spetisbury this sunday

(Photo copyright Kevin Mitchell)

SUNDAY 27th JANUARY 2013 - WORK PARTY
Dear Member/ Volunteer,
Fancy joining our work party and going up to the station on Sunday. I hope to be there between 10:00 and 11:00am. Would appreciate it if you could let me know if you can make it.
Best regards,
Dean

interesting ...

I have a lot of Facebook groups and a recent one is for the Weymouth Tramway. I've no idea why the following comment came up on this group but here it is -

The trouble with us enthusiasts is that we are too prone to fantasise. If ye look at the mad bunch of fellas who are trying to reinstate the entire route of the oul Somerset & Dorset, with blithe talk of demolishing properties and premises built on parts of the formation, there are no greater bunch of fantasists around.

If a properly-constituted company such as Central Railway could fail to gain approval to reinstate much of the former Great Central route, then it doesn't hold out much hope for a small band of individuals. And that's before we get to internal politics and competing personalities.

I think it got my back up because almost immediately it described us - that's me and you - as mad. It also described us as 'fellas' which is odd as many of our members are female!

Blithe talk of demolishing buildings is nothing of the sort. To get our line built a few demolitions will be inevitable, but we've seen this on Croydon Tramlink and the Waverley line, so this is not only already happening but nobody (except the trackbed trespassers) blinks an eye at it!

I'm sure there are greater bunches of fantasists around, from people who think the world is run by giant lizards, people who think the earth is flat or people that think we can reduce the deficit by increasing spending!

At the end of his post the commetator changed tack and said 'I don't expect the line to be fully opened in my lifetime'. Join the club!! That's what being incremental is all about!

At the end of the day there will always be doubters. There will be trolls who just get a kick out of winding people up (remember Compulsory Purchase Boy, the owner of a house on the route who turned out to live in Romsey?), there will be others who don't get Peak Oil, there will be others who fear the return of railways generally. But all they have is opinions, not information, not foresight and certainly not a vision. To all the doubters - in the immortal phrase from 'Oh Mr Porter!' - you're wasting your time!

There IS a 'properly-constituted [sic]' company behind us, it's called Wessex Links Ltd. And how are we any different from the Central Railway, also a 'small band of individuals'? The difference of course is that we're not prepared to sit back and wait for government to catch up with the present, and pay for what we are doing, but getting on with it.

And as for personality clashes and internal politics there's not - and NEVER WILL BE - a trace of that in the  New S&D. Most of us have experienced that sort of nonsense first hand and are hardly going to revisit it. We're simply not that sort of organisation.

I've no idea if this character is a troll, though it seems he got his info from some forum, which we know are really just talking shops for the socially maladjusted with no actual background or information in railways, just spouting off opinions!

The New S&D has, from day one, been an INCREMENTAL and LEVERAGED project. We're not expecting government to pay for what we're doing, we're hoping the people ALONG THE ROUTE will be the ones to get it going, and that of course is exactly what's happening. We OWN Midford and we are working closely with DCC to restore Spetisbury. These are just the first small steps, once up and running membership will boom and the two sites will become financially self supporting. We can then look elsewhere for a third site (and we have first refusal on Templecombe signalbox if and when that becomes available), or look to putting track in at some point and getting a Parry People Mover or something similar in. That is incremental. And the more of the S&D that is rebuilt is leverage.

It's going to take more than six inches of snow to keep the hardy New Somerset and Dorset rebuilders from their work!

Tom and Stuart Seale will be forming a work party at Midford Tomorrow from 10:15 ish. All welcome to join them but wrap up warm!

spetisbury speeds ahead

The first work party since Christmas were down at Spetisbury today and made fantastic progress. It shouldn't be long before the first rebuilding - as opposed to clearing - starts happening. It's amazing just how much has happened down there since clearance started under a year ago.

Blogger have changed the way you can post pictures so I can't use any of the fantastic pictures that are available of the work being done there, but you can access them all by looking at the Spetisbury Facebook group.  I'd recommend joining this group (as well as the Midford and New S&D groups) because you get right up to the minute information on what's happening, loads of great pictures and a chance to get involved even if you live a long way off.

