Project Wareham

Just to repeat what I said earlier, thought the 117 DMU at Swanage was refurbished to mainline standards with TPWS, OTMR, GSMR and central locking doors, and has been reliable enough in 2021 to be certified for mainline use?.
No official update from the SR on this or the Diesel gala, still they are 4 months away?

 

Tourists are welcome to their deals. As someone who doesn't benefit from those deals, and also has the double whammy of needing to pay for children to travel and having no access to railcard benefits, he is however sceptical of the validity of opinions on the affordability of rail travel coming from people who benefit from deeply discounted fares that are not normally available. In the context of the SR, this includes member and donor discounts where the discussion relates to usage by the general public at large.

 

It is also slightly strange there has been a been a campaign to stop insurance companies disadvantaging long term customers, yet we are happy (or the RDG is) to give tourists something no taxpayer can get. Even more ironic now the taxpayer is fully funding the rail network.

 

Here is a strictly non rail anomaly. Had i worked for 10yrs in the UK i would qualify for my NI pension. Those who emigrated to Australia,NZ or Canada get that pension with no COLA increases, Brits living in the USA with the same qualifications get the COLA like clockwork each year!

 

It was my understanding that the Class 117 and 121 DMU had now been refurbished to mainline standards specifically to enable them to operate the Wareham service. SRT / SRC received a grant of over £1M for the works to be carried out. Whether they have now been certified as meeting the standard or a derogation granted I do not know.

 

The British Tourist Board saturates the North American Market, they want tourists big time to use the hotels,bnbs restaurants and cultural facilities. and lets not forget as far as rail fares go they have to compete with Eurail who also offer great deals and great variety. You want tourists to come to the UK and not clog your already sclerotic road system then you have to be competitive and offer an incentive. If you repeatedly elect Govts that penalise rail users then the ball is in your court!

 

THE SR wanted money. The incentive they offered was PLM. SR accepted my money I took the PLM. Obviously my once in three to five year use of my PLM on a 6 day visit to Swanage. does not raise a flicker on the richter scale of finance. You live up to your commitments because that creates confidence in your cause,just as SR have to make the effort to provide some sort of trial service to Wareham.As indicated by others the amount of time,effort and money expended has to see that particular commitment fulfilled.

 

Refurbished to mainline standard is one thing, being passed/certified to work on mainline is something completely different.

 

Perhaps worth another thread?
The family and friends Railcard gives discounts, you can also use Tesco clubcard points for the Railcard.
Presumably if the Wareham to Corfe line gets going, the Railcard or SR Trust membership will give a discount?.
With the pass for visitors from Europe, seem to remember some fuss the Brexit deal allowed UK citizens to get reciprocal rail travel in mainland Europe?.

 

All correct and fair, but not relevant to the question of the sustainability of the service where discussion of demand is relevant.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Let us see if there is a demand even in these trying times. a trial is the way to go.

 

From my observations of many times Britrailing ,failure to inspect tickets resulting in lost revenue. more so on the secondary lines where often the conductor guard never leaves his cubicle

 

So did all four components come back from Eastleigh by road?

 

I seem to remember the bubble car was finished first and came back by rail - towed by the 33.

Then before the 117 was completed, some new lineside equipment was installed at Brockenhurst. This meant there were potential clearance issues, so the 117 had to return by road. It’s return was further delayed by a freight train derailment at Eastleigh, which damaged point work which wasn’t repaired for some weeks. This trapped the unit in Eastleigh works and it couldn’t be towed to the road loading point in the East yard

Four 117 cars came back by road, including an unrefurbished one retained for spares.

Then Covid happened and further delayed project Wareham.

 

As far as I can see, the single car unit was towed by rail (i.e not under its own power).

The class 117 vehicles came by road:
https://www.swanagerailwaytrust.org/post/class-117-dmbs-delivered-for-project-wareham
https://mobile.twitter.com/abnormal_loads/status/1227593002648055808

See this thread round about page 29 onwards: https://www.national-preservation.com/threads/project-wareham.536513/page-29

Tom

 

Er...What Diesel gala? First I have heard of that!
Indeed, the 117 was refurbished to mainline standards at Eastleigh Works and if you recall it was due to travel under it's own power to Swanage in January 2020, but the move was scuppered by Network Rail as there were "issues" with gauge clearance in the Brockenhurst area, The result being that in the end it had to be moved by road to Norden.
Now, even as a working volunteer I have absolutely no more idea then any of you how the DMMU service is going to operate whether all trains will work through to Swanage or terminate Corfe, though it appears that most of you do, which is most interesting seeing that not a single train has run so far!
I am equally unclear just how many more hurdles have to be jumped over before the operating licence is granted. we will have to be patient and wait and see.

 

According to a friend mentioned on the unofficial Swanage Facebook group of which I am not a member (not doing faceache!)

 

Is it being held at Wareham Sidings or on the Frome Bridge to Worgret proving track?

 

Thanks for the replies. So presumably something that is not certified to main line standards can nevertheless be towed on the main line?

 

Yes - witness the regular trips of the Bluebell’s Metropolitan Railway carriages to London, each time by rail (amongst many examples).

Tom