Steam at Shepton

SHEPTON MALLET CHARLTON ROAD

(All copyright 31.8.2009 Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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A really special treat back in 2009 was the opportunity to travel by train and behind steam over Charlton Road viaduct in Shepton Mallet. This is one of the most spectacular pieces of infrastructure on the line, and normally it is not even possible to walk across it as it is gated at both ends.

As part of the Kilver Court Gardens Open Day a 7¼" gauge miniature railway was laid across the viaduct and, for just a day, you could recapture, in a small way, the thrill of crossing this magnificent structure.

Hopefully in the future similar set ups can be created up and down the line to celebrate events! (Prior to the line being reopened for standard gauge trains of course!)

midford on thursday

 

Midford int he rain - looking good!

 

Looking towards Wellow - and car access on site at last!

 

H&S!

 

Mick getting ready ...

 

Posing with chainsaw

 

The rain at its heaviest!

 

MIDFORD FACEBOOK GROUP

 

Reward - butchers sausages cooked on the still smouldering embers from Tuesday!

 

 

A REALLY good day at Midford last Thursday, tree clearing again. Mick Knox was down from Milton Keynes with his chain saw, local boy Tom also brought his!

It was rainy and quite gloomy when we arrived but within a couple of hours enough trees had come down to let the light in.

Our neighbour Pat also turned up and we discussed the remedial work on the concrete facing of the embankment that abuts his house down below us.

Stuart, lacking a chainsaw of his own, cooked some sausages for the chainsaw boys!

To me this is always the best part of rail restoration, the hands on stuff out in the open. Meetings and office work leave me cold, even though that takes about 95% of my New S&D time.

There's a real buzz all along the route now, with Masbury very close, new local groups forming in Shepton Mallet, Evercreech and Whitchurch, Shillingstone going great guns and a real feeling that the whole route is stirring at last.

We are now planning to launch the Midford Appeal in 2014, with the aim of raising the funds to rebuild the station and oil store, which will transform the site.

shepton by pass

(Courtesy SDRHT via Telegraph 30)

 

 

One of the issues that often comes up is along the lines of 'what will you do where there are houses/factories etc blocking the route?' It's not as big a deal as some people think, because there are various ways of addressing this. The actual choice will be based on a number of factors including cost, practicality, engineering issues and public relations.

One way is to use CPOs (compulsory purchase orders) to purchase blocking properties. A second way would be to bridge/tunnel. A third way would be to utilise street running, though this may be a little radical for some!

But I suspect that often the option will be a by-pass. The above map was drawn to show how this would work at Shepton Mallet. Actually seeing it on paper shows  that there can be other advantages to by-passing, at Shepton for example the station set up can be rationalised, a joint station would be accessed by both the S&D and East Somerset lines. This is cheaper and also handier. The above map also includes a Parkway station, though I suspect that by the time this becomes reality there will be few cars still on the roads!

So the principals established can (and will) apply to anywhere on the S&D and of course on the wider network. The old excuse of 'there's a house/building/car park/tree in the way can be ignored!

climate change proofing

I doubt there's a person left on the planet who doesn't now accept that climate change is not only happening but that it is far worse than even the biggest pessimists forecast.

As well as railways I've a keen interest in the weather so not totally without knowledge, and it's pretty clear to me that this year's extreme rainfall events are very abnormal, not so much in their intensity but in their frequency. Here in Bristol in 2012 we've had FIVE 'month's worth of a rain in a day' events with rainfall well over 50mm, one of which (yesterday) was over 60mm and another over 70mm. In the UK as a whole we've had about twelve of these events. We'd normally expect one or two a year.

There is now a whole new groundswell that Peak Oil won't save us from Climate Change, that it's simply too late. I'm beginning to agree with that, which is a HUGE turnround for me! We can't stop Climate Change but we can adapt to it.

