Bridport stirs!

BRIDPORT

3 above 7.8.1973 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing

Bridport 25.2.1975 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing

POWERSTOCK

Powerstock 25.2.1975 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing

FACEBOOK - REVERSING BEECHING - BRIDPORT BRANCH

This was a lovely line that I was lucky enough to visit twice before closure (and once after). From the classic GWR junction station on the wonderful (and busier than ever) Weymouth to Castle Cary line at Maiden Newton it followed a very rural route through hills and valleys and via the classic village stations at Toller and Powerstock to a crumbling and overgrown station in Bridport.

It struggled on as late as 1975, but was closed completely in that year, one of the last major rail closures in the UK. A few more years and this would never have happened. There were a couple of half hearted attempts to get trains back to Bridport, both narrow gauge and only one looking at reopening the original route. Both schemes were well ahead of their time, espcially the Brit Valley Railway scheme which probably is STILL a few years ahead of its time, proposing a modern narrow gauge network including routes to Weymouth and Crewkerne. After the Oil Age has gone I'm sure that scheme will go ahead.

There are some (currently very tentative) aims to rebuild the line as a standard gauge heritage and community railway. There is very little if any encroachment on the line except at the extreme Bridport end and no major engineering issues. The line is in a very busy tourist area, and the town of Bridport could easily support a railway in the 21st century. With the potential reopening of the Weymouth Tramway and the incredible success of the Swanage Railway there is plenty to attract railway enthusiasts to the area, to add another layer of potential traffic to this line.

LINKS -

DISUSED RAILWAYS

BRITISH BRANCH LINES

WESTERN REGION SCENE - 1970s

DORSET TRANSPORT HISTORY 

Action at Weymouth Quay!

WEYMOUTH QUAY

(Weymouth Quay 33 118 14.8.1986 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING ROUTES - WEYMOUTH TRAMWAY

RAILFILE - WEYMOUTH

A big step forward for the restoration of the iconic Weymouth Tramway is to extend its current status as temporarily out of use. As well as the heritage project there is also the important need for all docks and harbours to be rail connected as quickly as possible, a process that is well underway elsewhere.

There is currently a petition to assure the line's status and to guarantee no further entrechment takes place - at the very least the physical tracks need protecting to speed up reinstatement. To all of us normal people this does seem pretty obvious LOL - but dinosaurs still roam the Earth in places.

The working of the petition is - 

'27 Jan 2016 — There is a meeting next week that will determine the future of the quay branch line. The 'Temporary Out of Use' tag has outdated and needs to be renewed or turned to Permanently Disused'. Thankfully we have been invited to bring a spokesman along to say protest why the rail trail must stay.

Could you all please send in messages and emails of why you think the tramway must stay. Hopefully some of these will make it into the speech. And as always please share as much as you can.

This is it people, this could determine the future of the tramway, even Weymouth. We must not give up. We must make this dream become reality, in the hands of the Weymouth Quay Heritage Campaign.

~James Newall

Petition here

Weymouth 25.10.1983

WEYMOUTH

(All pics 25.10.1983 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - 80s UK RAILSCENE

RAILFILE - WEYMOUTH

Weymouth was always a fascinating rail destination back in the 70s and 80s, with its ancient wooden buildings, the remains of its suburban network down to Portland, the disused miniature railway at Radipole Lake and, of course, the famous Weymouth Tramway, which saw mainline trains being hauled through the streets of the town.

Not long after I took these shots of the wooden station at Weymouth it was demolished and a smart station put in its place. Soon after the Tramway would fall into gradual disuse, though of course the track remains and the line looks like it will soon be running again, albeit as a heritage line.

In 1983 the main line was still diesel worked with class 33s pulling 4-TC sets, which continued to Waterloo from Bournemouth behind electric units. It was a smooth operation, all swept away with electrification. This line had of course been the last steam main line in the UK, with steam lasting until 9 July 1967. Weymouth's other route was the winding and scenic line through Dorchester West, up through Yeovil and on to Castle Cary, on its uppers in 1983 but now getting busier year on year.

I seemed to always be tired at Weymouth, it being just about the furthest place I could visit on a Southern Rover or Runabout Rover ticket - but every time I had a ticket I always found my way there!

an unusual closed railway ... or tramway?

WEYMOUTH TRAMWAY FACEBOOK GROUP

All taken 16.4.1986 copyright Steve Sainsbury

The Weymouth Tramway was a fascinating line that ran through the streets of Weymouth to the Channel Islands ferry station at Weymouth Quay. The line lost its freight services in the late 1960s but passenger trains continued for about another 15 years, which gave people the chance to see the incongrous sight of long trains running tramway style through Weymouth streets.

The line did close when the ferry service began to run down, but in 2014 the tracks are still in place throughout, and calls for the line to reopen as a tourist attraction are inevitably made. There must be a reason why the line has remained in place - perhaps by lifting the line Weymouth would be admitting to the world that it was just another seaside town with no unique features? A reopened tramway would of course bring in hordes of new visitors to the town and it does seem off that even today we are STILL waiting for this obvious tourist honeytrap to open!

It's not just the street running that is fascinating but also the riverside run, where trains used to brush past boats. It will become possibly the biggest tourist attraction along the south coast when the locals and businesspeople finally twig what a unique asset they have, sitting there just waiting to be used!

(Copyright Steve Sainsbury)

In happier times class 33 6533 heads a Waterloo train past the Esso garage on 7 August 1973. Whilst this scene may not be recreated, perhaps in 2020 a modern tram would be taking the same route?