Work was also taking place at other locations along the line, there is a real head of steam building up!

spetisbury reminder

SUNDAY 13th JANUARY - SPETISBURY WORK PARTY
Dear Member/ Volunteer,
I am going up to the station on Sunday, and hope that you can join me. I hope to be there between 10:00 and 11:00am.
This will be a good time to work off that extra mince you had, or 4 as in my case.
Could you let me know if you can make it and come up to help.
Best regards,
Dean

petition time again

 

New S&D member James Type has just started a petition on the government's e-petition website. Bearing in mind we have a letter from the Department of Transport broadly supporting our plans I reckon things should be much easier now than the last petition. We got over 500 signatures last time but things have really moved on since then all along the S&D and nobody now sees the idea as 'odd' or 'unattainable', quite the opposite.

 

So please spread the word with this and let's see if we can get THOUSANDS rather than just hundreds of signatures this time round. Let's show the government that the people of Somerset and Dorset aren't prepared to sit back and be way down the list when the railways are rebuilt - we need to be at the TOP!

 

Share on blogs, websites, Facebook groups etc. Write to your local paper urging people to sign up. Let's MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

the return of steam

 

 

It's beginning to look like the return of steam is building up an unstoppable head of steam!

 

Can we really completely electrify our railway network as the oil runs out? Even now much of our mileage is unelectrified, and the railway network may be 5 or 6 times its current size within 50 years, with a huge number of tramways, light railways and industrial lines on top of that. The diesel loco now has perhaps 10 - at a stretch 20 - years left. (Take as many photos as you can of this threatened breed, because they will have huge social value to our descendants).

 

The obvious answer is steam, using wood and/or biomass as fuel. If properly managed much of the land alongside railways can be planted with high energy content wood, and the rail network could be sustainable indefinitely.

 

We've seen Tornado, plus a whole load of Swiss steam locos mainly with a heritage element, but the US is now leading the way with future steam technology. Take a look at this!

a plea for sanity!

This post was inspired by two things - an odd comment on a Facebook group and an even stranger one in a book that was otherwise sound.

The first involved a superb new build of a Lynton and Barnstaple engine and I commented that it was a classic, neat and very modern design but would be better if it was designed as a wood burner or at least a multi fuel engine. The comment was 'why? Surely good steam coal is better?' Well in the past the best steam coal was Welsh, but every Welsh pit has now closed. The point being steam coal now has  to be imported. The second, and much more important point, is that Peak Coal is only a few years away, and we are already seeing huge increases in the amount of coal being used. This can only mean rapidly rising prices and eventual shortages and rationing. And much faster depletion on the other side of the bell curve. Will heritage or even steam worked community lines really get a good share of good coal?

The second odd comment was in a book on the current economic crisis. Until the very end it was an excellent analysis of worldwide economic decline, but the last chapter seemed to have been overtaken by a couple of cornucopians, the weirdest statement being that 'future energy supplies will be more abundant and cheaper'!! This is an amazing thing to see in print, as it derives exclusively from a strange blend of wishful thinking, junk science and conspiracy theory. Of course future energy supplies will be neither - otherwise they would have been exploited decades ago! They will be scarcer and far more expensive, and will get scarcer and costlier.

Perhaps this is just angst. Many people are very scared of what the future holds. I'm not one of them, obviously. But I am a realist.

A realistic approach to energy means that we now need to concentrate EXCLUSIVELY on sustainable energy. Anything that relies on fossil fuels is doomed. So ALL planning for the future has to take this into account, or it is pointless. If ignored there will be further misallocation of resources, and we no longer live in a world where we can indulge ourselves in that way.