This week's events have caused massive problems for the Network, especially around Exeter. The section where the Barnstaple (and future Ilfracombe, Bude, Torrington, North Cornwall and Plymouth) services leave the GWR main line has been particularly badly hit, yet this happens regularly. Some commentators have suggested that the lines may not reopen for THREE WEEKS! Unfortunately the alternative route (that Beeching would have loved to have closed!) via Salisbury has also suffered from flooding, though not as severe. In effect the whole of Devon and Cornwall are cut off.

Yet surely the solution, at least at Exeter, is simple? Why not just rebuild the routes around the junction on a low viaduct, so that the water just flows under them and also safely off the track, which could be mounted onto steel girders? Even a modern diesel train can run through a few feet of water, if the driver can be sure there's no washed out ballast etc.

My point is that we are going to rely 100% on our railways to get around and move freight in the future. Flood spots are well known, as are those sections prone to blizzards, drifting and high winds. We'll also need to allow for greater expansion as heatwaves become more common.

As for the S&D we have two major problem sections - the climb over the Mendips (Shepton has always been notorious for snow!) and the Burnham branch, which lies on the Somerset Levels. In both cases these routes will need to be totally weatherproofed so the line can stay open no matter what the weather.

The same policy needs to be adopted by the entire Network. Where the S&D leads the rest should follow ...

time to end trackbed trespass

Housing plan on old railway land is turned down over lane safety worries

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Shepton Mallet Journal

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A controversial scheme to build 10 homes on former railway land at the end of Shepton Mallet’s narrow Hitchen Lane has been thrown out by Mendip’s Planning Board after fierce objections from the town council and residents.

Now a call has been made for a proper development brief to be drawn up for the whole area stretching between the Townsend Retail Park and the Ridgeway Estate along what was the former Wells to Shepton railway track.

More than 50 people packed into the meeting last week to hear the outcome of the scheme put forward by Mr G Taylor and Ms T Follett which attracted 43 letters of objections and a petition signed by 134 people.

Shepton Mallet Town Council had recommended refusal on the grounds of highway safety, inadequate sewerage arrangements and the possible obstruction to the Strawberry Line East Project – the proposed multi user path along the disused railway line running through the site.

Other concerns voiced at the meeting ranged from the area being a breeding ground for protected slowworms to flooding fears, loss of trees, loss of play space and allegations of contaminated land.

But the biggest concerns voiced were about the safety to pedestrians and queries about how the narrow Hitchen Lane, which has no pavement, could possibly cope with any increased two way traffic.

The resident’s arguments about the plans for five pairs of semi-detached houses were aired forcibly by their spokesman Graham Brown. Mr Brown lives in the narrow Hitchen Lane which leads to the site – and is also Shepton Town Council’s clerk as well as the town’s fire chief.

To huge applause from residents he urged the planning board to refuse the application on highways safety grounds and on the grounds that the scheme was unacceptable piecemeal development.

But despite the huge concerns about highway safety planning officer Laura McKay said that Somerset County Council highway’s department had raised no objections to the scheme at all.

And applicant Paul Kenny said passing places for vehicles would be created at strategic points along the lane.

Shepton’s town, district and county councillor John Parham said there was a desperate need for more housing in Shepton Mallet. But he said that whole area needed to be looked at as a whole not just one small part and a different access via Station Road would be far more sensible and safe.

Having the narrow carriageway of Hitchen Lane being shared by pedestrians and traffic was he warned: “An accident waiting to happen.”

He said: “Hitchen Lane is barely acceptable now for its users.”

And Councillor Nigel Taylor said they did not want to be part of any decision that “could result in a child’s death.”

Councillor Peter Bradshaw said when he walked up the lane he had to jump into the hedge to avoid a passing vehicle.

The plans were refused unanimously by the planning board on safety grounds because of the highway dangers. And councillors agreed that it was time that a proper planning brief should be drawn up for the preferred development they would like to see for that whole area rather than one small part of it.

It does seem amazing that in 2012 there are STILL some idiots out there who seriously propose new trackbed trespasses that can only end in tears when the Cheddar Valley line is inevitably put back in.

