Swanage Railway General Discussion

I’m not critical of your personal choices, but having to cut back on spending in the UK economy in order to spend 2’months spending in the Spanish economy is an example of the very different sort of economy we now live within. You choose (understandably) to spend time out of the UK in winter. You’re able to do that presumably because you are retired, but it takes money away from the UK in a way that a generation ago would have been less common.

The ageing population and the changed choices and priorities that is bringing is one challenge railways face as part of the UK economy. The increasing gap in living standards between the retired and working population where the former for perhaps the first time in history enjoy a better standard than the younger generations is another new challenge.

There are fewer families with more leisure options but less money.

 

Now that Wareham services have been abandoned, I wonder if plans will one day be made for steam services to utilise the line beyond Norden? I know ideas have been mooted in the past for a new station to allow passengers to visit Blue Pool.

Unlikely to happen for a few years I know, due for the current financial climate.

 

I am self employed and work blooming hard ten months of the year.
Plus i have osteoarthritis, the warm sun on my bones is what the doctor ordered.

 

I’ll just add this as a counterpoint:
With the price of food and drink, attractions and hotels/airbnbs in the UK now, we can actually manage a week in Spain for the same or less than a break in the UK, with the bonus of better weather.

Away from the tourist traps, food & drink at street bars etc are so cheap that I’ve spent 3-4 hours in a bar on an evening, 5 or 6 drinks each, with tapas accompanying every drink and the bill total for 4 of us was 28EUR. You could barely get mcDonalds for 4 adults for £28 over here.

 

It has been this way for probably the best part of 40 years. Even back in the 80s Intasun were offering long stay winter sun holidays on the Costa Del Sol for less than the cost of just being at home in the UK due to the cost of energy.

 

My goodness that is cheap. Best we could find was five tapas plus beer and wine for 65€.

 

Some images from the first day of the diesel driver experience using the engineers rake.
Unaware that the times for this were slightly different to the steam version I (and another photographer) assumed the first train was running late, and in the afternoon I was expecting the train at Afflington to be heading the other way, hence the going away shot. The moisture on the loco in the first image was caused by the early morning frost that had melted.
Still an unusual sunny day for once.

 

Before Covid, we managed a fortnight in the Caribbean for less than the same dates in the UK - and that was in November, so out of season UK prices... I suspect it's a fair bit more expensive now though...

 

I can no longer afford a British holiday. We have just spent 8 nights in a stunning 5 star hotel in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Included were flights, transfers, 24 hour room service, food and alcoholic drinks for £700 pp. How much would that have cost in the UK? [BJ]

 

More. But bear in mind that this is only possible because of the low labour costs elsewhere.

 

Lovely shots. I might be passing roughly in that direction tomorrow lunchtime and this makes me want to re-route via Swanage with my camera. From Railcam today it looked like the 33 is off Swanage approx 10.30, 11.50, 13.30 and 14.50 - does that tally with what you saw yesterday, Gladiator?

 

I think these are the planned times off Swanage.

0930, 1040, 1150, 1330, 1440 and 1550.

 

Like you, I have had my life mansplained to me and, of course, the self appointed expert in that instance also got it completely wrong! I was told that I was clearly a solo traveller when I had been in fact visited in a group of four adults and five kids. I have no idea why people have to explain my life to me, but they could at least try to get it right!

 

Very reminiscent of those workings to Meldon Quarry.

 

Well having uploaded those yesterday I had to deal with a Tesco delivery and then an opticians visit to my Dad. Just have time to photograph the last trip on Corfe Common thinks I. Train runs early so I am not even at more chosen spot, go to grab a shot through the trees nothing happens when shutter pressed. Look at camera screen reads "insert memory card". Still in the card reader in the computer from my post in the morning

So ended up with these two from my pocket camera on Corfe Station.

 

Work still ongoing on SR's 3TC vehicles so I don't know if matters can be completed in time. Let's hope so.
Even if it is, I wonder if there will be time [in a normally very intensive timetable] for a 7TC special run?
EDIT - This is a response to an earlier enquiry regarding the Diesel Gala in May.

 

With the Swanage Railway's bank no longer having a branch in the town it has to deal with it's cash security firm to deliver and bank cash as necessary. The supply of coinage, and later return of coins, cost the railway well into 5 figures last year [£X0,000 !]. This was just one of the reasons, I understand, for the change of policy. Whether it was the main reason I have no idea.
So far as I am aware the donation of cash at the Swanage Railway Museum at Corfe Castle is not intended to change as arrangements are in place to use the services of the village post office. Well, they seemed to have worked OK up to now.

 

And insurance coverage for cash on site covers a shockingly low amount of money, dread to think what its like for multiple sites like a heritage railway. When I worked in a tourist attraction in Edinburgh, we had to take the banking to the PO nearly every day of the working week at its summer peak (which took up to 3 members of staff for security) and twice a week when I worked in bars (both of which requiring a change order usually on a Friday). With the latter, there was a sense of getting dicked over by the bank as they kept closing branches while also not really upping staff in the still open branches which were increasingly further away. There were talks in the former about using a service like G4S.

 

Given the railways financial situation, a saving of that magnitude achievable at the stroke of a pen is a no brainer

 

Looking at the Webcam at Swanage. The TC Brake is now back on its wheels. Hopefully finally for good.

3TC set inbound... I hope.

Latest Swanning around mag confirmed the sale of the Wessex Bell cars (apart from the kitchen I think) but also one of the 08 shunters.

So the railway will then have
08
x2 33
x4 steam locos for 2024