One has to ask - will toilets be available on the train?

 

After the thunderstorms had passed, and before the next downpour, Eddystone does not need to stop at Herston Halt working the 15:20 to Norden.
The need to dump some garden rubbish and cardboard at the tip hidden by the train is always a good excuse for a quick image as was the need to visit the surgery to sort out something for
my Dad.
For balance the return working arriving at Swanage which still seems to be attracting much smartphone interest it seems, despite not being powered by coal.

 

Nice beers from the Piddle Valley near Sturminster Newton and kept by Plumbers our little secret hideaway nearby. The name reminds me of a slogan that once adorned a wall of the toilet at The Black Horse at Pembury. ‘’ don’t take the piss out of Watneys- you will spoil the taste’’

 

Guess by the number of bookings they will make it either 5 or 6 (6 with top and tail locos?) coaches ? Could the stock be shunted before so all coaches have tables?

 

As far as I am aware all the serviceable half brakes have compartments not tables.

 

Hi Gladiator
The A-set currently has a BSK with compartments and the B-set has the BSOB (Brake/Second Open/Buffet) 9015; The BSOB only has a small luggage (or push chair) area.

 

I had forgotten the newly returned 9015 was a brake as well as a buffet.
I also noticed (only as I heard a train arriving about 10:25) that today is a two train plus Wareham day although Wareham loads are likely to be light due to the RMT strike day and no SWR trains west of Southampton.

 

The luggage area has been refurbished as a wheelchair area with seating, steam heat, extra windows and varnished woodwork. I will take some shots of it tomorrow on my next duty.

 

Currently, nothing is happening at Furzebrook so far as I'm aware. As I mentioned on 25th June on the Project Wareham thread ....
One of the problems is that a lease condition currently forces Perenco to put the whole site back to what it was before it was developed - i.e. heath land. This might take some delicate negotiations.
Also, because it's in an SSSI area I believe, then the guarantee of no spillages/pollution/etc. would have to be provided by the railway if it was to be offered by Dorset Council.
Another aspect for the railway to consider would be noise nuisance. Perenco still occupy the Furzebrook office building and it's staff would not put up with that I suspect. Frequent shunting, noisy maintenance works, etc. are seemingly non-starters as things stand at present. So, as mentioned above, a lot of negotiations would appear to be required before Furzebrook could be considered for anything railway related.
Regarding a station at Furzebrook. The original owner of Blue Pool was, I understand, not too enamoured of the railway - but that was decades ago. I believe the topic has been discussed internally over the years since then - although I have no idea if Blue Pool's new owners have been approached.
However, there would also appear to be some practical problems to consider.
Does the railway have suitable materials in stock to create a 5-coach (?) platform? Can the railway create an easily accessible, gently sloping ramp down to ground level? Is there space available to do so? The railway runs on an embankment at this point around 15 ft (?) above ground level.
Blue Pool is (I've been told) around 500 - 600 yards away from the railway. There is no footpath between their entrance and the railway. So they would need to remove hundreds of Silver Birch, and other, trees and then surface the route with Type 1/hardcore to create one. The only existing route, through their 'forest', is purely for cars exiting their car park and no pedestrian walkway is provided.
Furzebrook Station. Not impossible I suspect - but not easy.

 

I seem to recollect that the use of Furzebrook sidings was to be limited to "storage of rolling stock". I suspect that this would require very very careful definition (and agreement of meaning). For example would this permit the sheeting over of rolling stock to prevent water ingress etc etc. Nothing Swanage Railway does operationally can remotely be described as quiet. As @buzby2 notes Perencos staff would not put up with noise nuisance nor possibly the "guardians" of the fauna which inhabit the area.
As regards Blue Pool (halt) the additional revenue generated would be dwarfed by the costs incurred and the additional operational issues created.
EDIT Dorset Council would almost certainly require (as a condition of the lease) some form of insurance policy to meet the costs of any pollution spill caused by Swanage Railway. These policies certainly arent cheap especially as the specialist insurers are probably smarting for having to pay out for Perencos recent mishap.

 

Is it possible to fit modify compartments so that tables , can be fitted when needed? even if the tables have to be slightly smaller than ideal, it should be easy enough to fit window side catches same as you get in TSO'S, Then fit an insert for the leg in the floor, if there isn't enough room for an normal table, then, it shouldn't be that hard to plan some old tables down, fit new raised edges to a new design that means there is room , I'm sure i have seen that done in some 1ST compartment coaches that have been turned out as dining cars,

 

LNER Compartment stock had provision to fit a removable table in at least one compartment at a time - one table was stored in each end vestibule and there was a fitting below the window to support one end of the table and a socket in the floor to locate the table leg. I think Mk 1 compartment stock may have perpetuated this practice, at least in earlier builds, but the tables were probably removed in later in their lives. As has been said previously, though, I'm not sure that the compartment seating would provide a comfortable posture for eating at a table.

 

A few grabbed images from, my pocket camera of the T3 arrival, taken out of the Wareham DMU restricted opening windows on various passes yesterday during a day of passenger counting.

 

Is there a plan to keep it undercover to protect the beautiful paintwork - at least in the short term until it is officially brought into service?

 

I’ve heard rumours of it going to live in Swanage engine shed, with the T9 being moved elsewhere for overhaul to begin. Maybe someone from the railway can clarify.

 

It will be on the Goodshed road, up the sidings round the shed whilst they are working on it. Any prolonged periods out of use it will go in the shed. There is also agreements in place to maintain the paintwork through varnishing and general paint maintenance. Please don't worry, it will be looked after and it won't melt.

 

563 should be discussed on the 563 thread.

 

T3 meets T9 and 3 generations of Southern locos.

 

Just needs one of the moguls for 4 generations. 563 looks the business. So good in fact, I've looked at how to get there for future reference.

 

Manston back as the rostered loco today.
As this angle is now only available when both the 121 & 117 are out plying their trade had to pop down to Castle Crossing this afternoon.
Shame about the shadows.