A COMPLETE BRANCH LINE
A 40-year dream has been achieved - a branch line that runs regular services along its entirety. Set in a ‘honeypot’ of tourist attractions, the future is looking very sweet for the Swanage Railway.
Seven. It’s held to be a lucky number by some people - and for the Swanage Railway it also seems to hold some significance. For some of the most important milestones in the history of the Swanage branch have fallen on years with a ‘7’ in them. On Sunday June 18 1967, BR ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T No. 80146, top-and-tailed with rebuilt ‘Battle of Britain’ No. 34089 602 Squadron, became the last steam locomotive to haul a passenger train over the line - just three weeks before Southern Region steam came to an end. Not something you’d call lucky, of course - but the fact that, 50 years later, the Swanage branch is operating in its entirety, and still running Bulleid ‘Pacifics’ alongside a Class 4 tank bearing the number 80146, is something for which we can all be thankful. On July 2 2007, ‘4MT’ 2-6-0 No. 76079 became the first steam locomotive to arrive at the revived Swanage Railway by rail, over the main line connection via Wareham, when it visited for that year’s steam gala to commemorate 40 years since the end of Southern steam. It also made history as the first Riddles Class 4 ‘Mogul’ to appear on the branch since May 7 1967, when No. 76026 top-and-tailed the ‘Dorset Coast Express’ railtour with now-preserved ‘West Country’ No. 34023 Blackmore Vale. Now, in 2017, with the long-awaited start of regular passenger trains between Swanage and Wareham on June 13 (see News), the Swanage Railway’s 40-year dream of rebuilding the branch has finally been achieved.
TRANSPORT OF DELIGHT
These trains, operated by West Coast Railways for an initial 60-day trial this season, effectively put Swanage back on the national network for the first time since the branch was axed in a round of post-Beeching closures, on January 3 1972. They are almost the final pieces of the jigsaw in a railway that, after what was at times a rocky ride in preservation, has become as efficient a transport provider as the Southern Region of the 1950s that it re-creates so well. It’s well documented how the Swanage Railway came close to financial collapse in the early 1990s, but became a roaring success thanks to the park-and-ride station at Norden - which transformed it from a relatively undistinguished preserved line into one with a real purpose. As well as taking crowds of happy holidaymakers to the beach at Swanage, just as the branch did in its heyday, it also provides a link to the Isle of Purbeck’s best-known tourist attraction - the ruins of Corfe Castle that make such a perfect backdrop to photographs of Southern locomotives arriving at the idyllic station. As Matt Green, the Swanage Railway’s General Manager since 2015, puts it, the line sits “in a honeypot of tourist attractions” with the Jurassic Coast, Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, the Tank Museum, Monkey World, Bournemouth, Weymouth and Poole all on its doorstep. It gives the railway a reliable customer base, allowing its annual passenger numbers to knock on the door of a quarter of a million (to be precise, the figures in 2016 and 2015 were 211,075 and 217,080 respectively). “The daily figures fluctuate wildly,” he elaborates, “but the weekly total is usually stable - because people are down here on holiday and simply decide which day to visit us. “We’re very dependent on the weather - our ideal is a strong easterly breeze in the afternoon to get people off the beach!” Interestingly, he adds, after the initial runaway success of Norden, passenger loadings have stabilised over a number of years, to give “a 50:50 split” from either end of the line. Nonetheless, in spite of the addition of Wareham, Norden will always have a role to play with the core steam service running the six miles from Swanage to here, while West Coast’s diesels, and later the Swanage Railway’s own DMUs, cover the additional four miles to the main line station. But Wareham will give the railway a whole new market, explains Matt. “It’s got very limited parking, so for those coming from far afield by car, we’ll still need to encourage them to Norden. “But Wareham will open us up to those coming by public transport, and it’ll be ideal for those making day trips from the local area. “The bus takes an hour and a half from Bournemouth, and 45 minutes from Poole, so we’ll be able to offer much better connections. And you’ll start your Swanage Railway experience at Wareham!” It will also be possible, of course, to travel to the line directly from Waterloo, just as in days of yore - although regular steamhauled through trains hauled by Bulleid ‘Pacifics’ may not become a common sight again for a while. The railway doesn’t want to compromise the Wareham operation by adding such workings into a timetable that is already intensive and will get busier - and ideally, improvements to its infrastructure are needed to host more
WE’LL BE ABLE TO OFFER BETTER CONNECTIONS. AND YOU’LL START YOUR EXPERIENCE AT WAREHAM!