It really does make you wonder if they are just stupid or simply too cut off from reality to realise what they are doing. In this case safety issues were brought into play, but surely it's now time for the government to boldly and simply state - as they have for the S&D - NO more trackbed trespass.

snow

(Copyright Dave Clark  Winter 2010)

Thought this might be an appropriate pic this morning with snow in the forecast! The S&D of course was quite familar with snow, especially on the Mendips section around Shepton Mallet, where the roads still come to a standstill whenever a few flakes fall. The S&D was and will be made of sterner stuff, though even the railway was blocked in 1947 and 1963.

spot on

After a barrage of increasingly daft posts from Compulsory Purchase Boy tearing into the S&D and all the people working to bring it back (posted on to the CPB blog which is now a resource and tool for psychologists and mental health care professionals) it's very heartening to get a comment like this which is absolutely spot on!

Good to see extensions being built, this is a line I have yet to visit and wish to do so however I will do so after the extension is opened. Yesterday I visited the station site at Shillingstone whilst on the way home to Cornwall and was very heartened to see what the volunteers have achieved. Excellent effort all round. Well done to all. Whilst standing on the old down platform I had very pleasent chat with a local lady out walking her dog and asked her if she could remember the line before it closed and she said it would be lovely to see the trains return. I look forward to seeing miles of track laid and trains running one day. I have also just joined the SDHT and have enjoyed their excellent Telegraph Magazine.

Highest price of diesel seen so far £1.54.9 litre at Exeter services, thankfully I had filled up my car back on Monday before the stupidity of certain ministers came to the fore. I personally believe that boy racers etc days are numbered and indeed I was reading the latest edition of Railnews that my mother recieves (Late father worked for Southern Railway and BRSR) and was very heartened to read of the number of youngsters who are taking up railcards. The percentage increases are quite staggering when I consider that BR was considered to be old fashioned and railways were a thing of the past. The late Sir John Betejeman visited the S & D in March 1963 and he stated on his film that railways were not a thing of the past (the film is a video now return to Evercreech Junction and is very enjoyable. I also believe we need our railways back as the rebuilding of them plus maintenance and running them will give good work to young people and hopefully start to end the appalling rundown of our society. Beeching killed more than railways, he killed a way of life for many and prosperity for many.

Peak oil is here, we need to say goodbye to our love affair with oil and bring back the tried and trusted methods of those previous generations who built this country of ours-The S&D bought prosperity to many, it can do so again and will.

avoiding project drift

It should sometimes be restated - the New S&D is committed to restoring the WHOLE S&D, not just Bournemouth to Bath but also the branches, plus the Bristol-Pensford-Radstock and Bailey Gate-Wimborne-Ringwood lines, plus the Ringwood to Brockenhurst line if not already restored by the Network when we reach Ringwood.

This doesn't mean that a few hundred mainly railway enthusiasts are going to raise the 1-2 billion pounds needed to restore these routes, rebuild the infrastructure and provide the locos and rolling stock. It doesn't mean that some time in the next five to ten years we will be running trains to all these destinations.

What it does mean is that constitutionally we exist to promote the S&D in its entirety, will encourage and support other groups restoring sections of the route (as at Shillingstone, Midsomer Norton and Gartell), will purchase sections of trackbed etc as they become available to protect them for railway use in perpetuity, and operate sections of the route as they become economocally viable. Full reinstatement may well be by the network, by a consortium of businesses or by emergency government decree. Or we may be so sharp that we manage to do this by ourselves by raising the money on the stock exchange and/or through local and regional share issues.

Whilst discussion about restoring tiny sections for narrow gauge etc are welcome we need to avoid project drift. We need to always state what we are about, and always keep our eyes on the bigger picture.

Whilst I doubt anyone would question the need for and viability of the Midsomer Norton/Shepton to Bath and Blandford-Poole sections we need to remember that the S&D is a network, not two branches, and that we'll have far greater flexibility (and profitability) as a through route with additional connections to the Network wherever we pass by it ie at Templecombe, Bruton etc.

