the bristol option

Above are 3 views of the former Bristol to Frome via Midsomer Norton and Radstock line. This section is currently an excellent footpath and cycleway. The bottom two views show the Five Arches, the S&D route ran over the top of this, and it shouldn't be too many years before trains are running over this section of the S&D again.

The Frome-Bristol line is really in four stages these days. The first section from Frome to Great Elm is still heavily used by freight trains, carrying stone. Beyond Great Elm towards Radstock the line is still in place but disused. This section should be restored by the North Somerset Railway. At Radstock itself the site was planned for redevelopment with a strip reserved for the railway to connect with the S&D coming up from Midsomer Norton. In the current financial climate it's highly unlikely that this redevelopment scheme will proceed as it is mainly for new housing. The section from Radstock to Midsomer Norton and just beyond is a cycleway/footpath. Beyond this the line is totally disused, though the station at Clutton is slowly being restored.


Clutton restoration.


Pensford Viaduct.

The Bristol to Radstock section closed in 1968 after the severe floods which undermined the viaduct at Pensford, although the viaduct still stands. At its northern end the line served Whitchurch, a busy suburb of Bristol these days, with dreadful traffic problems! Pensford itself is totally unsuitable for lorries and the road is often blocked for minutes at a time by large lorries trying to pass each other.


'Modern' transport - Pensford style!

The New S&D will look to this line to provide a link to the network at Bristol, rather than the far more difficult restoration between Bath Green Park and Bristol via Bitton. This would allow through trains from the north to leave the main network at Bristol, run down a restored Bristol to Radstock line, then take the main S&D route south to Bournemouth. This will not prejudice restoration of the iconic route to Bath Green Park as Bath is considered a worthy destination in any case! It may well be possible to link to the network somewhere in the Bath area, giving us a second outlet to the north. These developments assume an almost total end to road traffic, probably 20-25 years into the future.

Bristol-Radstock ex-GW line

bridging the gap

A shot along the up platform under the canopy. Trains from Radstock will enter this platform.



A closer view of the gap with the beginnings of the safety works in position. This is to protect Silver Street prior to the bridge being replaced.



The new bridge with be skewed across the road and on the northern (right hand) side will be about 100 metres from the point where the photo has been taken. This will mean that the road will only have to be lowered slightly to accomodate larger vehicles - if these still exist in 10 or 20 years time ...

Another bridge will need to be replaced on the main Midsomer Norton to Radstock road. There will be no height problems at all here as the line was high above the road.

A return to Radstock will allow us to properly restore Midsomer Norton station and station area to 1950s style and move the retail and some office functions down to a purpose built building alongside or close to a replica Radstock station. This will also alleviate some of the inevitable parking problems already experienced at Midsomer Norton - and of course set us up nicely for the eventual return to Bath.

probably the ideal spot for the new Radstock station

This is a scene from David Fisher's painting of Radstock 1960. Imagine 'Radstock Market' being replaced with 'Radstock Museum', today's mining museum in the town, and you can see the excellent opportunity for visiting both the new S&D and the museum on the same day! What could be easier? With regular trains south from Bath and north from Midsomer Norton and Shepton just imagine the high profile this fascinating museum will have in the future.

In the shorter term the new station at Radstock is likely to be situated to the right of the level crossing, and it may be that the new line will eventually cross the road on a bridge, but possibly by the time the line crosses the road cars and lorries will be a thing of the past.

can we recreate the past - and should we?

Part of what we're doing at Midsomer Norton is recreating the past, specifically the late 1950s. Look at the shot above - not only is it possible to recreate this scene, but we've almost done it. The main missing element is the greenhouse, but rebuilding it is going to be far easier than the signalbox - and that of course is nearly complete. This photo also conveniently ends just at the beginning of the slope of the up platform. Our line of course currently stops here! We have a mineral wagon and of course a Jinty visited us in 2005. The driver could almost be Geoff Akers leaning out!

But if the platform had had passengers on then we couldn't recreate them - the clothing, the stances, the attitude. And the new S&D will be nothing if not busy with passengers! And of course the 'train' here is doing a real job, it's not there just to be photographed.

