midford - more precision surveying!

Some excellent information re Midford from Nick Howes.

Have discovered, from photos and stay anchor measurements that the 206 linear yard distance of the upper inner home bracket and consequent 5 push dummy in the 6 foot way is the c. pre 1933 measurement. Sometime in the 30s or 40s the upper inner home was moved some 20 yards south.

5 pull, wrong road arm on the platform is actually 47 linear yards from the box not 35.

49’3” 8 arch viaduct spans are the 1873 measurement. Encased in brick on doubling, reduced the spans to 48’10”, not corrected on the civil engineers returns.

Distance of wrong road arm/down home on long arch bridge is correct if you take the rodding run measurement, not the linear point to point measurement along the track as it snakes up the cutting face and over the top of the long arch bridge at 90 degrees.

concrete wall between the signalbox and station building is not original and about 5 feet further north than it used to be.

looking ahead - midford

Having done an intense 3 day photo and measuring study of every facet of Midford, I firmly believe this is room for a single track railway and cyclepath from north of Tucking Mill viaduct to Wellow Trekking Centre, excepting a diversion for cyclists before Midford goods yard, over Long Arch bridge and along Midford platform. Hope and Anchor patrons can park on the site of Midford B goods yard.

The formation between Long Arch bridge south portal cutting slope and Midford platform is 25 feet wide minimum, 15 feet for railway and 10 for slewed to edge of drop-off cycle path, with appropriate fencing and masonry.

Pway materials (30 feet flat bottom, sleepers and ballast) could be delivered to “A” goods yard and the crane / loading gauge, weighbridge and huts put back with 2 box vans.

Thanks to Nick Howes for this.

fantastic opportunity!

This is the approximate view from the garden overlooking the garden.

This from Nick Howes.

The station masters house behind Midsomer Norton stables is up for sale for £279,000 as he is moving to Cornwall.

This is a once in a generation opportunity for an enthusiast or board member to acquire an extra piece of land to help towards potentially safeguarding MSN. Please pass this email on to anyone you know who may have the capital for such an outlay.

midsomer norton then and now

One of my earliest digital pictures 3.7.2006 - I do have much earlier shots somewhere on film!

Brian Clarke has asked whether I could blog a series of before and after photos of Midsomer Norton station. I may be able to do a little along these lines, but Nick Howes has done a far better job already! Nick, with Shirley Steele, saved Midsomer Norton from development as a housing estate and was deeply involved with the project in the early years. He has some excellent early shots of Midsomer Norton before any real activity had taken place.

Take a look at his great early shots here.

superb site!

Nick Howes put me onto this superb website which as well as covering some unusual railway subjects also has some excellent social history type shots of towns and villages. You'll also find trams, trolleybuses and buses.

midsomer norton station demolished!!!

Who'd have thought it? Midsomer Norton station in the act of being demolished ...

Don't worry, this isn't the iconic S&D station but Midsomer Norton's other station which was on the Bristol to Frome line. This vandalism took place in 1970.

But this COULD have happened at the S&D station if Nick Howes and Shirley Steel hadn't saved the site for heritage use at the start of the 1990s. We owe them a huge amount of respect for having the foresight and energy to fight for the site, against seemingly impossible odds. It was this turning point for the S&D which partly inspired the New S&D.

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

that's the way to do it

This is the amazing restoration of Consall station on the North Staffordshire Railway.

Look at this carefully. Ignore the quality of the picture and this could have been taken 50 or 60 years ago. There are no anachronisms and none of that kitschy heritage mix and match of eras and sales outlets that sap all the atmosphere from a location.

This is EXACTLY how New S&D stations will look! As well as being easy on the eye they will be practical and built to last. Okay, when a (non heritage) train pulls into the station the illusion will be lost for a moment but this is a small price to pay. Whilst we'll hardly need to encourage passengers (expensive fuel and crumbling roads will do that) the fact that our stations will feel like real stations, will be staffed and have refreshment and other facilities, will make customers value the whole experience. There will be an excess of the feel good factor.

