Well, folks, as you’ve no doubt already realised, the UK is gripped by snow. As ever, we can expect transport difficulties and suchlike fun. Yr. Humble Chronicler, paid as he is by the hour, basically has to go into work chiz chiz.

A Collett 0-6-0 shows us how it's done.

However, in the meantime, here’s a nostalgic look at snow on British Railways circa 1963 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4pJwcE7JI. It’s a narration-free, slightly artsy collection of documentary footage set to a delightfully ’60s soundtrack.

57xx pannier and Toad brake van finish clearing the line.

As you might imagine, there’s plenty of snow-clearing footage, mostly on the Western Region as far as I can see. Other highlights include some prestigious diesel services featuring a Warship, a Western and the Blue Pullman (all of which was probably, again, filmed on the Western Region). The filmmaker has spliced in some old footage of LMS engines for variety and there are lots of evocative shots of day-to-day operation in what are now termed “adverse weather conditions.” Also for some reason we are treated to film of a gentleman eating his breakfast. All in all, a great resource for anyone planning a snow-set railway.

On January 1:

45 BC  The Julian calendar took effect for the first time.

1001 – Grand Prince Stephen I of Hungary was named the first King of Hungary by Pope Silvester II.

1449 Lorenzo de’ Medici, Italian statesman, was born.

1651  Charles II was crowned King of Scotland.

1735 Paul Revere,  American patriot, was born.

 Portrait of Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley,

1772 – The first traveller’s cheques, which could be used in 90 European cities, went on sale in London.

1779  William Clowes, English printer, was born.

1788  First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, was published.

1800  The Dutch East India Company was dissolved.

1801 The legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland was completed to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

1801 The dwarf planet Ceres was discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.

1803  Emperor Gia Long ordered all bronze wares of the Tây Sơn Dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Huế, Vietnam.

1804 French rule ended in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black republic and second independent country on the American Continent after the U.S.

1808  The importation of slaves into the United States wais banned.

1810  Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB officially became Governor of New South Wales.

1833 The United Kingdom claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.

1833 Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect, was born.

1859 Pencarrow, New Zealand’s first lighthouse, was lit for the first time.

1860 First Polish stamp was issued.

1861  Porfirio Díaz conquered Mexico City.

1876  The Reichsbank opened in Berlin.

1877  Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom was proclaimed Empress of India.

1879 E. M. Forster, English novelist, was born.

1880 Ferdinand de Lesseps began French construction of the Panama Canal.

1890  Eritrea was consolidated into a colony by the Italian government.

1892  Ellis Island opened to begin processing immigrants into the United States.

1859 Pencarrow, New Zealand’s first lighthouse, was lit for the first time.

1895  J. Edgar Hoover, American FBI director, was born.

1899 – Spanish rule ended in Cuba.

1901 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia federated as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton was appointed the first Prime Minister.

1912 The Republic of China was established.

1912  Kim Philby, British spy, was born.

1919 J. D. Salinger, American novelist, was born.

1925  American astronomer Edwin Hubble announced the discovery of galaxies outside the Milky Way.

1934  Alcatraz Island became a United States federal prison.

1939  William Hewlett and David Packard founded Hewlett-Packard.

1948 The British railway network was nationalised to form British Railways.

1956  The Republic of the Sudan gained independence.

1958 The European Communitywas established.

1959 Fulgencio Batista, president of Cuba ws overthrown by Fidel Castro’s forces during the Cuban Revolution.

Batista in 1938

1960 The Republic of Cameroon achieved independence.

1962 Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.

1962 – United States Navy SEALs established.

1982 – Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar became the first Latin American to hold the title of Secretary General of the United Nations.

1983 – The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.

1984 – The Sultanate of Brunei became independent.

1985 The Internet’s Domain Name Systemwas created.

1985 – The first British mobile phone callwais made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone.

1990 – David Dinkins was sworn in as New York City’s first black mayor.

1993 – A single market within the European Community is introduced.

1994 – The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.

1995  The World Trade Organisation came  into effect.

1995 – The Draupner wave in the North Sea in Norway was detected, confirming the existence of freak waves.

1997 – Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan was appointed Secretary General of the United Nations.

1998 – The European Central Bank was established.

