Swanage Railway General Discussion

I had a ride behind all 4 locos yesterday. The diesel train was a lot more relaxed as you could get a seat easily. I didn't get a seat on the steam until the last train when some people had left. In spite of this, it was worth the trip down from London, in spite of SWR being diverted via the Portsmouth Direct due to engineering work closing the main line between Basingstoke and Weybridge. I hope everything went well today and that the extra coach on the steam set enabled most people to get a seat most of the time.

 

Just got back from a fantastic day at the railway! Sunday seemed very busy but that 5th car was what we needed as the steam set seemed to have no standing from what I saw.

Not long now till the steam gala at the end of March !!!

 

No mention of this on the website

 

Lots of things to look forward to at Swanage this year. 08 taster DX bookings have been added to the website and will open soon for the 17th/18th of feb and are £20.

An extra date of Class 33 DX has been added too on the 13th of March and more will be added that week if necessary.

One that isn’t on the website currently is the Community Open Weekend that will run on the 17th/18th of feb too, similar to last year where people can get a look behind the scenes at the railway! More details to come.

 

Looking ahead to the possibility of two Victorian locomotives running together - Drummon T9 30120 seen here alongside Adams T3 563 at Swanage on 7th January.

 

Adams T3 taking on water at Swanage on Sunday 7th January

 

Adams T3 563 at Norden - in glorious sunshine albeit rather cold!

 

Adams T3 563 heading a freight working away from Swanage on 7th January

 

It was on the back of timetable you were given when you collected your ticket. A rather low key announcement I thought.

 

Any chance you could advise what the dates are for those of us who haven't seen it please?

 

Yes its Fri-Sun 22-24th March

 

After visiting the gala at the weekend, I have to say how immaculate the railway appears - both in the stations and the lineside.
I don't believe I could improve the look of the embankments if I went over them with my lawnmower. Well done to all concerned. <BJ>

 

A new thread for the Community Open Weekend event on 17th/18th of February has been created -
https://www.national-preservation.c...y-open-weekend-17th-18th-of-february.1423461/

 

Southern Locomotives (SLL) has a vacancy for an experienced Fitter/Machinist to work on our locomotive fleet. The company currently owns nine steam locos, including seven Bulleid Pacifics, several of which are currently being restored or overhauled.

We are building our professional team to fulfil our plans to return more locos for service on heritage railways, primarily Swanage Railway who we share the workshop with. Salary and Conditions by negotiation.

Please contact Bob Bevis at bob.bevis@southern-locomotives.co.uk

www.southern-locomotives.co.uk

 

I'm still getting up to steam with what is/has been happening in the heritage steam world, and have been trying to find out the situation on operational/to become operational SR Moguls.

So, I wonder if anyone here could please let know the current situation re three that are shown as being at Swanage (on out of date web pages).

They are 31635, 31806 and 31874.

I know 31806 has been operational recently, but I wonder if that is now out 'of ticket'.

Maybe I could find out by trawling back through this thread, but it's nearly 500 pages!

 

In short, 31625 is being stored under cover at the railway, 31806 is operational and currently has the recently overhauled boiler from 31874 so should have 6-7 years (or there abouts from memory) on its ticket. The tender and bottom end of 31874 are now waiting for the boiler from 1806 to be overhauled before it can be reassembled.

It does beg the question though, does swanage need all 3 operational at the same time, plus 2 bulleid pacifics, the T3, and (hopefully) the M7 and 80104 at some point… AND the T9 in the future. Hopefully 1874 will return eventually.

 

The answer to that question is definitely no, it doesn’t need all those locos. Especially given the railway’s current financial situation, something will have to give loco wise.

It wasn’t so long ago it had 34053 and 34072 too, before it was mutually decided with SLL to terminate the agreement for those. I’m sure more will do the same way, just depends which ones.

It also begs the question of is letting SLL use Herston works to churn out yet more Bulleid Pacifics the Railway has no need for, a sensible use of the workshop space.

 

Does the railway pay for the lease of Herston works then? I have no idea, I assume it is a lease as there are others on the plot as well.

 

Many thanks for that.

Bryan

 

Am I the only one thinking the Swanage Railway is missing a trick not turning the upcoming 'try for yourself' weekend into a weekend with more trains running and turning it into a mini gala like the Winter Warm up??


Surly with all the very cool experiences, including cab visits, 08 shunters, Corfe/Harmans signal box vists plus the VERY EXITABLE GUARD EXPEREICE they should be running more?

This looks to be such a cool unique weekend. Which will hopefully get more into finally volunteering like me (maybe).