Thanks to Nick Howes for this. Sorry I couldn't print your comments re Ernest Marples. Whilst I share the sentiment this is, after all, a family blog site!

spetisbury again

Nick Howes joins Ian Harrington on the down platform.


Paul and Kate Beard look towards Bournemouth.


Kate Beard, Debby Sainsbury and Ian Harrington contemplate the task ahead ...


Overview of the station - impressively intact after 54 years of disuse.

The highlight of the weekend - in railway terms anyway - was the after-meeting trip to Spetisbury, which was a spur of the moment decision made after half the attendees had left!

We still need agreement from the council but it's highly likely that work parties will begin very soon, as we've already been given informal permission to do this. Remember we have a Spetisbury Facebook group where news will also be posted.

fantastic news!

We've been very lucky with our members, who have joined in their droves since we started just over a year ago.

Today two very special S&D people have joined the New S&D, Nick Howes and Ian Harrington. I worked with both of them at Midsomer Norton, in the days when I was more physical than cerebral, and their work on infrastructure was second to none. Now I don't expect either of them to get their hands dirty with the New S&D as they are key members down at Shillingstone, and have more than enough to do there, but both bring a wealth of knowledge and skills to the New S&D.

We all owe Nick Howes a huge debt - it was he who started the Midsomer Norton project when the site was threatened by housing development, and I don't think it's too over the top to say that there's a direct line from that event, through the Shillingstone revival to the setting up of the New S&D. Without him the S&D would be a dead trackbed.

talking point

The following is offered as a discussion paper - it's come from Nick Howes of Shillingstone. I've not amended it in any way and I'd appreciate everyone's views on every aspect of it!

For there to be any hope of a new railway age, the following points need to be grasped and action taken by the people of Britain:

Rail is a dirty word with public and council transport / planning bodies

Interfering from government bodies and ministers means– short term, political gain

Short term franchises - no incentive for long term planning or growth – old stock simply being replaced, numbers remain the same, overcrowding still rife. Instead of investing in new stock, fares go up to deliberately try and keep passenger numbers at bay with the seats available.

Wasted millions in rebranding rolling stock, uniforms etc

Total lack of bridge maintenance, limited ineffective vegetation management and weed killing, again hands tied by meddlers

Franchise bodies with a conflict of interests, often bus/coach companies stopping stations or services reopening because it goes against the other mode of transport or takes minutes off pathing, where a double or single track station stop would affect an express.

Cycle bodies, supposed guardians of trackbed being allowed to meddle with the trackbed or bridges for access and then the public up in arms when a railway path is proposed for rail reopening.

N.I.M.B.Y.S….. face it people, just don’t but a house near any disused or operating railway, diesel, electric or steam powered in the first place.

Conflict of interest - one half of network rail trying to undo the 40 year maintenance backlog and provide for growth, whilst another half of network rail has the remit of selling off every last currently unused or disused parcel of land for development, prohibiting physical growth of the network, stations or other buildings by the blocking of sidings going back in, single lines redoubled, double tracks re-quadrupled.

Engineering works - slewing of single tracks down the alignment of former double beds, signalling runs etc making expansion prohibitively difficult.

Switch and crossing and remodelling works often to the detriment of sidings, loops etc which don’t get replaced, are then ripped up and said land sold off, overgrown, fenced off etc, further decreasing capacity for passenger and freight, loco, coach or wagon stabling.

Consultants wasting millions telling the people on the ground how to do something, the result being that a good slice of a projects budget goes down the pan before any ground work is done, basically paying someone a lot of money to tell you a job will be too costly for the gain returned and that there isn’t the money; (simple don’t pay these consultants do the job and take on the risk in house! What risk? Any track reinstatement can only benefit everyone time and again!)