2006 – Sydney, sweltered through its hottest New Years Day on record. The thermometer peaked at 45 degrees celsius, sparking bushfires and power outages.

Sourced from NZ History ONline & Wikipedia.

The early railway companies went to great lengths to give themselves status and authority.  This was partly to reassure investors and the travelling public alike since both were initially sceptical of railways and railway travel.  Th achieve the desired effect, companies often used heraldic devices on their coats of arms and seals, even though few were officially entitled to use them.

The company armorial device appears on small items such as badges and buttons, headed notepaper and publications through to ornate ironwork supporting platform canopies and stonework at major stations.  But to the collector one of the favoured items is a genuine railway company armorial transfer, usually attractively mounted on a wooden plaque or backing.

Transfers were introduced in the 1850s by Tearne and Sons Ltd of Birmingham, offering the emerging railway companies an easy method of branding their rolling stock.  Soon locomotives and carriages were suitably embellished with the grand coat of arms belonging to the parent company.

The railway companies took liberties when it came to the heraldic devices they chose to use.  For example the London & North Western Railway (LNER) made free use of the national symbol Britannia.

Although railway companies had consulted the College of Arms about the design of their coats of arms, it was not until 1898 that arms were officially granted.  This was awarded to the Great Central Railway, formerly the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire.

After the Great Central’s achievement only four other transport companies were awarded armorial devices – the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER), the Southern Railway (SR), the British Transport Commission and the Ulster Transport Authority.

British Railways’ full armorial bearings included a crest (beneath a ‘Forward’ scroll) of a demi-lion on its hind legs clutching a wheel between its paws, while two further lions held the shield.  The three wheels at the top  railways, a portcullis and chains stood for ports and harbours, and straight and wavy lines represented road, rail and waterways.  Below this was  a further scroll ‘Velociter securiter‘: swift and sure.

The crest, replacing an earlier ‘lion and wheel’ device (also known as ‘ferret and dartboard’) was adapted by BR for use as a transfer on carriages and locomotives.  This design  survived until the introduction of the BR twin arrows emblem.  Chrome finished BR crests used on some 1960s electrics are popular.

Photographed by Ingy The Wingy

TransPennine Express (leased from HSBC Rail (UK) Limited) Siemens class 185 ‘Desiro UK’ three car diesel-hydraulic multiple unit number 185114 of Ardwick TMD approaches Castleton East Junction signal box 36 signal (Down Main Home 3) forming the 12:22 Liverpool Lime Street to Middlesbrough (1E78) while Northern Rail (leased from Porterbrook Leasing Company Limited) former British Railways British Rail Engineering Limited class 150/2 ‘Sprinter’ two car diesel-hydraulic multiple unit number 150228 (52228, 57228) of Newton Heath TMD passes 59 signal (Up Main Home 2, with R57 Up Main I.B. Home 1 Distant below) forming the 11:54 Leeds to Manchester Victoria (2M16). Sunday 27th September 2009

– License

Having discussed the gates of London, I thought it would perhaps be fitting to discuss their Industrial Revolution equivalents – I refer to the railway termini.

These days, railways – underground, overground or Wombling free – are a vital part of London’s transport network. Look at the chaos that results when there’s a Tube strike, for example. But what’s less well appreciated in our everyday lives is how much life in the city was changed by the coming of the railways. For instance, the fish and chip shops? Not possible before the railways - fresh sea fish couldn’t be transported inland in time. National daily newspapers couldn’t exist until there was a means to transport them. Perishable goods like meat and milk could only be sold locally, often to the farmer’s loss. Suburbia didn’t exist in its modern form, because only the fairly well-off could afford to live more than walking distance from work (although what would have been considered “walking distance” in the early nineteenth century was considerably more than it would be today).

So the big railway stations of London are gateways to the city in two senses – firstly, they are the physical gateways. Indeed, if you want to get philosophical, the entire railway is a gateway. You step through the carriage door in one city and when you step out, you’re in a different city. I think Baudrillard said something along those lines. Him or Foucault, I always get those two confused. Wow, I must be the first blogger ever to admit not being familiar with philosophy. Har.

