Bridport reawkening ...

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I do think it's time to start seriously looking at rebuilding this branch throughout from Maiden Newton to West Bay. Bridport is far too large not to be rail served, and the need will only increase in the future. This line always struck me as very rural (except in Bridport itself) which suggests there is little if any encroachment and the cost of purchasing the route would not be ridiculously high. As well as offering a full passenger and freight service it would surely make an excellent heritage style line as well. It is in a busy tourist area but the nearest steam line is a good hour away, so it's an open market. Bridport itself should provide plenty of volunteers. British seaside resorts are seeing a huge revival and West Bay would be an excellent terminus for this fantastic line. In 1975 even the Dorchester to Castle Cary route was a struggling single line, it now is much busier. It's this line's time!

 

toller interlude

(All copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing 25.2.1975)

FACEBOOK - REVERSING BEECHING - THE BRIDPORT BRANCH

Toller was a charming intermediate station on the Bridport branch, and was to close just a few months after these pictures. The Bridport branch was very rural throughout, but did serve the largish town of Bridport. It was perhaps surprising that a rural village like Toller could maintain a station in 1975, I can imagine how the loss of the railway has damaged house prices and will cause real problems in the future if the line is not reopened. But I'm now sure this will happen as being so rural it will be easy to rebuild and demand even now would be much higher than in 1975 which was just about the nadir of the railway system in the UK. Lines like this will be rebuilt in their hundreds as the oil starts to run out, using either flywheel electric transmission or new build ultra-modern steam. The golden age of railway braach lines is ahead, not behind, us!

The station building is now at Totnes (Littlehempston) station on the South Devon Railway, so is still in use.

More info (via Wikipedia)

Toller was a railway station on the Bridport Railway in the west of the English county of Dorset. The station served the village ofToller Porcorum. Opened on 31 March 1862, five years after the branch, it consisted of a single platform and modest wooden building.

History

Opened by the Bridport Railway, but operated from the outset by the Great Western Railway, it was placed in the Western Region when the railways were nationalised in 1948.

The branch was threatened with closure in the Beeching report, but narrow roads in the area, unsuitable for buses, kept it open until 5 May 1975. In its final years, trains were normally formed of a single carriage Class 121 diesel railcar.

The site today

The platform can still be seen from the overbridge although the building was moved to Littlehempston on the South Devon Railway, a heritage line.

rural dorset 1973

(All © Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing 7.8.1973)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - RAILS OF DORSET

 Four shots taken at Maiden Newton back in 1973. I'd visited here to travel on the Bridport branch (which will no doubt feature in future posts!) but the junction station itself was still a gem back then (and may well still be!)

The 'main' line is if course the Dorchester to Castle Cary route which had suffered some 'rationalisation' in the 60s, losing a lot of the intermediate stations and being single tracked. The line now is very busy and it can't be too long before double track is reinstated and hopefully some of the closed stations reopened. Whether the Bridport branch is reinstated is another matter. It is more likely that a wholly new route from Bridport will eventually be built to a junction somewhere on the (now buzzing!) Exeter to Salisbury main line, another route that suffered rationalisation in the 60s, much to everyone's regret now!

But back in 1973 railways were on the back foot, you could often be the only passenger on a train and much of the old steam-era infrastructure remained. The diesel units in these shots are also now ancient history, as are my brother's flares in picture 3!

More info (from Wikipedia)

Maiden Newton railway station is a railway station serving the village of Maiden Newton in Dorset, England. The station is located on the Heart of Wessex line between Castle Cary and Weymouth.

History  

The old signal box

Opened on 20 January 1857 by the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway with the section of their route from Yeovil Pen Mill to Weymouth. This completed their main line from Chippenham to Weymouth, the first part of which had opened in 1848. The railway was a part of the larger Great Western Railway which meant that through trains ran from London Paddington station.

The station consisted of two platforms with a flint station building and goods shed at the south end. A signal box was added later.

From 1857 to 1975 the station was the junction for the Bridport Railway and an extra bay platform was added at the north end of the station for these trains. This can still be seen at the west end of the station and this end of the trackbed is a footpath and cycleway.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Cattistock		Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway		Grimstone and Frampton
Terminus		Bridport Railway		Toller

Description 

Looking north

Although the signal box was closed during a rationalisation scheme, the station retains two platforms as it is a passing place on the single line between Dorchester and Yeovil. The entrance is on the northbound platform, the side closest to the village. Access to the southbound platform is normally by the footbridge but there is a level crossing at the south end of the station for passengers who are unable to use the bridge. The station building survives but is no longer used by the railway.

The electric key token instrument for the block section to Yeovil are now operated by the train crew under the supervision of the signal operator based at Yeovil Pen Mill. The block section to Dorchester West is operated under the 'tokenless single line' principle with track circuiting.

Services

The station is served by Great Western Railway. Services originate from Gloucester and Bristol Temple Meads (apart from one early morning service from Westbury) and are operated by Class 150, Class 153 or Class 158 diesel multiple units. Eight trains in each direction call Mondays to Saturdays and three each way on Sundays all year (plus two additional trains in the summer months).

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Chetnole		Great Western Railway Heart of Wessex Line		Dorchester West

Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03	22,133
2004/05	17,635
2005/06	18,252
2006/07	16,462
2007/08	17,600
2008/09	22,070
2009/10	22,680
2010/11	23,058
2011/12	19,652
2012/13	21,242
2013/14	20,258

an afternoon in dorset 1975

This was Maiden Newton, on the Dorchester to Castle Cary line, on 25 February 1975. It would still be, for another few months, a junction for the delightful Bridport branch. There was still plenty of railway infrastructure around, including the big cast concrete sign. I made a few trips here in the 70s, mainly to visit the Bridport line.