Chilcompton ahoy!

CHILCOMPTON

(16.10.2106 source)

FACEBOOK - HERITAGE AND COMMUNITY RAILWAYS - THE NEXT GENERATION

A wonderful picture taken south of Midsomer Norton today (16.10.2016) showing the team laying sleepers for the extension to Chilcompton. Tracklaying has been progressing for about 15 years now and the team have become very expert at the job, these days aided by heavy equipment. In the early days all the tracklaying was done by hand. Notice the countryside starting to open up, the fantastic scenery along the line was always one of the main points of interest on the original S&D.

Bigger and Bigger ...

MIDSOMER NORTON SOUTH

(All pics 18.9.2016 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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It was the last of four days over the last two weekend when the SDRHT at Midsomer Norton had the 4MT tank loco on site. It was running from 10.30am this morning puling two coaches in BR (LMR) maroon towards Chilcompton.

I got there just after eleven and got some nice shots of the train as it left Midsomer Norton up the 1 in 53 grade towards Bournemouth. The station and train were packed of course!

The locomotive, hired from the Llangollen steam railway, is ex BR number 80072, and has run in the guise of both 80041 and 80043 over the two weekends, commemorating the locos with those numbers which double-headed the last northbound train (in BR days) to Bath on 6.3.1966.

The costs of hiring in the loco were part sponsored by Midsomer Norton Town Council, who are becoming increasingly aware of the huge value this unique asset has for the town.

Planning permission has been granted to complete phase one of the line up to the infill near Chilcompton and the money raised from these two weekends will go a long way towards laying the track on and completing this section. After then the new challenges of returning to Radstock and heading south through the tunnels to Shepton Mallet and beyond will start to take over.

The next step will be a tender engine and eventually a 9F will return to the line. Just imagine that with 12 coaches on! It'll be a good few years yet but the line has come on enormously since my first visit in about 2003 when just two track panels were laid, the line was blocked and there were just a few freight wagons on site.

Make no mistake, the S&D is back!

And the rebuild continues!

MIDSOMER NORTON SOUTH

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LATEST NEWS FROM MIDSOMER NORTON: The Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust has launched an extension appeal to double the length of their current running line to a mile. The recently cleared trackbed will take the railway further into the open countryside, drawing ever closer to the village of Chilcompton.

In order to complete this mission they need you! The appeal target is £30k - this is the anticipated figure for groundwork, track and peripherals. 

You can donate via the Trust's website by clicking on the following link: http://www.sdjr.co.uk/pages/fundraising.html

Thank you!

And the rebuild continues!

MIDSOMER NORTON SOUTH

FACEBOOK - NEW SOMERSET AND DORSET RAILWAY

LATEST NEWS FROM MIDSOMER NORTON: The Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust has launched an extension appeal to double the length of their current running line to a mile. The recently cleared trackbed will take the railway further into the open countryside, drawing ever closer to the village of Chilcompton.

In order to complete this mission they need you! The appeal target is £30k - this is the anticipated figure for groundwork, track and peripherals. 

You can donate via the Trust's website by clicking on the following link: http://www.sdjr.co.uk/pages/fundraising.html

Thank you!

You can do anything if you set your mind to it!

CHILCOMPTON

All 22.5.2016 source

FACEBOOK - FRIENDS OF THE S&D

These pics are stunning. Whilst perhaps I'm stretching this post by labelling it Chilcompton I'm sure it won't be many more years before trains are running into that village again.

To really understand the transformation here it helps to see what the trackbed beyond the old station boundary looked like ten years ago!

23.10.2006 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing

When I started at Midsomer Norton in about 2004 there were a couple of track panels in place, but nothing in the station platforms, yet even back then it felt like a station. It does seem that as more was done there then more was able to be done, but the scale of track extensions now are in a totally different league to when we used to put in one panel at a time by hand!