Which brings me back to wood. Wood is renewable. Its energy content (by weight, but not by bulk!) is not far off that of good steam coal, and it is higher than the bitumous muck and brown coal that is just about all that is left in the ground. Best of all the UK is an excellent place to grow wood, even taking into account inevitable future climate changes. You can grow a lot of bulk in a small area, because it grows upwards. It can be harvested and cut using just human energy. And it can be grown alongside our railway land, making it very energy-efficient to harvest and store. It is also carbon neutral providing constant replanting is done. Wood will clearly trump coal in the near future, and there will be a rush to convert coal burning steam to wood burning - as well as replacing hopeless diesel locos with wood burners (or electrics of course). But burning wood directly is much more energy efficient than burning wood to generate electricity. It is also far more resilient. We need this sort of future thinking if we are to successfully build a new transport system in the UK. And we should be planting that wood now ...

midford tomorrow

 

Tom and Stuart Seale will be down at Midford from 10:15ish tomorrow, Sunday 6 January. All welcome to join them.  They plan on thinning out some of the smaller trees on the embankment to prepare the way for Mick Knox's visit later in the month.

next spetisbury work party

SUNDAY 13th JANUARY - WORK PARTY
Dear Member/ Volunteer,
I am going up to the station on Sunday, and hope that you can join me. I hope to be there between 10:00 and 11:00am.
This will be a good time to work off that extra mince you had, or 4 as in my case.
Could you let me know if you can make it and come up to help.
Best regards,
Dean

universal appeal!

Had a new member join the New S&D - from New Zealand! I think this just underlines how popular our line is around the world, We now have members in around ten different countries.

Why not treat yourself to membership of the New S&D in 2013? We are heading towards 200 members, which will give us an excellent base of people with a whole range of varying skills and interests.

Remember that as a member you get two quality magazines each year and the right to help restore and rebuild our two stations at Spetisbury in Dorset and Midford in Somerset. Both stations are set in glorious countryside - the picture above for example gives some idea of the countryside around Midford, which really hasn't changed since the photo was taken - except for the most important element - the world's favourite railway! By joining the New S&D, or indeed any of the other active S&D restoration groups, you will be helping bring this scene back all the sooner.

This is what it's all about!

2013

Looking ahead to the rest of 2013 for the S&D I can see big organisational developments at the New S&D, with perhaps more focus on buying stretches of the route as well as that big publicity push that's been just over the horizon - if someone will step forward to concentrate on Media and Publicity! (Interested? Please email me at leysiner@aol.com) Obviously Midford and Spetisbury will also be getting closer to rebuilding and tracklaying.

Further afield I can see more track laid at Midsomer Norton and Shillingstone as both sites consolidate.

Gartell will doubtless do what it does best - create a whole new S&D experience on the smaller gauge.

And Washford will also do what it does best - restore old S&D rolling stock and infrastructure items, as well as educate the wider public on the world's favourite line (S&D of course, not GWR!)

And hopefully steps to bring the disparate groups closer together will pick up speed, as I personally feel that this is THE most important process that the entire S&D revival needs in 2013 and beyond.

2012

2012 has been a great year for the S&D. At the New S&D end we've continued tidying up Midford ready for rebuilding, whilst Spetisbury has progressed even more quickly with a strong team down in Dorset. The New S&D itself has grown a good deal (despite our continued deliberate low profile!) with membership now well over 150.

Midsomer Norton have started running regular trains using a DMU and are continuing to extend southwards, whilst still waiting for the right time to start looking northwards as well. The station itself is a delight and is well worth a few hours of anyones time!

Shillingstone have also gone up a few gears with the station and signalbox nicely restored/rebuilt with the down platform shelter now progressing. A good amount of track has also been laid at the site.

Gartell is as quietly wonderful as ever, currently the only line on S&D metals to be running regular steam, all on the two foot gauge.

Washford are progressing despite the deadline of 2020 on their lease at the current site at Washford, which I visited this year. There is a HUGE amount of affection for this group which we hope fervently will return to the S&D proper when the lease does run out.

No longer a dead line, the S&D now has FIVE sites either operating or being restored, with regular train services on two sections.

Affection for the S&D is stronger now than it has ever been and it would be a brave person indeed that didn't believe that at some time in the next fifty years the line won't be open throughout!

inspiration ...

