Welcome to the 'New Somerset and Dorset Railway'

The original Somerset and Dorset Railway closed very controversially in 1966. It is time that decision, made in a very different world, was reversed. We now have many councillors, MPs, businesses and individuals living along the line supporting us. Even the Ministry of Transport supports our general aim. The New S&D was formed in 2009 with the aim of rebuilding as much of the route as possible, at the very least the main line from Bath (Britain's only World Heritage City) to Bournemouth (our premier seaside resort); as well as the branches to Wells, Glastonbury and Wimborne. We will achieve this through a mix of lobbying, trackbed purchase and restoration of sections of the route as they become economically viable. With Climate Change, road congestion, capacity constraints on the railways and now Peak Oil firmly on the agenda we are pushing against an open door. We already own Midford just south of Bath, and are restoring Spetisbury under license from DCC, but this is just the start. There are other established groups restoring stations and line at Midsomer Norton and Shillingstone, and the fabulous narrow gauge line near Templevcombe, the Gartell Railway.

There are now FIVE sites being actively restored on the S&D and this blog will follow what goes on at all of them!
Midford - Midsomer Norton - Gartell - Shillingstone - Spetisbury


Our Aim:

Our aim is to use a mix of lobbying, strategic track-bed purchase, fundraising and encouragement and support of groups already preserving sections of the route, as well as working with local and national government, local people, countryside groups and railway enthusiasts (of all types!) To restore sections of the route as they become viable.
Whilst the New S&D will primarily be a modern passenger and freight railway offering state of the art trains and services, we will also restore the infrastructure to the highest standards and encourage steam working and steam specials over all sections of the route, as well as work very closely with existing heritage lines established on the route.

This blog contains my personal views. Anything said here does not necessarily represent the aims or views of any of the groups currently restoring, preserving or operating trains over the Somerset and Dorset Railway!

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

the new bund




Two shots of the protective works at the Silver Street end of the station. The sleeper barrier is now finished.



A couple of track panels have been removed to allow the sliding buffers to be constructed.




This is the stretch of road that needs to be protected from runaways. This will hopefully be a short-term measure - bridge replacement and the extension back to Radstock are now beginning to appear on the agenda!
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Any thoughts on what the new bridge will look like ? I hope it visually, from the station itself, looks the same as the original but longer, ie double track.

Toddingtonted said...

Wasn't the original bridge double track then? According to photographs on this site it certainly looked to be.

Steve Sainsbury said...

Yes, the original was double track (the whole line from Midford to just north of Templecombe was) and the new bridge may well be, depending on what we can find! But the line to Radstock will probably be single track as we've been working with a local group that wants a cyclepath alongside.

Cyclepaths do generate an excellent amount of passing trade (witness Bitton!) and provide a lot of opportunities for photography. In the past this bit of the route was the vilest with urban scenery and waste tips alongside, which is why it rarely appears in pictures!

The view from the high embankment over MN will be spectacular, and visible from two forms of sustainable transport.