Whilst local passenger and freight traffic will be the lifeblood of the route we also expect that much traffic will originate and/or terminate away from our metals. This is pretty much the same situation as the old S&D but of course the New S&D will, eventually, be far busier than the Old S&D was, even on summer Saturdays in the 1950s.

fawley revival

(All copyright Steve Sainsbury - 22.3.1975)

The return of passenger trains to a freight-only branch line in Hampshire has moved a step closer. A viability study for the re-introduction of services to Hythe has been approved by Hampshire County Council.

Following completion of a Grip2 study, which established a business case for using the line beside Southampton Water, the council will undertake a technical study to identify the infrastructure that would be needed, calculate passenger demand and assess how it could be funded. The line would serve Totton, Hounsdown, Marchwood and Hythe.

Passenger services ended on the line in 1966. It remains lightly used by freight trains to the military port at Marchwood and the oil refinery at Fawley. The case for re-opening the line is based on providing an hourly shuttle between Hythe and Southampton Central, with a 23-minute journey time. The Grip3 study will start this spring.

This is an interesting development. I visited this line on a Branch Line Society tour back in 1975. Fawley itself is quite small but Hythe is bigger. There should be a fair amount of originating traffic from the three towns en route. Commuting will be made far easier. This line was not even iopened until 1925 and was technically a light railway although promoted by the Southern Railway. Freight traffic is mainly from the refinery at Fawley, but there was a military line at Marchwood which may still exist. This line was part of the itinary on the BLS tour but thanks to the IRA we couldn't travel on this line! So there was other freight traffic.

This line is fortunate in that it has stayed open for freight, which makes reopening so much easier. But if we can justify trains to Hythe, Marchwood and Fawley how on earth can we resist trains to Blandford, Norton-Radstock, Shepton Mallet and Wells?

I can't wait to travel on this route again!

hs2 and sd2

So that's it, HS2 will happen. It all seemed so easy.

Of course in the real world what we need is massive investment in new railways and tramways in the UK, bringing a sustainable and modern transport system into every corner of the UK, far surpassing the rather sparse network bequeathed by the Victorians and dimished even further by the misguided idiot Beeching.

But we have to work in the world we have, not the one we want, so we're stuck with this expensive if essential piece of infrastructure, the cost of which would have rebuilt sixteen S&Ds - and brought modern transport to people that needed it, not those that already have it!

As for SD2 as it's now becoming known? Well the fact that governments are now seeing rail as the default future transport system can only be a good thing. In truth of course this has been a process that's been happening for some time, from the building of the Channel Tunnel. The 'road lobby' is now a distant memory, and HS2 will also do its bit to bring the early end of air travel, despite the rather daft idea that HS2 will link to Heathrow - as if it will still be operating in 2026, when HS2 is due to begin services.

And what about its effect on SD2? I suspect that once HS2 is finished other parts of the UK will be clamouring for a high speed link and I suspect a priority will be London to Bristol to Cardiff/Plymouth, which suggests an SD2 link at Bristol (via the Radstock-Pensford-Bristol line, part of our remit). Imagine - Shepton to Paris in 3 and a half hours! Of course the Bath line will be no less important - at least 95% of travellers on SD2 will be local passengers.

So HS2 is going to cause a lot of controversy. You can't blame residents for fighting it if they can't actually use the trains. Perhaps bundling it with a package of conventional rail reopenings, particularly in the area through which it will run, will sweeten the pill somewhat?

It's clear that our economy will be a purely rail-based one within a few decades. HS2 is a step in that process. But it needs to be presented as a small part in a  much bigger plan, the roll back of Beeching, the building of thousands of miles of new railways and tramways, the linking of industries, farms etc to the network, the creation of super-efficient, fully sustainable locomotives and, most of all, the complete reorientating of our industry and commerce to not merely be sustainable but to continue to develop into the post oil age.

binegar

(Photo courtesy Jim Type)

This is a nice pre-nationalisation shot of an LMS loco and train running through Binegar.