incoming main line charters on a regular basis. However, once the extension has settled into regular use, such improvements will reach the top of the in-tray (more of which later) and then talks with charter operators can begin. Motive power for Wareham trains will, initially, be internal combustion; the Swanage Railway has a three-car Class 117 DMU and a Class 121 ‘bubble car’ lined up, which are being overhauled and fitted with mandatory central door locking by Arlington Fleet Services at Eastleigh Works. However, the need to replace their corroded axles, and obtain new roller bearings from Timken in the US, mean that they are not now expected to be ready until 2018 hence the need for West Coast to step in. The railway will be bearing the additional costs of employing the main line Train Operating Company: “We’ve looked at the data and projected the income to ensure that it should still operate profitably,” confirms Matt. “Put it this way, if we weren’t confident of that, we wouldn’t be running it at all!” Although it’s still something of a ‘toe in the water’ exercise at this stage - the initial 60 days will be extended to 90 for the second season - the railway is confident enough to be looking towards the long-term future of the extension - with steam being the ultimate aspiration. For this, a £75,000 grant from the Department for Transport (SR455) covered the upgrading of a set of five Mk 1 coaches to main line standards, and fitting the necessary electronic equipment (AWS, TPWS, OTM-R and GSM-R) to one of the collection of three Maunsell ‘Moguls’. As detailed in SR466, the recipient of this was to be unique ‘N’ class No. 31874 - but with the ‘Woolworth’s’ boiler still undergoing overhaul at Adam Dalgleish Engineering, the decision has been taken to fit the necessary conduit and battery boxes to ‘U’ No. 31806 during its current winter maintenance, so it could be fitted out for the main line first. Only one set of “the acronyms” (as Matt refers to the electronic gubbins) could be paid for out of the DfT grant, and it’s not yet been decided whether the ‘N’ or ‘U’ will receive it first. But, he confirms, all engines - including Southern Locomotives Ltd’s fleet of Bulleid ‘Pacifics’ - have been, or will be, overhauled to main line standard for possible use into Wareham. “The whole organisation is being geared up to future-proof it,” he says - although he adds: “At the moment, it’s likely that steam to Wareham will be fairly limited.” One thing limiting operations, certainly at first, will be a lack of run-round facilities; initially, trains for Swanage will only run into the Down platform. While use of the Up platform is also possible, the crossover at the London end of the platforms cannot be commissioned until the foot crossing is closed. Formerly the road level crossing until a new bridge was built in 1980, this was to have been taken out in the same re-signalling scheme of 2014 that fully linked Swanage into the national network - but has had to remain in place until new disabled access ramps are added to the footbridge. This also means that, for the moment, Swanage trains cannot use the sidings at the eastern end of the station - which will eventually be used to form a five-coach run-round loop clear of the main line. “It’s not a bar to operations, but until that’s resolved, it does restrict the operational flexibility,” says Matt.
BEAT OF THE DRUMMOND
With all locomotives eventually to be overhauled to a mechanical standard that could allow main line running, perhaps the most symbolic statement of the Swanage branch’s renaissance would be to run Drummond ‘M7’ 0-4-4T No. 30053 - an example of the class that formed the line’s staple motive power for 40 years - all the way from Swanage to Wareham once again. To complete the 1950s branch line picture, one of the Southern Region pull-push sets with which they were paired is stored off-site and lined up for eventual restoration to run with the ‘M7’, while full vintage sets of Bulleid and Maunsell coaches are being put together for ‘high days and holidays’. The interior of Maunsell Third Open No. 1381 is being fitted out by Swanage volunteers, following the contract restoration of the bodywork by Ramparts, while another coach of the same type - No. 1346 - has been sent to the Barrow Hill-based firm to follow suit. Of the Bulleids, two - Brake Third No. 4365 and Composite No. 5761 - are already in service, while Third Open No. 1457 and Brake Third No. 4366 are stored, with an appeal launched to restore the latter. They will eventually form a four-coach set, “with the Brake Thirds at either end,” says Matt, “just as they used to be marshalled.” Matt, who originally hails from Sussex, is a Southern man through and through - previously having been involved with the Lavender Line, Kent & East Sussex, Bluebell, Isle of Wight and Rother Valley railways, his view of “Brighton was best” prompts a barrage of unprintable banter from the other staff and volunteers in Herston Works. And despite being aged just 31 and unable to remember BR steam, he cares deeply about authenticity. A few issues ago, when I rang him regarding No. 1381’s return from Ramparts, and double-checked that the pull-push set was still a long-term plan, his reply was instant and enthusiastic: “Oh, absolutely.” This time, he elaborates: “I am a massive believer in getting
the detail right - because it adds value for our visitors, and I think in so doing, it makes them more likely to return. “They might not know the railway history in detail - but they have an image that they expect, and it’s our job to provide that. “When they go to Duxford and see a Spitfire, they might not know all the details of its lettering - but they expect it to be in camouflage with roundels, not Virgin Airlines livery! “Nor would you expect to see a games console in the bedroom of a country house...” Interestingly, he adds: “I reckon that 80% of our visitors are enthusiasts” - by which he doesn’t mean railway enthusiasts, but “those who are simply interested in British history - who visit country houses, gardens and castles.”