Mass early retirement and resignation of loyal railway staff over last 40 years being replaced by anti rail university boys with no interest in the job of running a railway service for the passengers of Britain.
The continued selling off of disused railway trackbed on the basis that it will never ever be used again and is just another brown field site to make a few bucks out of for infill, housing or industrial development. Backhanders to developers.

The insistence, that despite 65 years under investment and meddling, the notion that the railways should be made to pay for themselves as a commercial business and the insistence that the government subsidy should be reduced. This is the worst folly of all, how can the railway expand at all if the subsidy is planned to be gradually reduced? It can only sit still and go downhill even more.

The entire UK new road building programme must be stopped now and the entire multi billion fund ploughed back into restoring the entire railway network of 65 years ago and more, by compulsory purchase and massive investment, controlled purely by determined railwaymen with vision and drive to clean up the nation and get this country back on the move.

The age of the car and 44 ton lorry is over

Every village and town must be connected to the railway.

more shillingstone

(All 17.2.2009)

More info on the loco works at Shillingstone courtesy of Nick Howes.

[T]he engineering facility has been at the pinnacle of the Trust's plan for a least 4 years and will provide employment, pass on important engineering skills and show the public, who are fascinated by steam, how things are done. Not only locomotives, but carriages and wagons too. Once Morning Star and another loco go through the contract overhaul works then the locos and other stock that follows will start to build up a healthy fund for whatever direction the project decides to take in future. This sustainable long term vision has been recently endorsed by our colleagues at Midsomer Norton. As I said elsewhere what is eventually needed is shared membership, [o]ne quarterly magazine and shared stock, artefacts, skills, knowledge and staff between all the S&D projects, which are currently, Washford, Midford, Midsomer Norton, Masbury, Gartells, Shillingstone and Spetisbury.

shillingstone's future

This is Nick Howes' projection of the locomotive shed/workshop that will be built at Shillingstone. It will be used to generate funds for the rebuilding of this stretch of the S&D based around Shillingstone station, and is the key to the location operating successfully into the distant future.

It is nice to know that eventually locomotives will be brought in by rail rather than road, the ultimate indignity! It is good that people are thinking far ahead into the future and helping to transform purely 'heritage' set ups into something far more vital - businesses that will offer employment and employment opportunities particularly in rural areas. Our country's future will be built on small, sustainable business initiatives tapping into future needs.

There does seem to be a whole new vitality at Shillingstone these days. I'd like to think that's partly because of the New S&D, but I'm probably wrong! However that is one of the main purposes of the New S&D - to make new initiatives (like the Sturminster Rail Group) as well as the existing S&D set ups feel there is something bigger behind everything we do. I expect a lot more groups and initiatives to spring up along the line now we are all working towards the same objective.

a new S&D gets closer every day

I can never praise Midsomer Norton enough. They have been the inspiration for all further developments on the S&D, particularly Shillingstone and, to a greater extent, the New S&D.

Last night I had the privilege of meeting Nick Howes again after a break of a few years. Nick was the person who saved Midsomer Norton from developers, with the help of local councillor Shirley Steel. I used to work with him on the Midsomer Norton Monday track gang. Nick conveyed the news that Shillingstone were now prepared to publicly support the New S&D. It's taken over a year, but I think we needed to prove ourselves first. We could have floundered, like a few other S&D groups over the years, but in fact the New S&D has flourished in a way I never dared hoped for, and I feel we've now reached that tipping point where both the wider railway community and the local population along the route realise that what we're proposing is not only viable but essential.

Imagine the situation back in the early nineties when Nick surveyed the scene at Midsomer Norton. The building was in disrepair, the signalbox just a pile of stones in a hole, the gap between the platforms was filled in, the very top of the loading gauge stuck out of a pile of tons of rubble. Imagine what the locals and railway buffs thought of the plan! Fifteen years on Midsomer Norton is just about fully restored, an absolute gem of a station, and the line will start running trains again very soon.

