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!

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

gartell this weekend


Gartell Light Railway are holding their eighth Model Railway exhibition at their station near Templecombe this coming weekend. Even if you are not interested in model railways perhaps you would like a day out with a difference, or perhaps you are looking to start a new hobby? We have maintained the same admission price yet again, (£4 and £3) and we expect up to ten layouts as well as trade stands, and also we aim to have a train service on the GLR (although we will not be running over the 'new' line, as we are only granted 'occasional use' over the new level crossing at the moment) Please note there will be a small extra charge for train rides.

See our web-site and Facebook page, we're easy to find just South of Templecombe, and if you have satnav, just put in BA8 0NB and we'll see you there.

Please be kind enough to forward this email to everyone in your address book and get them to do the same, and then same again - and we should have about six million people turn up!


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's probably not a good idea to say "We" at the beginning of this post, as it makes it look as if New S&D are organising the event, rather than the Gartell Railway. When quoting someone, paraphrase instead of copy/pasting verbatim, and use [...] to indicate editorial changes.

Steve Sainsbury said...

I just cut and pasted as I always do with this sort of item that's sent to me, but I can see the problem and have altered it accordingly! It does give me the chance to reiterate that this is a site for ALL the S&D groups but there's still a mix of New S&D and other blurbs around the site so there is potential for misunderstandings! One day, who knows, I may get a spare hour to do something about it LOL!

Steve Sainsbury said...

Or course I've forgotten almost everything I learned at Bath Spa on my MA course (even the basics!), hopefully my dangerous tutor Mimi Thebo isn't following this post. And don't you dare tell her!