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Swanage Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Rumpole, Oct 10, 2012.

  1. dingding

    dingding New Member

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    Enjoy your holiday, but hurry back!

    Had a great day in Swanage yesterday on the 31806 photo charter.

    Early morning without the grockles you really could be back in 1954! Corfe Castle station really is a great achievement.

    For me it is sobering to realise that despite how much was lost after closure the station really isn't that much different from when I first stood on the Up Platform watching an M7 leaving for Swanage as a 7 year old back in 1962!!

    Dave
     
  2. nanstallon

    nanstallon Part of the furniture

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    Yes, authenticity is the strong point of the Swanage Railway. For me, the U class really was the icing on the cake during the gala weekend. I had a last lingering look at her on shed on Monday morning, before starting the long journey home by bus (changing at Wareham, Exeter and Plymouth; thank heavens for bus passes!). It must have been a great photo charter.

    John
     
  3. free2grice

    free2grice Part of the furniture Friend

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    Well done to the Swanage Railway for adding the daily loco roster to their website. By knowing what loco was in service yesterday (Manston) I made a beeline to the railway and enjoyed a superb day there. Even the weather forecast was correct. <BJ>
     
  4. Rumpole

    Rumpole Part of the furniture

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    It made quite a pleasant change for the weather to improve as I started shunting at Harmans Cross; as any railwayman will tell you, normally it works the other way...!
     
  5. Enterprise

    Enterprise Part of the furniture

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    As the Swanage is one of my favourite lines, on Thursday I was particularly disappointed to hear on the train's PA, "Your next station stop is...."!
     
  6. free2grice

    free2grice Part of the furniture Friend

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    I paid another visit to the Swanage Railway today after checking with the daily loco roster and finding that 'Eddystone' was in service.
    Fantastic engine, fantastic day out. Nice to see so many people aboard the 5 coach train. Thanks to all concerned. <BJ>
     
  7. Rumpole

    Rumpole Part of the furniture

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    After a busy weekend last weekend for the M7 (3 days of photo charters as well as normal service on Saturday and Sunday), this is now out of traffic for washout. This weekend will see a bit of a contrast in motive power on the service trains; Saturday will be 34070 Manston, while Sunday will be 6695 (Manston being on a private charter on Sunday).

    Just a brief update on other news, Bulleid CK 5761 has been outshopped from the Goods Shed, and is looking excellent; stated by many people around the railway to be the best carriage paint job that has been done down there (picture to follow). Work is now progressing internally by the volunteer working parties to try to get that side of things complete. The painting work on Swanage signalbox is nearing conclusion, and the team responsible for this have been eyeing up their next project (Harmans Cross signalbox). 80104 is currently in the loco shed for a deep clean underneath, and several wagons are being made ready for storing the stone pending the re-erection of the Salisbury water tower. Progress is also being made on a new workshop building opposite Swanage shed, which will greatly improve the maintenance facilities down there.

    Hope this is of interest.
     
    gwalkeriow and gz3xzf like this.
  8. John Petley

    John Petley Part of the furniture

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    It is indeed. Thanks for the update. I hope I can pay another visit to Swanage before too long. Always a most enjoyable day out.
     
  9. Steve1015

    Steve1015 Member

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    It was like a mini mixed traction gala yesterday....3 steam and 2 diesels:)
     
  10. free2grice

    free2grice Part of the furniture Friend

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    Does anyone know which loco will be rostered for the weekend please? I presume it will be just the one loco in service. <BJ>
     
  11. southern13

    southern13 New Member

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    I thought no it be 80104

    Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
     
  12. John Petley

    John Petley Part of the furniture

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    Great that the Swanage Railway is running at weekends. Apart from a couple of trips by 35028 on the VSOE, the southern half of the country would otherwise be pretty starved of steam from now until mid- February, with the Mid Hants not running and ther Bluebell hiring in a DMMU while the line is shut south of Horsted Keynes.

    I'm certainly tempted to pay a visit over the next few weeks. Looking at the website, it seems to suggest that 80104 will be in use throughout, and the photographs show it facing Norden. Please could someone advise re planned motive power and also confirm which way round 80104 currently faces, if it is to be the loco in use over the next few weekends.

    Thanks
     
  13. buzby2

    buzby2 Well-Known Member

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    80104 was pencilled in for service this weekend and underwent scheduled steam test on Friday. Presume all went well and, yes, we have one loco in steam for our Orange Timetable. To find out the timetable on the date you're visiting just use our interactive timetable: http://swanagerailway.co.uk/autotimetable/timetable.php
    Normally tank locos tend to face Swanage and tender locos face Norden to facilitate ease of watering at Swanage. However, at some Steam Galas all bets are off on tank locos being turned during the event!:)
     
  14. free2grice

    free2grice Part of the furniture Friend

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    From the Swanage Railway website. <BJ>
    Saturday 11th January 2014
    Today's Services
    30053
     
  15. John Petley

    John Petley Part of the furniture

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    What a pain! A beautiful day - perfect for a trip to (and ride through) the Purbecks, but I had already made alternative arrangements before noticing that 30053 was in action. Oh well....
     
  16. cymroglan

    cymroglan Member

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    It was actually the Standard 4 tank at work today!
     
  17. free2grice

    free2grice Part of the furniture Friend

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    Dodgy gen from the website. Normally the news is spot on. <BJ>
     
  18. Rumpole

    Rumpole Part of the furniture

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    Apologies; it was planned to be 30053, but unfortunately it failed during exam (nothing major) and 80104 was put into traffic to replace it. Meant a little bit of midnight oil burning washing '104 out in 3 days, I can tell you that much for nothing!

    It is now planned to be 6695 next weekend, followed by 80104 the weekend of 25/26 January.
     
  19. cymroglan

    cymroglan Member

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    Two questions!

    1. Are there plans to have the 33s running on service trains in the two train timetable? They would draw a crowd in my humble opinion!
    2. Is there any chance the website could show the loco roster a few days in advance? Like many others, I have to plan my use of precious days off quite carefully!

    I had a good day in Swanage on Saturday - the Standard Four is a particular favourite! I also love the resited Bird's Nest Buffet!!
     
  20. Rumpole

    Rumpole Part of the furniture

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    1. Yes, I would like to run the 33's in place of the DMU one weekend a month in our Green mid-season timetable; I will sort out the dates and advise in due course.

    2. It is certainly intended to put the loco roster on the website a suitable time in advance; the webmaster has been advised of the plans for the next few weeks, and hopefully this will be updated shortly.

    I am pleased you enjoyed your visit on Saturday. This is the first year for over a decade that we have run weekends in January, so it was pleasing to see so many people around. The weather certainly helped!
     

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