For me the real authenticity of the new S&D will come when we're actually doing a real job of work and not just giving tourists and rail enthusiasts a three or four mile round trip into (delightful) countryside. When we're back at Radstock I can see Radstock people coming to the better range of shops in Midsomer Norton, and perhaps there'll be traffic going in the other direction - to Radco perhaps, or the Mining Museum. But look beyond Radstock towards Bath and suddenly whole new purposes for the line open up. We'll be taking people from Midsomer Norton, Radstock, Shoscombe, Wellow, Midford, perhaps even from a new station at Writhlington, to Bath - for work, shopping etc, not because they want to ride on the train but because we'll get them there far quicker than a car or bus would. And after Peak Oil the S&D will be the only way to get into town. And as we head southwards as well people from Shepton, Masbury, Binegar and Chilcompton will also have the option of getting to Bath quickly and efficiently - and stress-free. At the same time the tourists in Bath will have an excellent way of getting out to the hinterland - to the Mining Museum, to the Midford Valley, to the S&D Museum at Midsomer Norton, to Shepton. And there's freight as well, in both directions. And with wood-burning steam from managed forests being a genuinely sustainable system, because after Peak Oil there will soon come Peak Coal, it'll all be behind steam! Ironically Peak Coal and rising demand for lower-quality fuels once oil vanishes may even give us outward coal freight flows from a revived Somerset Coalfield!

So at the same time as we recreate the past - at least in part - we'll be building a modern (in the true sense of the word - sustainable and locally based) transport system.

waiting for the train at midford

The restored right of way across the viaduct at Midford, for now a nice walk or cycle ride into S&D countryside.



The platform at Midford. It may be twenty years or more before trains return here but as you can see the job of restoring track is going to be far easier than it was at Midsomer Norton! This will become a major shopping, commuter, tourist and freight route into Bath over the coming decades as oil runs out. The route is already protected for sustainable transport between Midsomer Norton and Bath. Now to do the job ...

go north!

More stirrings on the S&D - it's a job keeping on top of them all! The Six Arches project aims to finally build the cycleway between Radstock and Midsomer Norton, which will involve reinstatement of the Somervale Road bridge. Obviously it wll be easiest for us to make this a rail bridge (with space for a cycleway) right from the start, so we're working closely with the group. It will mean a large financial input from the Trust to cover the marginal additional cost of a larger rail/cycle bridge over an exclusively cycle bridge.

There is also now talk of building a second bridge over the Bath road at Radstock to counter any possible objections to reinstatement of the notorious level crossing. This will leave us poised in Radstock to begin reconstructing the unobstructed (and transport-corridor protected) route back to Bath which is the real key to S&D success over the next 20 to 30 years, as well as giving us a possible link back to the Frome line. Radstock is going to be transformed over the coming decades into a real railway town again, possibly with the Bristol line reinstated as well.

The sustainable transport system of the future in a post-oil world will depend on two principle forms of transport - rail (including tramways, ultra-light rail, light rail) and cycling (with walking and horseriding complementing this). So all transport planning from now on will need to prioritise these modes, roads will fall into disuse (for energy requiring vehicles) in tandem with this shift. Inevitably more production will become localised as globalisation falters with the end of the oil age, requiring efficient transport systems serving local communities. The S&D and cycleways close to the route will provide this, giving us a head start over areas that still nostalgically cling to the road system. We'll be working very closely with cycling organisations to ensure this happens.

Reinstatement of the Radstock-Bath route will be the single biggest adventure the Trust undertakes in the 21st century, providing a classic commuter route into Bath as well as tapping into the tourist traffic in Bath and bringing them out into the hinterland. Bath Green Park will become the head office of the route as well as a showpiece Georgian style station, giving us an unbeatable presence in the city. The route will also allow visitors to see the classic S&D countryside through Midford and Wellow in the best way possible - through the windows of a train!

back to bath green park

Try to get along to Bath Green Park tomorrow (19 November 2006) for the Model and Collectors' Fair between 10 and 4.

Chair John Baxter will be there to answer your questions and sell you books, DVDs etc.

It's nice being back at BGP again, it may be another thirty (or even forty) years before we can return triumphantly by train, but in the meantime it's good to see that this magnificent station is re-establishing its links with the S&D ...

The key to really establishing the S&D as Britain's premier steam railway is a rapid return to Bath and the rebuilding of the finest section of railway in England - Radstock to Bath. That time is now approaching.

what it's all about

Sometimes when things get on top of us (which happens even here at Midsomer Norton) it's worth stepping back a bit and remembering what this is all about! It's not about restoring a dozen miles of single track, running industrial locos, turning old stations into retail centres or running trains full of mixed-liveried vehicles full of people on a short trip from nowhere to nowhere.

