The first 142 years
applications and brisk construction. Negotiation of the third lease - with the Duchy of Cornwall - has been especially protracted, the breakthrough fifinally coming in November 2015 and a planning application being lodged in December. We hope track laying can start after Summer 2016, to bring the project up to the ‘magic mile’, and before we face more substantial obstructions to further expansion. Running close behind the extension of the running line has come the establishment of regular train operations since 2009 - through a revived historic S&DJR Company. This has not been without interruptions for various reasons, including lack of availability of motive power, recruiting and training suffificient staff, and the need to meet the many Offifice of Rail and Road regulations. Diesel haulage has been the usual option, but occasional hiring of steam locomotives from 2005 onwards has greatly lifted the spirits of volunteers. One BR Mk 1 SK carriage is operational, with a second (a BSK) undergoing rapid restoration. A fifirst resident steam locomotive - the Sentinel - is close to its fifirst steaming.
True S&D?
While we have tried to restore the historic character of the station area to a near-1950s BR (SR) state, we have had to make some unavoidable compromises, most of which should be remedied as the project develops. Squeezing all the necessary activities into a cramped site is an ongoing dilemma. We envy projects with extensive siding space, spare land, and ample covered accommodation! For now, rolling stock occupies the platform lines and yard for most of the time when trains are not operating. The goods shed also acts as locomotive shed, workshop, mess room and store, with containers outside to hold infrastructure equipment, and every wagon fifilled with parts and spares. Our Mk 3 buffet coach raises some purist eyebrows, but we have to take a pragmatic approach: it was free, a grant covered its transport costs, it has excellent facilities, it’s a community focus, and it’s a signifificant revenue generator for other project work. While the station and its immediate environs have Conservation Area status because of the railway heritage, the once semi-rural ambience of Silver Street has become more urbanised in the last 50 years of the town’s development, but south of the station this intrusion fades quickly. We are easing the site capacity problem in various ways.