Back on topic. But in another sense, the railway termini are a gateway in time – they makr the boundary between the old city and the modern. I will start my little series with Victoria, not so much because it has any special significance as because I was there the other day.

The station was opened in 1860, built on the site occupied by a conveniently-abandoned canal basin. The western side of the station was run by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSC) and served the lines now running through Battersea Park, Balham and Crystal Palace.

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway coat of arms preserved on the viaduct at Battersea Park

The western side was owned by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). Of course, despite being built on basically unused land, the construction of a terminus in fashionable Belgravia did not come cheap, and there were strict and frankly bizarre regulations put in place by the landowners – the lines would have to run under a glass roof from the river to the station and the rails had to be underlaid with rubber to deaden noise.

Despite this, the men of the Companies didn’t feel the need to build a station in keeping with its surroundings, and both the LCDR and LBSC made their home in shabby wooden shacks, and it was only in 1908 that the LBSC completed the rebuild of their half of the station (seen above). Not very fitting for station that promised luxury services to the South Coast and the Channel ports, but frankly this attitude wasn’t unusual in the mid-nineteenth century – the need to drive a line into London outweighed any aesthetic considerations. Shortly after the LBSC began their rebuild, the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (a company formed out of the LCDR and the South Eastern Railway) decided they weren’t going to be shown up and did some rebuilding of their own. The completed building featured, according to Alan A. Jackson, “a maritime flavour bestowed by four mermaids contemplating their well-parted bosoms”. Yoy. Less racily, due to the proximity of Buckingham Palace, the rebuilt station featured luxury waiting room for Royalty.

Victoria Station famously plays a part in Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest. Indeed, it is mentioned in the most oft-quoted section of the play:

JACK: The late Mr Thomas Cardew, an old gentleman of a very charitable and kindly disposition, found me, and gave me the name of Worthing, because he happened to have a first-class ticket for Worthing in his pocket at the time. Worthing is a place in Sussex. It is a seaside resort.

LADY BRACKNELL: Where did the charitable gentleman who had a first-class ticket for this seaside resort find you?

JACK: (gravely) In a hand-bag.

LADY BRACKNELL: A hand-bag?

JACK: (very seriously) Yes, Lady Bracknell. I was in a hand-bag – a somewhat large, black leather hand-bag, with handles on it – an ordinary hand-bag, in fact

LADY BRACKNELL: In what locality did this Mr James, or Thomas, Cardew come across this ordinary hand-bag?

JACK: In the cloakroom at Victoria Station. It was given to him in mistake for his own.

LADY BRACKNELL: The cloakroom at Victoria Station?

JACK: Yes. The Brighton line.

LADY BRACKNELL: The line is immaterial, Mr Worthing. I confess I feel somewhat bewildered by what you have just told me. To be born, or at any rate bred, in a hand-bag, whether it had handles or not, seems to me to display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life that reminds one of the worst excesses of the French Revolution.

The stations were united in 1923, when the Southern Railway took over both the SECR and the LBSC.

As well as offering Royal trains (not that these were unique), Victoria gained a name for prestige, luxury trains. Boat trains – trains timed to meet ships in the Channel ports – were a mainstay of services. There was even, for a time, a Flying Boat Train. This sounds like the most awesome form of transport ever, but was in fact just a train timed to meet seaplane services at Southampton.

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway locomotive. I'm not joking. You think I'm joking? I'm not joking.

Slightly cooler was a plan to build a heliport on top of the station in the 1950s. Fortunately, due to concerns about traffic congestion in the area, this idea wasn’t carried out – let’s face it, given the standard of architecture in the 1950s and 60s, we wouldn’t have ended up with anything beautiful. However, 1962 saw the start of the Gatwick Airport service that continues to this day in the form of the Gatwick Express.

Which was why, in the 1960s, it was thought that Victoria, rather than Waterloo or St Pancras, would be the terminus of the Channel Tunnel rail link. There were also plans to run a line to Victoria from Heathrow, the idea being that by the time all this was complete, Victoria would be a world-class epicentre of travel in the West End. The Victoria Line, opened in 1967, was in part intended to take advantage of this. Alan A. Jackson, he of the contemplative bosoms, noted in 1969 that this development would be essential with “the pending arrival of high-capacity civilian aircraft (the so-called jumbo-jets)”. Ah, hindsight.