The S&D has risen from the dead. True that for now there's only a mile of track all told, but each year it will get longer and longer. Personally I can't wait until the first panel goes down at Midford, and the journey starts all over again!

7F at Midsomer Norton!

FACEBOOK - NEW SOMERSET AND DORSET RAILWAY

The first 7F to appear on track at Midsomer Norton will be over the weekend of 13th/14th December 2014.  No, not the full size version but a live steam 5 inch gauge model which will be providing train rides on both days from 11.30 to 13.00 and 13.30 to 16.00, so do come along and take a ride.  53808 and 53809 will eventually steam at our station but we need to get the next section to Chilcompton open first.

riding the zeitgeist

The best news this year so far is the Bluebell's reconnection to the Network. I once worked on this line and also regularly visited it when I lived in Sussex. It was always a very special place and the short Sheffield Park to Horsted Keynes section did have a charm of its own. But the world has changed a lot from the 1970s when the above shot was taken, and I think the line always realised that they needed to reconnect to the Network eventually. It's perhaps not even a concious decision, perhaps the emerging view of heritage lines as future community railways is something that is felt rather than thought, but this will totally transorm the Bluebell. Expect plenty of specials off the main line, lots of new visiting locos (steam and diesel) and a lot more TV and film work.

But most of all expect a growing demand for reconnection to Haywards Heath (please make it a preserved third rail electric route!) and then to Lewes. And once that is in the bloodstream thoughts about developing the route as a REAL line, with passengers and freight, will  begin. There's no need for the intermediate stations to lose any of their charm, but I reckon within ten to twenty years there will be trains from East Grinstead to Lewes, carrying ordinary fare-paying passengers, and who knows, a London-Brighton train eventually as well.

This is the way things are going, with heritage railways pre-empting the upheavals of Peak Oil and Climate Change and grabbing the business temporarily lost to the doomed car and lorry.

And remember the Imberhorne tip situation has a lot in common with what the SDRHT will soon face at Chilcompton. The little Bluebell has overcome it, the mighty S&D certainly should have nothing to fear!

midford 1980s

(Both copyright Jim Type)

Two fantastic shots of Midford from the 1980s, which just shows how much progress has been made over the last year, and also by the two previous restoration groups.

Whilst these shots do have a certain charm I wouldn't have liked to have made the short walk to Long Arch Bridge through all the undergrowth. The S&D really has moved on from this rather dismal scene, with two stations restored, a third one (Midford) cleared and a fourth (Spetisbury) now taking its place in the queue!

In the next few years I suspect Chilcompton and at least one other station site (perhaps on the branch?) will join this illustrious list.

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!

binegar 1987

Brian Clarke has sent these two evocative shots of Binegar taken in January 1987. I particularly like the second shot as it's full of railway atmosphere despite the line having been closed at this time for almost 21 years.

This station will no doubt be revived sooner rather than later as the Trust at Midsomer Norton continue to push southwards. Binegar is the next stop after Chilcompton.

(Both © Brian Clarke)

wanted

This has gone out to all SDRHT members but they have also asked me to put this on the blog so it reaches the widest possible audience. So if you're not already a member of the SDRHT down at Midsomer Norton if you do have any of these skills now is definitely the time to join!

These are interesting times at Midsomer Norton as we extend the railway towards Chilcompton but, as ever, we need more willing volunteers to achieve our ultimate aim.

We have been considering how best to move forward in the civil and mechanical engineering front and feel that the ideal solution is to set up a dedicated team comprising people who have either mechanical, electrical, or civil engineering skills who can work together in support of the Engineering Directors.

To that end, would you be willing to be part of that essential support team? If you have any of these skills, or the skills to make inventories, drawings or maps then

“Your Railway Needs You”

We seek those who could help us create a Register of the Trust Assets, that is, all plant, equipment, rolling stock, earthworks, culverts, drainage, trackwork, signaling, buildings and services.

The team would then take on responsibility for updating those records prompting/arranging routine inspections of those assets.