AT SIXES AND SEVENS
“A working museum” is how Trevor Parsons, Chairman of the Swanage Railway Trust, sums it up - yet with the advent of the Wareham extension, it’s one that has had to adapt to the modern world as well. At one end of Corfe Castle’s new signal box is a direct interface with Basingstoke control panel - which the signalman must contact on a daily basis every time the box switches in - yet it retains the Victorian Tyers No. 6 tablet instrument at the other end. The box is based on the original LSWR example, demolished in the 1950s - albeit with much larger windows, the original having had only a small row at the front to ensure privacy for the occupants of the station house opposite. Similarly, Swanage’s box, and a machine shop built opposite the engine shed four years ago, were constructed in Purbeck stone for an authentic look. A high priority on the ‘to do’ list is the erection of a genuine LSWR water tower recovered from Salisbury - which, odd though it may sound, is the key to ensuring that Swanage station can cope with increased visitor numbers. Seven may be the lucky number for the Swanage Railway, but at the terminus, it’s six that’s the magic figure - six coaches, that is. Currently, the platform and run-round loop limit trains to five vehicles - but, says Matt: “If we can find a double-slip point of the right geometry, we can extend the loop to six coaches for greater capacity.” However, the Salisbury tank needs to be in place first - so that the existing GWR ‘parachute’ tank can be removed and the platform extended. Such are the considerations for a relatively short, yet busy railway that runs one of the most intensive services in preservation, with 13 departures from Swanage and Norden between 10am and 6pm in the peak summer timetable. In truth, much of the railway’s infrastructure is in need of improvement to keep up with expansion - but with Swanage’s former goods yard lost to new development after closure, options are limited. The only covered accommodation for locomotives remains the original one-road shed at Swanage, while the Carriage & Wagon Department works is in the former goods shed, which can just hold one Mk 1 and a Class 08 diesel.
All things considered, it’s remarkable that so far this year, they have already outshopped two Mk 1s after body repairs and repaints, restored a Turbot ballast wagon, and repaired and repainted three diesels - in addition to maintaining a fleet of Mk 1s that cover approximately 18,000 miles a year on this busy shuttle service. But, admits Matt: “Space is our biggest issue - and we desperately need more carriage sidings.” The obvious answer would seem to be the expanse of sidings at Furzebrook, formerly the oil terminal that kept this stub of the branch open for freight traffic - but negotiations are still ongoing with owner Perenco for a lease, and redevelopment of the site is complicated by the original planning condition, which stated that it must be returned to heathland after its useful life was concluded. For the locomotive department, Herston Works offers a fine engineering facility, but with the rather major handicap of not being rail-connected. The industrial estate in which it sits was once the site of Swanage gasworks, which did have a rail connection - but to reinstate one now would entail taking part of the adjacent field. Says Matt: “We have a team looking at the footprint of the whole railway and undertaking a feasibility study to see what we could do in the space available - but until that’s concluded, nothing is on the table.” A ’table is one of the essential pieces of railway infrastructure which is dependent upon the outcome of the study - a turntable that is. The 50-foot example at Swanage is too short to accommodate most tender engines, but the railway has a 70-footer in store, recovered from Old Oak Common. Installation of this, if a suitable site can be found, would open the railway up to more of those incoming main line charters mentioned earlier.
GIVE ME SHELTER
But even more essential, and also dependent on the conclusions of the feasibility study, is covered accommodation - not just for the vintage coaches, but for another precious railway artefact that recently came into the railway’s possession: de-accessioned LSWR ‘T3’ 4-4-0 No. 563 from the National Railway Museum. Officially handed over to the Swanage Railway Trust on May 27 (see News), the veteran Adams locomotive will undergo an assessment of its condition to see whether it might be suitable for a return to steam - or whether it would be more advisable to conserve it as a static exhibit. “It would be great to have something like the Severn Valley’s ‘Engine House’,” says Matt, “and if the ‘T3’ does need to remain static, then it would be the ideal centrepiece. “We’ve got the Purbeck Mineral & Mining Museum at Norden [with a short narrow gauge demonstration line, and part of the Swanage Railway Trust] which, together with the museum in Corfe goods shed, tells the stories of the local ball clay industry and its links to the branch. “But we lack somewhere to put out-of-ticket engines and provide an educational facility to show visitors how they work.” He admits, however, that few new developments will take place for a while yet; right now, everything is revolving around the top priority of Wareham. For instance, the possibility has been raised of a station or halt at Furzebrook, for the local beauty spot of the Blue Pool - one tourist attraction on the Isle of Purbeck that the railway doesn’t yet serve - but, says Matt: “I don’t see anything happening there for the next five years at least. “We’ve no set plans for developing that part of the railway - and we’ve got to consider that adding a station there would increase the Wareham journey time. “First of all, we’ve got to consolidate the Wareham operation - and that will determine where the organisation goes in the future.”
A FINE LINE
Wareham places the Swanage Railway in such illustrious company as the pioneering Keighley & Worth Valley, and the up-and-coming Ecclesbourne Valley, in the ranks of preservation’s complete branch lines, still operating from their original main line junctions to their original termini. Nonetheless, as we have seen, the work will go on as the line continues to adapt to the needs of a thriving transport operation and tourist attraction - but without losing the quintessential 1950s Southern branch line feel that makes it such a fine ‘living museum’. Ripped up in 1972, and later almost lost underneath a new bypass for Corfe, the Swanage branch has now come full circle. It has grown into one of preservation’s great success stories - in a way that would have been unimaginable to anyone at the end of steam in 1967, and could only have been a distant pipe dream to the determined preservationists beginning the restoration of Swanage station in 1976. Where will it be in 2027? SR