Incidentally, to end on a low-down note, British railways (like most around the world) are divided into signalling sections. When a train is in one section, another cannot be allowed into that section until it has moved on. Thus are accidents prevented. The first section out of Victoria ends at a place called Pouparts Junction, which is brilliant.

Incidentally

I talk a little more about this on My Other Blog – http://coarsescale.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/layout-ideas-victoria/

(Traducido de http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BR_Standard_Class_9F)

La Clase Standard 9F 2-10-0 de los British Railways es una clase de locomotoras de vapor diseñadas por Robert Riddles.

La Clase 9F fue la última de una serie de clases de locomotoras standarizadas diseñadas para el conjunto de los ferrocarriles británicos agrupados en los British Railways. Fue concebida durante la década de los 50, con el propósito de ser utilizadas en trenes rápidos de mercancías sobre largas distancias, y las máquinas resultantes terminaron componiendo  una de las clases de locomotoras con mayor potencia jamás construídas en el Reino Unido, cumpliendo satisfactoriamente con los requisitos para los que fueron diseñadas.

De forma habitual, durante los años 50, las 9F’s se destinaron también a conducir trenes de pasajeros con igual éxito, revelando la versatilidad del diseño, considerado en numerosas ocasiones el representante último de la evolución del diseño de locomotoras de vapor británicas. Diversas variantes fueron construidas con fines experimentales en un esfuerzo por reducir costos de explotación y mantenimiento, aunque éstas variante conocieron diversos niveles de éxito, y de fracaso.

El número total de unidades construidas fue de 251, con la producción compartida entre Swindon (53 uds.) y Crewe Works (198), siendo la última de ellas la nº92220, bautizada como ‘Evening Star’, la última locomotora de vapor en ser construida por los British Railways, en 1960.

El desmantelamiento de las integrantes de la clase comenzó en 1964, finalizando con las últimas unidades en servicio en 1967. Numerosas locomotoras de la serie han sido preservadas y han sobrevivido hasta nuestros días en diferentes  estados de conservación.

Antecedentes

La Comisión Británica de Transporte (BTC), creada durante la nacionalización de los ferrocarriles británicos tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial, estableció mediante la famosa ‘Transport Act’ de 1947, la propuesta de reemplazar en su totalidad la flota de locomotoras de vapor en uso, por unidades con tracción diesel o eléctrica. Sin embargo, la dirección de los British Railways, cuyo propósito era el de electrificar completamente la red de ferrocarriles, ignoró los designios de la BTC y puso en marcha la construcción de una nueva flota de locomotoras, compuesta por diseños standarizados para los diversos ferrocarriles que componían la red británica, como medida previa a la progresiva electrificación.

El transporte de mercancías ferroviario estaba bien avastecido en términos de tracción tras la nacionalización producida en 1948, con un notable número de locomotoras pesadas de carga, construídas con el propósito de servir a los esfuerzos bélicos por las diversas compañías que posteriormente conformaron los British Railways, y cuyo material fue ‘heredado’ por la compañía nacionalizada.

Los principales representantes de estas ‘bestias de carga’, consistían en 666 unidades de la clase 8F 2-8-0 de la LMS, y numerosas unidades diseñadas por R. Riddles y comunmente denominadas WD Austerity, 2-8-0’s o 2-10-0’s.

El principal impulsor de un nuevo diseño de locomotora para mercancías con gran potencia, fue el Director de la Eastern Region (correspondiente a la antigua LNER), L.P. Parker, cuya demanda establecía la necesidad de arrastrar cargas pesadas a velocidades elevadas, en viajes de ida y vuelta entre destinos alejados en tiempos comprendidos entre los turnos de 8 horas de la tripulación de las máquinas.

R. Riddles aceptó el desafío y comenzó diseñando una locomotora con una configuración de ejes 2-8-2, para establecer el diseño definitivo en una configuración 2-10-0, debido a la elevada tracción y relativa baja carga por eje que la configuración de 5 ejes acoplados proporcionaba, pero con la intención de mejorar las prestaciones en potencia efectiva y velocidad de los diseños anteriores con este tipo de tren de rodaje. El diseño resultante de esta 2-8-2 inicial se transformaría posteriormente en una de las locomotoras más eficientes jamás construidas por los diferentes ferricarriles británicos.