Amongst our members we are sure there are some excellent skills just waiting to be utilised and this could be your opportunity to apply them to the S&D. The result would be that you have played a significant role in ensuring that we expand the railway quicker and safely.

In the first instance, if you feel your skills could be useful to us, please contact me either by writing to me at the station address or emailing me at douglashill1@tiscali.co.uk by the 20th March if possible letting me know the area where you feel you can assist. I will then contact you on how we can best make use of your offer of assistance.

chilcompton sparks

Everyone's getting on the S&D train so it seems.

Coming from Hornby is this excellent train set (is it okay to call it that)? The box will show the picture of a West Country emerging from Chilcompton amidst a lineside fire. The set will contain a West Country and three ex-LMS coaches - very S&D. More here.

Sorry for the lack of posts recently - special apologies to Julian, Brian, John and David who have sent me blog material this week. I'll try to do it over the weekend. I've been having sight problems the last week or so and find it hard to work at the computer. Hopefully this is a temporary thing.

the chilcompton extension

(All 19.4.2010)

Three recent shots of Midsomer Norton's Chilcompton extension. This brings the line into the open countryside for which the S&D was rightly famous. tree clearance is now giving views across the town (see pic 3). Midsomer Norton has grown a lot since the closure of the line, perhaps surprisingly. No doubt had the line not closed it would have grown even more!

With larger towns along the route and the gradual (hopefully!) decline in road traffic, coupled with modern sustainable motive power, the New S&D should have a very bright and profitable future. With a complex mix of local and express passenger, and a variety of freight traffic, both through trains and originating on the route, the line will be very busy, probably far busier than it was in its first heyday when trains operated around the clock. This is one of the main reasons that it will be reconstructed with double track throughout, even on those sections that were originally single track, and also why we will be promoting alternative northern and southern exits (via Pensford to Bristol and Ringwood to Brockenhurst respectively).

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.

derrick returns!

Great news is that Midsomer Norton is no longer in the market for a replacement for Derrick, the Roadrailer. He's back at work on the extension. It seems that the stringent rules that MN thought they had to adhere to only apply to the main line, and that Derrick is up to scratch. So progress on the Chilcompton extension should now proceed without hindrance.

two miles apart

Chilcompton station 17 February 2009. Buried deep in a small wood the platform of Chilcompton station can be seen on the right hand side. (photo courtesy Mick Knox).



Just two miles to the north Midsomer Norton South is full of life and colour and contributing to the local economy as well as providing the first green shoots of a sustainable transport system that will see us through the 21st century.

Chilcompton need not worry, its time is coming too. As the New S&D expands, and as the Midsomer Norton group heads south the only question is who will reach Chilcompton first to start the restoration!

the chilcompton extension

1.4.09 (Jeremy Woodrow)


2.4.09 (Jeremy Woodrow)

Two superb shots courtesy of Jeremy showing the amazing progress on the extension - and this was before today's good news! There have been contractors in all week preparing the trackbed.

It's fantastic seeing scenes like this 43 years after the idiotic closure of the railway. It shows just what can be done when you want something hard enough. I can't wait to get down there and see this in the flesh!

Below are two shots from the same area taken by me on 29 August 2006. Whilst this was a lovely quiet country walk I'm sure that walkers can find even better walks in the area, whereas the railway can only really go along this route. Let's hope the locals who did object to the line begin to see its value over the coming years, and perhaps even get involved with restoring more and more of the UK's favourite railway.

To accomodate the walkers, the Trust are putting in an alternative path, just outside the boundary fence (on the valley side of the line). The new path is clayey at present, having only been scraped today, but scalpings and a proper post and wire fence will be installed over the spring/summer (as fast as they can do it). This alternative path therefore by-passes the trackbed, as far as the end of the ‘phase 1’ works. This path will then be extended as they move on to the next phase(s), as they want to keep the walkers ‘on board’.