inbetweener - midsomer norton

(All copyright Jim Type)

Three great shots of Midsomer Norton taken in the 80s according to the photographer but to me the recently scraped trackbed looks more like 70s style - but it may simply be because of the time of year.

Just compare these with Midsomer Norton in the late 50s or, better still, today!

To me these really confirm the brevity of the closure period S&D. In fifty years' time people will almost have forgotten that the S&D was closed, dismantled and beginning to return to nature for a while. Now just to transform the other 30 or 40 stations that are still in suspended animation! I can't wait!!

bridges and viaducts ...

Some views further along the line taken on 6 March 2006. Many bridges and viaducts survive on the line, just waiting for the trains to come back. Typically we're stuck with a couple that have been demolished which will need to be restored before we get back to Radstock! But it's good to see that the physical infrastructure of the line is still present over much of the route which will make restoration so much easier. Recent developments with cycle routes etc help to both ensure that the route is not breached and also keep the actual trackbed clear and level which will make reinstatement so much easier.

railway view place

Railway View Place is an unassuming street in Midsomer Norton, and it's currently a misnomer.

But what you can see from Railway View Place is the huge embankment that will carry the line back to Radstock.

This is a pretty good symbol of what the S&D was and will be again - a line engineered on a magnificent scale. Of course on the old S&D this was almost totally a negative, pushing up costs. But on the new S&D it is the scale of the earthworks, bridges and viaducts, as well as double-heading of the longer trains that will bring great benefits (as well as costs!) as hundreds of thousands flock to the line every year! Just imagine the view across Radstock and Midsomer Norton when perched fifty feet above the ground! And just imagine the sheer joy for the residents of Railway View Place when the trains are back and they can look out over their breakfasts on a frosty morning as an early train heads south against the grade. Imagine what it will do for their property prices as every enthusiast in the land competes with each other for the view! Just one more intangible benefit that the restoration of the S&D will bring to residents all along its route.

bridges and cameras

(Demolishing a bridge on the Bridgwater branch, 1957)

Apologies for not posting for a few days - thanks to glandular fever and a short holiday.

Back to the station today - buzzing as usual! Julian Peters and Wally Moon were being filmed for a Channel 4 programme, which ended up being done in the shop as the weather was vile. Julian brought in a couple of Ivo's old photo albums, from 1950 and 1965, these were the famous ones which used to travel up and down the line being passed from employee to employee.

Apparently bridge renewal over Silver Street may not be quite as difficult as we originally thought, though still very expensive. The road may only need a small amount of trimming although the services will need to be relocated - but the bridge itself will only need small ramps at the station and Radstock end so the need for a lifting bridge or other esoteric devices will not be needed!

The time isn't that far off when we'll need to make the decision Radstock first or Chilcompton infill first! My vote's with Radstock, as a station at Radstock will be a superb advert for us, right by the main roads. With the thousands of extra visitors this'll bring in we should quickly raise the necessary funds for removing the infill, and have an excellent transhipment point from rail to road or even rail throughout via the Frome line.

ooops!

You sometimes wonder how it ever got to this - that a railway that will HAVE to be rebuilt can have houses built on or near its trackbed! This is the scene at Cole, 40 years to the day after closure.

It's clear from the picture that a diversionary route could easily be built here, but even with that in place these houses would be very close to the track. Obviously at some point trains WILL pass through Cole again, so a solution will need to be found.

The solution is not only simple but also elegant. With the housing market still quite bouyant most of these houses will be for sale at some point. So all we need to do is buy them as they become available, rent them out, then put the line back in place when needed. Rental agreements would clearly state that the line will be rebuilt and that the tenant would have to agree to this as a condition of taking on the lease.

Given 15 to 20 years before reinstatement as the ideal set up, the property would actually cost us nothing once the rental income is taken into account. Even where a house would need to be demolished there would be various cash inflows from salvageable materials.

Harsher folk may say 'Forget such subtle schemes, as a public railway we'll be free to use compulsory purchase'. True enough, but what legacy would that leave us in relation to the local communities we'll be serving? We need to work with them, not against them, and what is worse than turning somebody out of their house?

No, we'll do it in a gentler way, an S&D way as always ...

second helping

The final three shots of Midsomer Norton taken in late 1966 by a supporter in Canada. The real difference is the absence of trees in the photos. The station itself looks pretty similar to the scene now!

Today's AGM was a success, we easily reached the quorum required. Only one member fell asleep during the meeting!

40 years ago

These are some excellent shots sent to us by an S&D fan in Vancouver, Canada. They were taken shortly after the closure of the line, before the demolition contractors had moved in, but after the first attentions of the vandals.

Remember that the museum/archive should be opening within a year or so, and that there will be no better home for historic photos of the S&D in the future!

spreading our web

(Pic Radstock North Station)

As we establish ourselves at Midsomer Norton it's important that we remember that our remit covers the whole route and that eventually the rails will reach parts that are currently in deep sleep - north of Radstock, south of Shepton, the branches. To this end it would be nice if several branch groups spring up along the route, formed locally but all part of the Trust. These groups could hold local meetings, send working parties to Midsomer Norton, build their own archives and, most importantly, establish physical presences at other locations - with retored buildings, rolling stock, retail outlets and even locomotives. As the groups build and more and more trackbed comes into the hands of the Trust we can look at establishing longer sections of restored route. But most importantly an expanding Trust will let people currently isolated from the activity at Midsomer Norton feel they can also play a very important role in the rebuilding of England's finest line, for both tourist and 'real' trains. We must remember that the S&D spread from Bath to Bournemouth, and over to Wimborne, Wells, Bridgwater and Burnham and that our job isn't over until the rails reach all those points!

just waiting for the trains ...

A series of photos taken by Mike on the 6 March 2006, 40 years to the day since the S&D was closed.

He gave me elaborate location details, but what really strikes me about these shots is the clarity and atmosphere that what I call S&D weather gives to the locations. Anyone that says we can't restore these stretches better think again - I personally won't rest until we relay every inch of the line, so that these gorgeous country views can once more be complete with the final touch of a long steam train running through the very best countryside in England!

reaching radstock ...

In a few years time rails should reach this point as we extend northwards over two new bridges to the classic S&D location of Radstock. The track would probably follow the line of the pavement - there is alternative space to walk through the Memorial gardens on the left, which occupy the site of the S&D station.



The white car is exactly where the old (and future) S&D level crossing was/will be. A short section of the route here has been tarmaced over, but being double track width it should be no problem comfortably accomodating both a single track and a cycleway and footpath.



This is the route of the S&D over the Five Arches, hardly looking like it's been almost 40 years since the track was lifted!



A classic and typical S&D lineside view which will soon be visible from the trains again!

It is possible that Radstock will once again have two stations, but this time both on the S&D! It may well be that we build a basic station this side of the Bath road at first to avoid a level crossing, close to the Mining Museum. Later as we rebuild back to Bath a larger station could be accomodated beyond the Mining Museum, on a large area of grass just to the north of the original station. Being flat and surrounded by car parks and unrestricted roads (whilst cars survive!) Radstock could offer better opportunities to join the trains than Midsomer Norton or Chilcompton, although we hope that all stations on the new S&D will be both destinations and originating points for journeys.

It was interesting to walk along the old formation high above the road and imagine it in fifty years time, with the railway very busy with passengers and freight (and all behind wood-burning steam) whilst the road is quiet and overgrown with the occasional bike, horse or pedestrian enjoying the shade and peace of the crumbling asphalt!