Construcción

La clase 9F fue introducida en 1954 en los BR, realizando su diseño en los talleres de Brighton. Se construyeron un total de 251 locomotoras, de las cuáles, 53 lo fueron en Swindom y 198 en Crewe, numeradas en conjunto en la serie 92000-92250.

La mayoría permanecieron en servicio solmente unos pocos años debido al desmantelamiento total de la tracción de vapor en las líneas principales de los BR durante los años 60. La última unidad de la serie fue construida en Swindow en 1960, con el número 92220 y bautizada como ‘Evening Star’. Esta locomotora constituía la noveciento-noventa-y-nueveava locomotora de vapor perteneciente a una clase standard, resultando ser la última locomotora de vapor construida para los BR. Para rememorar este hecho, la Western Region (antigua GWR) de los BR, puso en marcha un concurso para decidir un nombre apropiado, resultando ganador el ya mencionado y notablemente apropiado, ‘Evening Star’.

Clase 9F nº92220 'Evening Star' de los BR

Características Técnicas

La clase 9F fue diseñada en los talleres de Derby y Brighton, para satisfacer unos requisitos que suponían la capacidad de arrastrar trenes de carga de hasta 900 tons (914 Tm) a una velocidad media de 35 mph (56 km/h) con la mayor eficiencia en el consumo de combustible.

Las primeras propuestas consistían en adaptar la caldera de las ‘Britannias’ de la Clase 7 4-6-2 sobre una configuración 2-8-2, pero R. Riddles decidió posteriormente utilizar una configuración 2-10-0 puesto que locomotoras Austerity de la época de la IIGM, habían sido desarrolladas con notable éxito bajo esa configuración de ejes; de este modo, distribuyendo el peso y la adherencia sobre 5 ejes de tracción acoplados, se lograba una carga máxima por eje de 15 tons, 10 cwt (cwt es una unidad de masa británica que corresponde a algo menos de 51 kg.)

Sin embargo, las locomotoras con el tren de rodaje tan largo, presentaban numerosos problemas para su construcción. El mayor de todos era la necesidad de situar el hogar de la caldera en una posición más elevada, para salvar el último par de ruedas acopladas, por lo que el volumen de la ‘caja de fuego’ se veía reducido en consecuencia.

Para resolver este inconvenientes, así como el paso por curvas de radio reducido, fundamentalmente, se adoptaron diversos compromisos técnicos: el diámetro de las ruedas tractoras sería de 5 pies (1.5m aprox.), y aquellas empleadas en el ejes centrales, no dispondrían de pestañas, mientras que las situadas en los ejes 2 y 4 serían de menor profundidad, permitiendo a las locomotoras circular por curvas con un radio tan reducido como 400 pies (120m.).

Detalles operativos y preservación

Las 9F’s se convirtieron en el mejor de los diseños standard de los BR, y en una de las mejores clases de locomotoras de vapor jamás construidas en el Reino Unido en términos de su capacidad de arrastrar cargas pesadas sobre largas distancias. Fue una clase enormemente eficiente a la hora desempeñar las tareas para las que fue concebida, arrastrando trenes de mercancías pesados a gran velocidad, siendo utilizada a lo largo de toda la red de ferrocarriles británicos. Sus magníficas prestaciones quedaron sobradamente demostradas, cuando en 1983, la 9F nº92203 ‘Black Prince’, estableció el record del tren de mercancías más pesado jamás arrastrado por una locomotora de vapor en el Reino Unido, partiendo de un cantera de la compañía Foster Yeoman con un tren de 2.162 tons, situada en Somerset.

Las 9F’s trabajaron igualmente con trenes de pasajeros, adaptadas a velocidades más elevadas que con trenes de mercancías, a pesar de sus ‘pequeñas’ ruedas tractoras, siendo habituales durante una larga época en el ferrocarril de Somerset y Dorset, donde su potencia y alta adherencia les permitían adaptarse satisfactoriamente a las rampas del 2% en la zona de la línea conocida como ‘Bath extension’.

