Swanage Railway developments

Does anyone know of any concrete plans for what trains are to operate the "utility" service, and where they are to be maintained?

 

Dorset rail service to be restored after 41 years


A Dorset train service is to be reinstated 41 years after being axed thanks to a £1.47m grant.

A regular service on the three-mile stretch between Swanage, Corfe Castle and Wareham is set to be restored by Spring 2015.

Government funding will pay to upgrade track and bridges and two 1960s heritage diesel bus trains to mainline running standards.

Trial services are planned for 50 days in 2015 and 90 days in 2016. It is hoped a year-round service will follow


Great news, though these 'diesel bus trains' sound interesting!

Chris

 

Great news to hear that service will be restored , congratulations to all at Swanage & associated volunteers.

 

I did'nt know Wareham to Swanage was 3 miles long .It seemed a lot longer when I was down there last......
Good luck with the diesel bus trains whatever they are...

Anyway congratulations to getting the grant ,I look forward to getting on the train at Wareham and travelling the whole line.

Keith

 

It's the section between Worgret junction and Furzebrook that is 3 miles long, this is where the money will be spent

 

Great news! Now lets make sure it gets used, even if the diesel bus trains are recycled Pacers - dive for cover ...

 

Provided the BBC have got their facts reasonably straight, the use of the description "1960's" bus trains sounds like they're referring to first generation DMU's (of which Swanage already have three sets), but I could be wrong!

Guessing here, but the recent changes in mainline running regarding barrier vehicles may make recertification of First Generation vehicles a more straight forward undertaking than previously, investigations about 8-10 years ago uncovered concerns regarding a 1st gen DMU's crash worthiness as there would be no loco/barrier coach between a head on impact and passengers.

Could we see a return to the mainline of a Class 108 for the first time since the 1990's? I would have thought "mainlining" an already running preserved vehicle in good condition would be cheaper than the acquisition and certification of "new" stock...

Regardless of all the above waffle, the news is a good step forward for the project indeed!

 

Their stock list shows a 4-car 117 and a 121. There always was a story that the Pressed-Steel built DMUs were constructed in a different way to the rest of the 1st generation DMUs and weren't covered by the restrictions on Mark 1s. I'm not aware of any more details than that though.

 

Swanage have a single unit 121, a 2 car 108 and a 3 car 117, see Swanage Railway DMU's (the "4th" 117 car was in poor condition and scrapped some time ago).

The Class 117's were contracted to Pressed Steel and were built to a standard BR design, so I'm sceptical of any stories saying they were built differently. Preservation era rebuilds of Class 117's and 121's have shown them to be no different strength wise to any other DMU's with the standard (sometimes called "Derby") front end.

Straying off topic however, some of the private builder's own DMU designs had some quite different methods of construction (such as the lightweight Class 100, 103 & 109 sets) which would be interesting in any crash-worthiness studies. And of course there's also the differences in body material with the aluminium panelled Derby Lightweight and Class 108 sets.

I was once told that it was something to do with (quite possibly unfounded) concerns with the 40 year old alloy bodies that caused the last Class 108's to be withdrawn in the 1990's, the sets selected for future use being the steel bodied Class 101, 117 & 121 vehicles.

 

Maybe they should get Didcots railmotor ?

 

I received an email from a colleague who has good connections with the Swanage Railway this morning when the news broke. It stated:

"Money is for upgrade of track (over 1000 sleepers need replacing), bridge works and restoration of the two 117 DMU’s to mainline standard".

Not sure if the current 117 unit in their fleet is one of those to be upgraded to mainline standards or if 2 more units will be joining their fleet? Certainly it is a better option than allowing class 158's down there each day and i'm presuming that it will be crewed by Swanage staff qualified to work on the mainline.

Interesting times ahead.

 

Oh yes....:thumb:

 

Didn't Swanage Railway have two units stored at another site belonging to DCC?

 

We only have one, 3 car 117 unit, which is privately owned.

The units owned by DCC have been dispersed/sold/scrapped as they were too far gone

The other unit to be upgraded will be the ex. SWT 121 bubble car, so I'm told

 

Why is using class 117s a better options than using 158s? I'd always thought the opposite and that SWT running the service with 158s was the best option, for several reasons:

- 158s are much more modern and more suitable for running a regular public service than trains over 50 years old
- The Swanage Railway wouldn't have the costs/hassle of maintaining a fleet for daily use. They would just take the track access charges from SWT and leave it to them to run the daily service, enabling them to concentrate of the heritage side of their operation.
- SWT would be more likely to run it as a through service to Brockenhurst of Bournemouth, which would be likely to encourage more passengers than if they had to change trains at Wareham

Just my opinion, but of course I think it's great that Swanage to Wareham services are being reinstated, whoever runs them and with whatever stock.

 

The early mpu"s were known as gas guzzlers, the newer generations units are a lot better on the mpg.

 

How many spare 2nd and 3rd generation DMUs are there currently in this country?

There may be spares when electricification kicks in, but Pacers will need withdrawing were soon after that, and building new DMUs is something that has proven difficult to fund for some years already.

Sometimes, existing units can work a bit extra - the proposed first stage of reopening the Blyth & Tyne to passengers plans to use a unit otherwise laying over in Morpeth Yard (but still isn't going ahead at present - too far north!) - but the Class 158s would normally be nowhere near the Swanage. SWT's fleet are for services on the old SR mainlien to Exeter and services are planned to expand on there, so I doubt there is much slack in the fleet.

1st generation may be the only option, but not all 1st generation are the same.

Steven

 

As an infrequent visitor to the Uk I have to agree with Stephenvane. I enjoyed the ride and comfort of the 158's on the Salisbury/Exeter route and running a service to Brockenhurst would bring many possibilities for both outbound and inbound passengers(shades of the old
'runabout tickets!!). I can't see how sparsely used older stock can offer the reliability that is needed to make this service a success.
It is however a great place to be right now for supporters of a coherent rail network as Swanage is not the only heritage operation looking at a reconnection to the national networkThe KWVR is being touted and the NYMR already have their operation to Whitby

 

That's the whole issue in a nutshell - not only are they are all accounted for, but there's an urgent need for more. While they'd obviously offer a nice travelling experience, there are better uses for an air conditioned 90mph DMU than short 25mph trips between Swanage and Wareham.

Chris

 

The 2 extant AC Railbus's are an option. Not that rebuilding them to an operable standard would be easy.