On the same day as the excellent news from Shillingstone we have also been embraced by the Gartell Railway who want us to appear at their next S&D Gala event and I've now heard on the grapevine that purchase of Midford - which will almost certainly happen in April or early May - will swing Midsomer Norton over to us as well.

Once all the S&D groups can present this essential united front we can really start the job of bringing back this fantastic railway! 2010 is going to be an absolutely sensational year for the S&D!

wise words

Nice succinct comments from Nick Howes re yesterday's story about the new high speed link from London to the north.

a) air travel is a dying duck eg Heathrow spur and

b) the Great Central is sat there doing nothing (Berne gauge) and I’m sure that wont cost 30 billion to put back. Where do they get these inflated figures from?!

I suspect the figures are thrown about either to stop things happening or to get a huge budget!

The Great Central is such a valuable asset but at the moment its either used to shuttle a few commuter trains (Aylesbury southwards), to recreate BR in the 60s (Leicester-Loughborough - a fantastic line but still a waste as it doesn't run 'real' trains (yet!)) or, mainly, serves as a scar on the landscape that should be a vibrant and extremely busy route. It's ironic that in parts it runs alongside the M1, I can see the roles being reversed in a few decades time!

And as for connecting to Heathrow, what bloody future does even the most stupid politician think that white elephant will have?

The real issue here, and it's only been slightly touched on, is that construction of an entirely new route will cause even more destruction to our landscape. There are NO intermediate stations planned between Birmingham and London so how on earth do they plan to sell this to the communities en route? Even a motorway would have more value as it can be accessed! I don't disgree with High Speed Trains but I would still rather see existing and new routes serve the towns and villages in between BEFORE investment in High Speed Rail. There are still far too many towns and villages in Britain that are rail-less, large towns like Norton-Radstock, Glastonbury, Gosport, Ripon etc for example. Air travel is already losing ground rapidly to the existing rail network, we don't need to force this by building completely new rail routes, not yet at least. Imagine how many new rail miles could be built to the places that count for that £30 billion - probably around 500 miles. That's the whole S&D, Great Central, Waverley, Plymouth-Okehampton, Dumfries-Stranraer, Ilfracombe, Tiverton, Bude and a dozen other routes that should never have closed.

This brings up the whole secondary disaster that Beeching caused - the closing of thousands of small stations on routes that are STILL open. Most if not all of these could now be economically reopened, indeed many have, but don't they make it difficult!

If there's money like £30 billion out there for starting to get our railways up and running again let's use it to help everybody, not just every damn fool in London who wants to be in Birmingham in forty minutes!

new midsomer norton pics

(All above Steve Sainsbury 6.11.2009)

Check out these bang up to date photos of Midsomer Norton recently loaded by Nick Howes, spiritual founder of the S&D revival.

food for thought - south end

Suggested by Nick Howes - views from our southern members particularly welcome!

Suggest a rebuilt Spetisbury to be your southern starting point. If you could then re-bridge Louse Lane, you have the best kept length “70mph racing straight” with shared cyclepath and single line from Moorcourt Farm to Blandford St Mary.

it'll do for now ...

Info courtesy of Nick Howes.

Tangmere - London to Swanage.

Timings for the express (Waterloo-Swanage) on Parkstone Bank
Sat 2 May 2009 1155 down
Mon 4 May 1725 up

Not quite the S&D but very close and with the right sort of loco! And great to see that trains can now really run from Waterloo to Swanage again ... we're getting there!

new resource

An excellent photographic resource discovered by Nick Howes is the Bath in Time website which as well as having loads of classic rail images around Bath also covers other transportation including trams and canals.

lineside fact

Thanks to Nick Howes for the following -

Amazing pre Marples fact 1:

Did you know that in steam days there were 55,000 men on the pway and 50000 track miles (20000 route)

That means that one man had a mile of track, associated cess embankment, civil work to maintain each year

1 mile =5280 feet in 52 weeks
100 foot per week
That’s fifteen feet per man length per day.

No wonder our pway was so immaculate…………….