Description and History
The Swanage Railway is a six mile-long heritage railway in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England. The railway follows the route of the purbeck branch line from Norden in Corfe Castle to Swanage, and is now connected to the mainline at Wareham along a stretch of the branch line that remained open to freight.
The branch was built in 1885 and closed in 1972 as part of the Beeching Axe of uneconomic railways. It was bought in 1975 by a group of local enthusiasts who formed a charity with the aim of relaying and reopening the railway both as a public transport link to Wareham, and as a museum of steam and railway technology.
In 1995 the railway reopened from Swanage to Corfe Castle, and on January 3 2002 the track was joined with the Furzebrook freight line and the purbeck branch line was once again complete, thirty years to the day after it was closed. On September 8 a brand new Virgin Trains Class 220 "Voyager" diesel multiple unit, no. 220018, became the first mainline train to use the new track when it made a special journey for a ceremony where it was named Dorset Voyager and began its first passenger journey. There are currently no regular timetabled trains to Wareham.
Locomotives
- Steam Locomotives
- BR 2-6-4T Class '4MT' nos. 80078 and 80104
- GWR 0-6-2T '5600' Class no. 6695
- LSWR 0-4-4T Class 'M7' no. 30053
- SR 4-6-0 Class 'S15' no. 30828
- SR 4-6-2 'West Country' Class no. 34028 "Eddystone"
- SR 4-6-2 'Battle of Britain' Class nos. 34070 "Manston" and 34072 "257 Squadron"
- SR 4-6-2 'Merchant Navy' Class no. 35027 "Port Line"
- Diesel Locomotives
- BR 0-6-0 Class 08 no. D3591
- BR 0-6-0 Class 14 no. D9521 - now moved to Vale of Glamorgan Railway
- BR Bo-Bo Class 20 no. D8188
- BR Bo-Bo Class 33 nos. D6515 and D6552
- Diesel Multiple Units