It's about the above. Bringing back the S&D as a working steam railway through the best scenery in England. It's about restoring the iconic scenes we all remember either directly or through the work of those lucky photographers in the 50s and 60s, it's about running long double-headed steam trains over Midford Viaduct, it's about waiting for the train in front of a roaring fire at Midsomer Norton on a snowy evening, it's about the rebuilding of Evercreech Junction and Prestleigh viaduct, it's about running a two-coach branch train in the shadow of Glastonbury Tor; post-Peak Oil it's about allowing people to still move about, about bringing thousands of people daily to Bournemouth to the seaside or to Bath for the city sights. And it's about all the places in between, still suffering from the unneccesary removal of their railway.

It's going to be a long drag and it'll be hard at times, but we'll prevail. And that's why we're doing this! To restore England's finest railway so that we and our children and their children can enjoy what our parents and grandparents did. It's as simple as that. We're Bringing Back Our Trains.

the ghost of beeching

What's this? Tracklifting on the S&D in 1968? Beeching come back to haunt us?

No. Tracklifting is a thing of the past and Doctor Beeching is where he belongs - fossilised in a past that's now as alien as his ideas on transport!

No, this is preparation work for the safety works at the Silver Street end of the station. The track gang doesn't know whether it's coming or going these days with major works at both ends of the line.

Good to see that the local authorities are finally getting their Peak Oil hats on and realising the value of the Midsomer Norton to Bath Green Park section of the route. Restoration may be many years away yet, but at least we can be assured that the job will not be made harder by idiotic development along the route!

Nice also to see that the Bristol-Frome line is coming to life again at Clutton. This is another route (particularly between Radstock and Bristol) that will HAVE to be restored in a post Peak Oil world.

norton-radstock cries out for trains!

This was the scene on the main Midsomer Norton to Radstock road this morning!



And all because this lorry decided to park.


Any of us who is unfortunate to have to use roads regularly know they simply don't work. They were made for a different age and their time is almost over.

We need to start switching most if not all freight to the railways over the next decade or so. This will help preserve energy supplies and improve the urban and rural environment. Road space should free up a little, particularly when petrol prices really begin to soar. But at the end of the day what everybody will soon be clamouring for is new railways and tramways.

Radstock and Midsomer Norton have a joint population of over 25,000. Even without Peak Oil this is a ludicrously large area to be without proper public transport. Although what we are doing at Midsomer Norton won't be serving a genuine transport purpose (at least until we reach Chilcompton proper) we need to be aware that the switch in emphasis towards Radstock will begin to see the creation of a genuine new transport route. I'm sure that as soon as we triumphantly return to Radstock all the talk will be of returning to Bath. Midsomer Norton to Bath will be an essential transport link, my biggest fear is that line capacity (particularly once we're carrying freight) will soon be all taken up and we may even need to consider a second route to Bath (via Limpley Stoke and the old Camerton line at Midford) thanks to the near impossibility of doubling between Midford and Bath.

radstock revisited ...

Four more shots of the trackbed between Midsomer Norton and Radstock, likely to be part 2 of the reinstatement of the S&D in this area (after Midsomer Norton - Chilcompton Tunnel and before Chilcompton Tunnel - Chilcompton Station).

The trackbed is surprisingly clear and runs through attractive scenery the whole way with open views across the hills. Two bridges will need to be replaced.

Once Radstock is reached serious consideration can be given to the reinstatement of the line to Bath as both a public and tourist railway, which is likely to become one of the most important tourist attractions in the whole south west as well as a leading member of the 'premier league' of UK private railways.

looking ahead - july 13 2016

(Photo - Ivo Peters, 1956)

Will this be the view from the pill box of Midsomer Norton South in 2016? We like to think so! Already most of the infrastructure is in place, although sourcing an impressive train like the one above may be a bit harder!

So where do we realistically think we'll be in ten years time? Probably running from a new station in Radstock, through Midsomer Norton and on to the site of the original Chilcompton station. Probably with a stock of about five steam engines, ranging from the Sentinel to a tender engine. Elsewhere sections of land will be owned by us on the stretch south to Shepton, with initial preparation work on some of the station sites south of Chilcompton. Perhaps Binegar signalbox rebuilt ready for trains in about 2020?

North of Radstock preparation work on the Bath extension should be well under way, working closely with BANES, the national government, Sustrans and other interested parties, for the Bath line will be primarily a transport route. Petrol will probably be around £3 a litre, with shortages commonplace. There will be a scramble for new railway lines to be rebuilt as quickly as possible, but we will need to keep a cool head in order to build the S&D WE want, not a cheap and cheerless utilitarian route foisted on us by a desperate government!

Elsewhere on the route hopefully Shillingstone will be laying track towards Blandford, as the route north from Bournemouth becomes a vital transport corridor, linking Blandford, Wimborne and Ringwood to the network.

Of course things may move much faster than I forecast! Watch this space ...