Dusky Midsomer Norton 2006

(All 1.7.2006 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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July 1 2006 and I found myself at an eerie and dusky Midsomer Norton South station on the S&D! These shots capture the atmosphere well, and are of course already historic. The signalbox is now fully restored inside and out, and the greenhouse which doesn't even exist here has now been completely rebuilt.

I was spending two or three days a week at the station back in 2006, but rarely got to see it at night!

Gartell this weekend

(All pics copyright John Penny)

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This Sunday (27 September 2015) is the penultimate day of this season for the Gartell Railway - 21 years of operations!

If you haven't been to this fantastic and recently extended 2 foot gauge line with a distinct S&D feel you really should try and get along! With none of the commercialism and crowds of your typical heritage line it is an absolute joy to visit. And the weather is looking good too!

More info (from Wikipedia)

he Gartell Light Railway is a privately run narrow gauge edutainment railway located at Yenston, south of Templecombe, in Somerset, England. It operates a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway running for ³⁄₄ mile (1.2 km), partly along the track of the old Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway.The railway has 4 stations - Common Lane, Pinesway Junction, Park Lane and Tower View. The railway is controlled using a comprehensive signalling system operated from two signalboxes - Common lane and Pinesway Junction. Both signalboxes control a mix of semaphore and colour light signals with mechanically operated points. The railway is open to the public on selected dates through the year when it normally operates an intensive 3 train operation with departures from Common Lane station every 20 minutes through the day between 1030 and 1630.

Locomotives

Number	Name	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes
1	AMANDA	Gartell Light Railway	Bo-BoDH	2000		Ex Southend Pier Railway, rebuilt on the railway
2	ANDREW	Baguley-Drewry	4wDH	1973	3699	Acquired in 2007
5	ALISON	Alan Keef	4wDH	1993	10
6	Mr. G	North Dorset Locomotive Works	0-4-2T	1998	698	Newly built for the line, based on the design of W.G. Bagnall locomotive Polar Bear
9	Jean	Alan White	0-4-0T+T	2008

Shillingstone developments

A couple of shots of the new cab sides for the Ruston.

New side entrance roof.

(All copyright 8.9.2015 copyright Shillingstone)

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Developments at Shillingstone continue at a fast pace. A few shots from last weekend show the newly fabricated sides for the Ruston diesel and the newly constructed roof covering the side entrance.

This Dorset station on the S&D has seen a huge amount of work over the last few years and provides an interesting contrast to the Somerset based group at Midsomer Norton. This is one of the FIVE current sites being worked on over the line.

Spetisbury 6.9.2015

Our new tea bar, and somewhere to shelter in wet weather.

A brief pause in between all the hard work!

The up platform buildings had become a bit overgrown so the vegetation was trimmed back.

The boss hard at work.

Booking office fireplace.

Ventilation in the up platform building.

The up platform building double fireplace had suffered from the elements, so after removing most of he loose brickwork we covered it up to protect it over the coming winter.

Looking north over the bridge.

View looking north.

(All 6.9.2015 copyright Keith Mitchell)

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We had a great day weatherwise up here in Bristol on Sunday, where our road was closed off and a big community event was being held. It's good to see that Spetisbury enjoyed similar weather - the pics above make me really jealous that I don't live closer!

Remember that if you would like to help at Spetisbury you need to be a New S&D member and contact Dean Cockwell, (on deancockwell@ntlworld.com) who is Spetisbury Project Manager.