Binegar is the next station south of Chilcompton. It is one of the locations that is likely to see trains again sooner rather than later, as it lies just a few miles from Midsomer Norton. Almost all the route between Shepton Mallet and Radstock is clear of obstructions, though sadly two of the worst are found at each end of Midsomer Norton's running line. There is an infilled cutting between Midsomer Norton and Chilcompton, and a missing road bridge immediately north of Midsomer Norton station. However these are both obstacles that can be overcome, and once passed the line opens up wonderfully either side. Binegar lies high up in the Mendips so is rather bleak, but on the plus side land values are low!

midford musings

We had a visitor from Marlborough on Wednesday who simply couldn't understand why the S&D wasn't preserved as a prime tourist attraction in the south west. I suspect that will be a question that comes to the fore regularly over the next few years! What were they thinking? Not only would the S&D have been a tourist attraction in its own right, but would also LINK dozens of tourist facilities up and down the route, from the superb Georgian city of Bath, through the magnificent Lyncombe Vale and Midford Valley (surely the finest scenery in England?), the Mining Museum at Radstock, Shepton Mallet, Wincanton racecourse, the villages of the Stour Valley and the UK's finest seaside resort at Bournemouth, as well as dozens of other little gems en route.

And he was also amazed that this tiny thread of land through the station could easily carry 14 coach expresses and long freights, keeping traffic off the roads. In the fifties, on busy summer Saturdays, the stretch of single line through Midford up to Bath saw an endless succession of trains. The S&D was a superb piece of engineering - I think it's only problem was that it was a century ahead of its time!

Of course all this is now changing and within a few decades the S&D WILL become the leading tourist attraction in the south west as well as providing a superb freight and passenger service to the people and businesses and towns and villages along its route.

The S&D is clearly a line whose time has come!

what a difference a year makes!

(Waiting to take the Pines Forward 24.9.1960. Photo by C J Martin, ©  Ian C Martin)

I had great fun reading through a year old National Preservation Forum thread on Clutton (link in the previous post) which degenerated (with no input from any New S&D member) into a New S&D-bashing thread, including claims that I was behind Clutton (I wasn't!) and, the best one, that Peak Oil was 'contentious'.

Peak Oil's not contentious, that much is clear. Oil is a finite resource and is already getting scarcer, and nothing and no amount of wishful thinking, will change that. The only thing that observers don't agree on is the actual timing of the peak. Some say as long ago as 2005, some very optimistic types think it may still be a decade off. Either way the long term view is bleak for road transport, diesel transport by rail, food production, plastic manufacturer and many other things. Some things will be substituted, though only of course by more expensive options, otherwise we'd be using them now. But whatever way you look at it road transport is doomed, the first signs of this process are already clearly visible. Clearly what needs to happen is a big switch to rail beginning now - and this is happening in most parts of the world (including the UK) already. This doesn't mean simply HS lines, but reversals of most if not all of the Beeching cuts, together with a huge expansion in light rail, tramways and industrial and agricultural lines. How anyone could, in all seriousness, exclude the S&D in this process is beyond me! Yet just a year ago we were getting vile flack from a group of heritage steamy types who were clearly mired in the 60s mindset.

Another nasty jibe was that the S&D ran through an empty wilderness with no villages, let alone towns, en route. This particular moron clearly knew nothing about this part of the world! Putting to one side the fact that where a railway runs through is not particularly relevant, it's the purpose it serves and the places beyond the particular line that it connects that are important, this buffoon failed to understand that Blandford, Radstock, Shepton Mallet, Midsomer Norton, Wells, Glastonbury, Wimborne and Ringwood are quite sizeable places which will generate a large amount of freight and passenger traffic. And of course overlooked that we have Britain's only World Heritage City at one end of the line and Britain's premier seaside resort at the other!