The main inspiration for the New S&D was the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway's associated land purchasing group, Exmoor Associates. They now own 17.9% of L&B trackbed, making them the largest landowner on the line. The New S&D is slightly different as we have membership and sadly were not set up or absorbed by the existing S&D groups at Midsomer Norton and Shillingstone, but the principal aim of acquiring trackbed and infrastructure is identical. This is done though our non-profit making landowning arm, Wessex Links Ltd.

Snapper Halt Is Ours!

We are pleased to be able to announce that we have completed the purchase of Snapper Halt and the adjoining trackbed.

Snapper Halt served the adjacent hamlet of Snapper and the nearby village of Goodleigh. After the closure of the railway in 1935, two of the railway’s coaches were left isolated at Snapper having been purchased at the railway’s auction. The first was coach 6991, which was left in the platform and of which the remains were eventually burnt. The other was coach 6993, now better known as Ffestiniog Railway coach 14 – the buffet car in B-set, which was rescued by volunteers from the FR. Coach 6993 was left a little way out of the station, further along the trackbed we have secured in this package.

Snapper Halt itself is in remarkable condition considering that it is now 75 years since the railway closed. Whilst the surrounding area is somewhat overgrown, the waiting shelter is virtually intact (begging to be restored) and the platform edging is still in place in its entirety under the vegetation. Other features in the package being purchased include bridge 15, and the remains of one of the stone-constructed platelayers’ huts.

We had been in regular contact with the owner of the land at Snapper for a number of years and following her passing we have remained in discussions with her heirs for the securing of the land. It is not often that the opportunity comes up to buy a station on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, not least one with a significant stretch of trackbed, and so naturally we are delighted to have been successful yet again in this acquisition.

Between Exmoor Associates and the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust, we have now collectively secured 17.9% of the trackbed required for the rebuilding of the whole railway between Lynton and Barnstaple. Exmoor Associates is now also the single largest owner of L&B trackbed.

We would of course like to thank everyone who has supported this latest push, it is great to have now secured this important piece of the jigsaw. If anyone is still interested in joining Exmoor Associates who hasn’t done so already, please still get in touch – we are expecting another significant length of trackbed to come up for sale soon so we will be needing your support!

xmas ...

 

A very Merry Christmas and Happy 2013 to all supporters of the S&D the world over.

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 ...

more christmas!

Another Xmas greeting from Spetisbury, this time courtesy of Kevin Mitchell. Hopefully it won't be too long before this really is the scene at Spetisbury!

dean's message

Dear New Somerset & Dorset Railway Member,

I want to wish everybody a Merry Xmas and a Happy New year, especially the volunteers who have helped in the work so far at Spetisbury Station. It has been a good 1st year, and lets hope next year carries on from this.

All the best,

Dean Cockwell
Project Manager (Spetisbury)
The New Somerset & Dorset Railway

another piece falls into place

(Both copyright Stuart Seale)

A couple of photos from Midford today. These show the work now taking place to the north of our section at Midford. Whilst we plan a diversion via the old Limpley Stoke line to give us access to the Network in the medium term, our longer term plans do include this section for restoration of a rail link, probably working as a one way section so that it can (hopefully!) remain single track.

The work is of course in connection with the Two Tunnels Scheme, which should bring an increase in the number of cyclists using the route and visiting Midford. I'm sure that many cyclists are rail enthusiasts (in the broadest meaning of the term) and vice versa, and the extra footfall should encourage rapid development of the site - I can see members cycling out from Bath, spending a day working at the station, having a drink and/or meal at the Hope and Anchor, then cycling back to Bath in the evening. Makes me want to move to Bath!!

superfast info

 

The easiest way to get info on what's happening at the two New S&D sites at Midford and Spetisbury is to sign up for their respective Facebook groups. Both sites now have active working parties just about every weekend so there is always plenty of work to do and good company. Working parties are always announced on the Facebook groups but not always here or on the website.

 

To sign up simply click here for Midford Facebook Group and here for Spetisbury Facebook Group.