infamy

NEW SOMERSET AND DORSET RAILWAY FACEBOOK

It's that time of year again! It's now 48 years to the day since the S&D closed (and 5 years to the day since the New S&D was formed).

If only ...

But I tend to look forwards rather than backwards. Speculation on what the S&D would be like now if it had been rationalised and dieselised (clue, look at the Castle Cary to Dorchester route) or even purchased entirely for £50,000 (if that rumour is true) are a waste of time and energy.

Back in the real world we have what we have, and that's a lot. Five points on the line being restored. The classic iconic station of Midsomer Norton South fully restored with the signalbox and greenhouse recreated and over half a mile of DOUBLE TRACK running line in place. Shillingstone going great guns and not far behind Midsomer Norton despite a late start, the very special Gartell Railway extending northwards and offering a fantastic experience for young and old, Midford arising from the ashes (and the Midford Appeal being launched TODAY!) and Spetisbury also being cleared with rebuilding of the station not too far off. Not to mention Masbury still teasing s along the way ...

And all against a background of increasing climate change effects (some of the worst not too far from our branch to Burnham), energy issues becoming harsher each day and elsewhere in the UK closed lines coming back from the dead as more and more people realise rail is the future.

In 5, 10, 20 years' time who knows how much bigger and busier the S&D will be? As always if you are an S&D fan please get involved in some way or another with the rebirth of this fabulous line. either by joining the New S&D, the heritage groups at Midsomer Norton and/or Shillingstone, volunteering for the Gartell or joining Railfuture or one of the other transport campaigning groups. There's no longer any excuse not to! 

railfuture conference

Railfuture  is  offering  reduced  price  admission  @ £15  if  booking  by  post  (or  £16  if  booking  online)  to  its  Summer  Conference  on  Saturday  22  June  at  the  Albemarle  Centre,  Albemarle  Road,  Taunton,  about  five  minutes'  walk  from  the  railway  station.  These  prices  include  a  buffet  lunch.  The  discount  is  aimed  at  the  membership  of  organisations  speaking  at  the  Conference.  The  speakers  themselves  get  free  admission !   I  understand  that  Philip  is  advising  Tarka  Rail  Association  of  this  offer.

The  Conference  opens  at  11  am  and  closes  at  4.30  pm.  There  are  nine  speakers  as  follows:

John  Dora  (John  Dora  Consulting  Ltd)  talking  about  Railways,  Weather  and  Climate  Change. 

John  Burch (Tarka  Rail  Association)  "The  Problem  that  is  Cowley  Bridge  Junction."

Bernard  Lane  (Friends  of  Suburban  Bristol  Railways).  "Campaigning  for  an  Effective  City  Rail  Network."

Steve  Smith  (Bedwyn  Trains  Passenger  Group)  on  the  need  to  retain  Bedwyn's  direct  service  to  Reading  and  London  after  electrification.

John  Chapman  (Kilbride  Community  Rail)  on  reopening  to  Tavistock.

Alan  Matthews  (Portishead  Railway  Group)  on  the  challenges  in  the  campaign  to  reopen  the  Portishead  line.

Dean  Cockwell  (New  Somerset  &  Dorset  Railway)  on  the  long  term  ambition  to  reopen  a  main  line.

Chris  Fribbins  and  Chris  Page  (Railfuture  Directors)  summarising  the  Conference.

To  book  by  post  @  £15,  send  a  cheque  payable  to  Railfuture,  to 

Taunton  2013  Conference,  Railfuture,  24  Chedworth  Place,  Tattingstone,  Suffolk  IP9  2ND.

To  book  online  @  £16  via  Paypal,  go  to 

http://www.railfuture.org.uk/conferences/offer

modelling

First apologies for no posts for a week or so - I've not been too well. But a lot better today ...

I'm sure a lot of you have been waiting for Bachmann's S&D 7F '00' gauge model. It's now with us and it looks fantastic.

Is there any other line apart from the S&D that would get this treatment? A specific model for our route and look at the pubicity shot with a classic S&D landscape behind. This shows the enormous power of our brand!

This post was inspired by this from Adrian Romano which covers S&D and modelling and a few other things ...