En una ocasión, una 9F fue destinada a conducir un tren expreso en lugar de las habituales ‘Pacific’ de la LNER, desde Grantham hasta King’s Cross. Uno de los pasajeros, aficionado a los ferrocarriles, cronometró el tiempo empleado en el viaje, y determinó que en dos partes del trayecto la locomotora había superado las 90mph.

El sufrido conductor fue posteriormente amonestado, puesto que sus órdenes consistían en llegar puntal a su destino, ‘¡no en romper la jodida barrera del sonido! (sic).  En su defensa, el maquinista argumento que la máquinan no disponía de velocímetro, y que la máquina iba tan bien a esa velocidad que simplemente se limitó a dejarla correr tan rápido como se sentía seguro.

Aquella no fue la única ocasión en que las 9F’s alcanzaron velocidades tan elevadas. Sin embargo, conscientes de que las elevadas velocidades de giro en las partes móviles de las máquinas podían causar un desgaste acusado de ruedas, ejes y engranajes, los responsables de los BR determinaron en poco tiempo el cese de la utilización de las 9F’s en trenes de pasajeros expresos.

La retirada de la clase del servicio diario comenzó en mayo de 1964, y se completó en Junio de 1968. Nueve 9F’s han sido preservadas hasta nuestros días, con la 92220 como parte de la ‘National Collection’ y otras ocho preservadas a raíz de adquisiciones directas de los BR o a través del desguace de Woodman Brothers, en el Sur de Gales.

WHERE IS THE SWANAGE STEAM RAILWAY?

It is to be found on the Isle of Purbeck that is in the South East corner of the beautiful County of Dorset.

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY OF THE SWANAGE STEAM RAILWAY

It first arrived in Swanage in 1885 and The London and South Western Railway Company operated it.

When Beeching was closing railways all over the country in 1963 – Swanage Steam Railway had a stay of execution.

But that was only temporary, because in January 1972 British Railways closed the line. Then they lifted all the tracks from Swanage to Corfe Castle and Furzebrook – all seven miles of it.

However in 1975 Swanage Railway Society were granted a licence to occupy the by then disused Swanage station site. Since then the dedicated volunteers have with great love and care, restored the railway to what you see today but the work is always ongoing.

Visitors to the Swanage Steam Railway can safely park their cars in a 300 space Warden attended parking lot in nearby Norden Park. There is a Park and Ride Facility from Norden Park.

It was on January 3rd 2002 – exactly 30 years to the day when the line was closed, the Swanage Railway laid their final panel of track to the buffer stop at Motala near Furzebrook.

Swanage Railway was officially recognised on Sunday September 8th 2002 when a four coach Virgin Voyager unit came down to the branch from the mainline to Swanage station.

Here it was officially named ‘Dorset Voyager’ by two longstanding volunteers of the Swanage Railway – also present was Chris Green, Chief Executive of Virgin Trains.

WHAT ARE THE AIMS OF THE SWANAGE RAILWAY?

• The restoration of the Rail Link between Swanage and Wareham and the re-establishment of a daily service to connect with main line trains.
• The creation of a comprehensive historical record of steam railways and steam technology in Southern England.
You can visit their website at www.swanagerailway.co.uk

DORSET WELCOMES YOU TO ITS PREMIER STANDARD GAUGE PRESERVED STEAM RAILWAY

The train currently runs on six miles of track between Swanage and Norden, passing through the beautiful Isle of Purbeck, passing the magnificent ruins of Corfe Castle.

WHEN DO THE TRAINS RUN?

Trains run over the full length of the Swanage Railway every weekend and Bank Holiday from mid February to the end of the year, and every day of the week from April to October.

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED

As the Swanage Railway is mostly run by volunteers – there is always a need for more willing hands.

EVENTS COMING UP SOON

Beer Festival and Grand Diesel Gala – Friday May 9th – Sunday May 11th 2008.

A feast of action with visiting locomotives and of course Real Ale.

Come on all you steam train enthusiasts.

For ticket enquiries:

Write to:

Reservations
Swanage Railway Co Ltd
Station House
Swanage
BH19 1HB

Tel: 01929 425800 (10.00 am – 4.00 pm, Monday to Friday)

Eva