But the thing that pissed me off the most was the idiot who boldly announced that he didn't own a car and travelled everywhere by train but didn't understand why the S&D needed to return - that it would be a meandering branch line where the porters doffed their caps at every station and halt! He's clearly been on some very strong and peculiar drugs. So he was happy to use a modern railway because he was lucky enough to live near an open station - but the near two million living along the S&D should not have this opportunity.

I assume that a year on, with petrol approaching £1.50 a litre and Peak Oil on everybody's lips (it's even mentioned in the current issue of Rail magazine) they are beginning to see the light. They may even have joined us in the meantime ...

 

compromise

I was pointed in the direction of the National Preservation Forum the other day. The name gives away the fact that this is basically a site for rail preservationists - or 'puffer lovers' as they are sometimes cruelly called. It's amazing that in many cases the contributors want to not only preserve the rail infrastructure of the sixties but also the dinosaur attitudes!

The one thing that really upset me was the poster who reckoned all the S&D groups should combine (something we support 100%) but then only build a ten mile stretch of line with an intermediate station (I suspect they mean Radstock to Shepton) and leave it at that - forever!

Now our constitution, and that of the SDRHT at Midsomer Norton, commit us to restore and/or support restoration of the whole S&D. One of the first acts of the New S&D was to enshrine this - forever - into our constitution.

Any curtailed section of the S&D will never survive in the post-oil world. ALL 'heritage' railways will have to adapt to very changed circumstances. Coal burners will have to convert to wood, diesels will vanish entirely and many routes will adopt various forms of electrification. But, and most importantly, ALL the lines will have to serve a useful purpose, for passengers and freight. ALL of these lines will have to have a network connection, or some form of rail connection, otherwise little if any visitors will be able to reach the line.
A totally restored S&D will solve all these problems for the future.

We have always worked on the first principal that the S&D WILL be restored, whatever the circumstances. Even without Peak Oil eventually the line will be needed to relieve pressure on network routes. With Peak Oil its restoration is essential even sooner. What we are trying to do is ensure that when restoration comes it needs to be sympathetic both to the history of the route and to the countryside it runs through. This is why all S&D fans should support and join the New S&D, in addition to joining their local S&D heritage group. Because without us the future of the S&D will be a busy but basic route that doesn't offer employment opportunities, a high standard of station facilities or marketing that makes it a superb asset and investment. With us we can excert the leverage and pressure that ensures that it is our vision for the S&D which prevails.

Put simply - no compromise!

doubt, localisation, squeeze

Doubt - I really do think that the US military's bombshell that Peak Oil will really begin to hit by 2015 with a 10 million barrels of oil a day shortfall has completely changed the game. The days of talk of air expansion, road development, heritage railways and lack of funds for tram schemes are over. Dead. Finished. So where does the doubt come in? I do wonder if we should have started the New S&D five, or even ten, years ago. That would have allowed us to build the team and organisation much earlier, giving us even more of a head start. But we still are ahead of everyone else. The S&D WILL be rebuilt, I've never had doubts about that, but we need to do it PROPERLY. This is really an appeal for everyone who reads this blog (now normally over 200 of you every day!) to get INVOLVED. Send money, join, join the committee, become an officer, press our case wherever you are.

Localisation - an inevitable consequence of the soon-to-be-upon-us energy crisis will be that everything and everybody will need to travel more economically - fewer miles where possible and by rail everywhere. This will mean that a whole range of new businesses will spring up to supply the goods and services that we currently buy from all around the world. Pic 2 is of a cheese press in Cheddar today, notice that it was made locally at Wincanton (on the S&D of course!) And no doubt it could still do the same job today and with no energy inputs. This will become much more commonplace.

Squeeze. How the energy crisis will hit us as individuals is anybody's guess, but I imagine we'll first notice the relentless rise in prices of petrol and diesel at the pump, coupled with the rising costs of gas and electricity. More and more of us will use our cars less and less, and where decent public transport is in place we'll abandon them altogether.

