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, July 20, 2011

S&D booklist



Nick Howes has produced the following booklist of all books published with the S&D as the main or incidental subject. This is a work in progress and any other titles can be added to this list. Please email details to leysiner@aol.com

53808 a somerset and dorset engine
a souvenir of evening star
all about midsomer norton
bath to bristol
bath to evercreech
bournemouth to evercreech
branch lines of somerset
bristol and bath railways
britains railways in colour br steam in the 1950 and 60s
british railway centres no 3 - bath green park
burnham to evercreech
colour of steam - somerset and dorset line
district controllers view 4 bath to bournemouth in the 1950s
district controllers view 5 - somerset and dorset railway summer Saturday 1957
donald beales somerset and dorset
double headed more tales from the footplate
down memory lane
golden age of steam - locomotives of the great western and somerset and dorset railways
gw pryer somerset and dorset
heart of the somerset and dorset
heyday of the somerset and dorset
highbridge in its heyday
historical survey of the somerset and dorset railway
history of the somerset and dorset wimborne to blandford - for bailey gate
images of bristol somerset and dorset railways
ivo peters classic steam
jinty
last days of steam in bristol and somerset
last years of the somerset and dorset
legend of the somerset and dorset
life of a steam railway photographer alan newman maggs
life on the railway
life on the somerset and dorset
lines on an s&d branch
london midland steam twilight
lost railways of somerset
mangotsfield to bath branch
mangotsfield to bath branch
maritime activities of the somerset and dorset railway
mendips engineman
midland railway system maps 4
on somerset and dorset lines
organised chaos
picture history of the somerset and dorset railway
ra cooke somerset and dorset
radstock coal and steam 1
radstock coal and steam 2
railways into wells
railways of bristol and somerset
railways of bristol and somerset martin smith
reminisces of the somerset and dorset
right away with the pines
s&d booklist
s&d memories
sabotaged and defeated
sabotaged and defeated revisted
somerset - british railways past and present
somerset and dorset - aftermath of the beeching axe
somerset and dorset an english cross country railway
somerset and dorset at midford
somerset and dorset engineman f e stickley
somerset and dorset files 1
somerset and dorset files 2
somerset and dorset files 3
somerset and dorset files 4
somerset and dorset files 5
somerset and dorset files 6
somerset and dorset in colour
somerset and dorset in the fifties vol 1 1950-1954
somerset and dorset in the fifties vol 2 1955-1959
somerset and dorset in the sixties vol 1 1960-1962
somerset and dorset in the sixties vol 2 1963-1966
somerset and dorset joint 1852-1948
somerset and dorset joint railway locomotives and rolling stock registers 1886 1930
somerset and dorset life on the bath to bournemouth line 2 eds
somerset and dorset line - british railway pictorial
somerset and dorset railway - opening of the bath extension 1874
somerset and dorset railway 1935 1966
somerset and dorset railway a view from the past
somerset and dorset railway atthill
somerset and dorset railway barrie and clinker
somerset and dorset railway in public archives
somerset and dorset remembered 1 bath the evercreech
somerset and dorset remembered 2 evercreech to bouremouth and branches
somerset and dorset steam finale
somerset and dorset sunset
somerset and dorset then and now 1986
somerset and dorset then and now 1995
somerset railway stations
somerset railways
somerset railways
somerset railways - britains railways in old photos
somerset steam
somewhere along the line - 50 years love of trains
southbound with the pines
southern way special issue 4 - southern colour to the west, dorset somerset devon and cornwall
spirit of the somerset and dorset
splendour of the somerset and dorset
steam - tales from the footplate
steam around bath
steam in somerset
steam on the somerset and dorset
stories of the somerset and dorset
tales of somerset steam
wiltshire and somerset - a railway landscape
working somerset and dorset steam
working timetables of the somerset and dorset railway 1921 and 1930
working timetables of the somerset and dorset railway june 5th 1950

4 comments:

Brian said...

The S&D booklist is a good idea I reckon. Perhaps it might work best if prominently displayed as part of fixed pages content as blog content becomes less visible after a while. Thats if it can be kept updated so when anyone finds an S&D book (like skulking in a box being sorted) it can quickly be established if wants adding to the list, or is already there.

Sales could be boosted by basic info on current availability or if its out of print. People are often too busy or otherwise not motivated to go trawling through Amazon etc, so if a second-hand sourcing service was offered (without commitment) on specified "not available new" titles that also might generate sales. How about talking with Simon about his Titfield bookshop stock, to see if any scope for co-operation thereby avoiding stock duplication ?

Bozo just thinking aloud, knock down all ideas if they are pants !

Anonymous said...

A comprehensive list.

Now, what about Authors and Publishers

Steve Sainsbury said...

Already working on it! This will become a feature on the website with links to the ecommerce site for both new and secondhand copies. One new title's already been listed.

Anonymous said...

There is another for your list: The Somerset & Dorset Railway by Robin Atthill (first published 1967)