I don't know if you keep abreast of what is going on in the world of model railways at present, but there's suddenly a lot of S & D emphasis here and there, what with the excellent 00 gauge layout based on Blandford Forum station at the local museum starring as Railway of the Month in the "Railway Modeller", Bachmann's superb models of S & D 7Fs and Hornby releasing a set of Maunsell coaches as running on S & D metals and a 2P in that railway's Prussian blue.

Apropos Peak Oil, if the peak happens round about 2015 as they suggest on the Steel Interstate website, this would be around the time a century ago when, in Switzerland, there were serious coal shortages on their railways as a result of the First World War, and they ended up electrifying the major routes such as the Gotthardbahn in the 1920s by taking advantage of cheap electricity from hydro-electric plant. A similar scenario could affect the US of A in the coming years, possibly as an unwelcome addition to the in-tray of a Republican administration with Sarah Palin as Vice-President soon after coming into office!

Myself? I've just submitted an application to join the Mid-Anglia Rail Passengers' Association, to promote and protect rail services between Ipswich and Cambridge and Peterborough. It will be interesting to learn how seriously they and Railfuture are taking Peak Oil at present.

corby ... railfuture

(Corby Station photo © Paul Beard)

Members Paul and Kate Beard recently attended the Railfuture Conference at Corby on behalf of the New S&D. We will become very familiar faces in the rail reopenings scene over the next few years. We have already had a few new members join thanks to our presence at this conference. This is his report.


The Railfuture Re-openings conference held in Corby, Northants on Saturday 14 November was a fascinating insight into what is basically the slow reversal of Dr Beeching's closures of the sixties.

My wife Kate and I arrived at 10 am after a four hour journey that was thankfully without incident and not too unpleasant a drive. We were greeted by the sight of many older men and just two other women all obviously railway enthusiasts. Whether it was the length of their journeys and early starts or maybe their increasing years but Kate had to stifle her amusement several times during the conference as a number of the audience fell asleep. Not that the speakers were boring as such - on the whole they were very good.

First up after the chairmans’ welcome was Mr Jim Wade from Railfuture East Midlands branch who was rightly proud of the achievements at Corby station; especially since they had had to fight through brambles to get to it and then there was the running of trains, then not and then coming back after much lobbying.

Next up was Councillor Mark Pengelly from Corby council who described the processes involved in bringing back the trains. There were some questions at the end about the cost of it all - £17m is rather a lot for a station. I reckon we could reinstate a whole section of S&D for that much!

Colin Eliff took to the floor next and he talked about the Woodhead project that he’s involved with. Some of his presentation was too in depth but the challenges they are facing and the ways of tackling them were interesting to note. His main argument was the fact that a road scheme in the same area would cost nearly 10 times more.

Best speaker of the day came next in the form of Bryan Barnsley from ACORPs - Association of Community Rail Partnerships. His uplifting speech and jovial manner really made what he was saying sink in. Basically ACORPs is a very small but highly knowledgeable organisation that helps smaller rail projects and also helps get communities involved. As we, the S&D, grow we will find them very useful.

After a welcome and very tasty buffet lunch, Tim Shoveller, managing director of East Midlands Trains explained their vision for the future, especially for the Midland Main Line to London. He was swiftly followed by Steve Abbott form Travelwatch East Midlands who delivered a talk on the campaign for improvements on the Liverpool to Norwich route.

Last up was Jim Bamford of Nottinghamshire County Council who gave a very informed and detailed overview of rail success in the East Midlands and their aspirations for better links with other regions.

Soon after this the raffle was drawn and then the closing speech on what had been an informative day that although not involving local regions to us, showed where the S&D could grow and how we could go about our bringing back our route.

rail future

Things have been buzzing around New S&D headquarters this week - and not just because of the swine flu! I've had a host of emails, letters and phonecalls. I will eventually dilute them all down to blog posts, but I'm still not 100% by any means ...

One thing we have done is join, as a group, Railfuture. It is the campaigning arm of the long-lived Railway Development Society Ltd. They must feel vindicated after all these years now that rail reopenings and developments are on everybodys' lips. Yet bad habits die hard and there is still a feeling of 'they're out to get us - this time with busways!' which I find more amusing than alarming! Fear not - busways are a 21st century version of the Blennie Railplane.

We'll be placing an ad in their next issue as this is a targeted market for us. I'd also advise all of you to join as individual members as this is a really good cause. Their website is here.