In Cheddar today it was sad to see that everybody was coming in by road. Cheddar is one of those remarkable places that are currently not served by rail. Stupid, as their line previously also served the large communities of Shepton Mallet and Wells, as well as linking two GWR main lines! The line will of course be restored in the future, and I suspect a tramway will also run up to the gorge and even perhaps through it, keeping the tourist trade going.

working on the railway

Trackworks on the Chilcompton extension.


The bank behind the retaining wall looking clearer than ever.

Two excellent and VERY recent shots from Mick Knox of Midsomer Norton. The extension is looking fantastic and hopefully soon will be heading even further south over Mrs Wells' and the Duchy's land, right up to the infill. Then the real job of breaking through to Chilcompton itself, which then sets the line up for its eventual extension right to the outskirts of Shepton Mallet. Hopefully with all this frenzied activity looking south the Radstock extension and network connection isn't lagging too far behind!

Second shot is Mick's pride and joy - fifties style neat landscaping along the route. This was something that was very distinctive on the S&D and made it sit so well into the environment. The New S&D will have this as a priority, the new route sitting as comfortably and humanly into the environment as possible. Midsomer Norton is looking fantastic as always, whatever the weather!

On an unrelated, sort of, matter, I've just been watching the BBC local news, which featured a young female track worker on Network Rail. All very interesting, but why on earth did they keep describing rail work as 'old fashioned'? Surely even the dimmest reporter realises that rail is the most dynamic aspect of transport, and a job with the Network is a skilled job for life?

Ho hum ... there's still work to do!

See many of you tomorrow at Blandford.

return to Evercreech Junction

My last trip to Evercreech Junction was in 1980.

It was good to see that the main station building is still standing, ready for purchase by the New S&D in the future.

This iconic location - and not just from an S&D perspective - is a sad sight today. It should be bustling with life with trains coming every half hour or so. There should be shops and restaurants serving the thousands of visitors coming by train. There should be trains running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It underlines the utter desolation of certain places when they lose their trains and how desperately they need them back.

In fact the whole journey today from Bristol to the Gartell Railway underlined this economic apartheid. Binegar, Shepton Mallet, Evercreech Junction - all seemed dull and lifeless with few if any amenities. Conversely the two places we did pass through that are still served by trains - Castle Cary and Templecombe - seemed lively and alive. The car park at Castle Cary was packed on a Sunday.

This contrast will become sharper and sharper as the Energy Crunch bites harder. Those people clever (or lucky) enough to live on a railway will be able to continue to go about their daily lives. Their property prices will rise (or fall less) than those who suddenly find themselves out in the sticks, with just crumbling roads and hideously expensive cars and buses to rely on. There will be a shift away from these blighted areas to those that will have a bright future. Even today properties close to railways (or more precisely stations) are worth a good deal more than those that are bereft of modern transport.

This perception will ensure that as time goes by more and more people in these areas (which, currently, sadly includes most of the S&D route) will absolutely insist that their railways are returned. But they can't all be returned at once, there will be a distinct pecking order. We have every intention that the S&D will be up there with the usual suspects - Exeter-Okehampton-Plymouth, Oxford-Cambridge, Waverley route, Great Central, Skipton-Colne, Lewes-Uckfield etc etc.

more from Shepton

Four shots of Charlton Road viaduct in the wonderful setting of Kilver Court Gardens. Everywhere should be like this! As John Baxter said on Monday, all it needs is a 7F crossing it! As I replied 'that's what we're all about!'

But the fact that steam WAS working across the viaduct again shouldn't be forgotten. It was all set up by Andy Lunness of Recreation Railways, the inspiration and genius behind the whole idea. More on Andy's excellent set up at Recreation Railways.

I haven't contacted Andy yet, but with a New S&D committee member owning the trackbed at Midford, perhaps we could do something similar there? Or indeed at other points on the line? It would raise our profile, particularly if we offered sales stands to the public, run
by us and the other S&D groups.