How to become a Volunteer with the Swanage Railway, and information on full-time staff vacancies

There's more to working on the Swanage Railway than driving trains or collecting tickets!

The Swanage Railway thrives as a busy seaside railway. It relies on its mainly volunteer workforce to enable it to operate one of the most intensive private railway services in Britain. This page will also include information on full and part-time paid Swanage Railway staff vacancies which arise from time to time.

Please visit the Swanage Railway Trust's dedicated Volunteering page here where you will find numerous illustrated leaflets, including the Overview Brochure shown below, on becoming a volunteer in around 20 different areas of work. The brochures are available to download in PDF format suitable for printing or viewing on screen.

Please click on the image to download a copy suitable for printing or viewing.

There are so many varied jobs around our Railway that whatever your professional background, skills or interest, you can find a niche which allows you to contribute to the success of the whole enterprise. Full training is given where necessary. Our Swanage Railway Volunteers In Action Page here will give you an insight into the range of activities you can participate in as a volunteer on and around the railway.

Click on the images above to download copies of the Swanage Railway volunteer posters designed by Luke Farley.

VACANCIES: Whilst the Swanage Railway always welcomes Volunteers in all areas and departments throughout the year, we have the following specific vacancies which we need to fill urgently:

PAID VACANCIES:

The Swanage Railway has no paid vacancies at present.

VOLUNTEER VACANCIES:

Volunteers are urgently needed at Swanage Station to help with the Wessex Belle platform work and with running cables. We would also like a small team of painters, ideally to: a) paint the station seats and the newly-installed lamp posts on 'the Squint'; and b) refresh the inside of the platform staff mess room.

Applicants should contact Mrs Lorna Lock directly:
Mrs Lorna Lock, Finance & Payroll Manager, Swanage, Railway, Station House, BH19 1HB
Email: finance@swanage-railway.co.uk Direct Telephone number 01929 425143

• Locomotive Cleaners - The first Step on the locomotive department ladder. Promotion to Swanage Railway Fireman / Driver is possible and full training will be given.

Work on our fantastic collection of steam locomotives and see first hand what's involved in keeping these locomotives running in the 21st Century.

We need more Locomotive Cleaners urgently! If you are interested call the operations office direct on 01929 475203

• Trainee Porters/Guards/Travelling Ticket Inspectors - Become the public face of the railway, meeting and greeting our visitors but also ensuring safety of train operations. Please also see our news page here

• Trainee Signalmen - We will be running our next Signalman's Training School shortly.

The Swanage Railway's Signalman Training School is considered to be one of the best in preservation.

If you would like to join the next class please contact Mike Whitwam on 01929 475212 or email him at volunteer@swanagerailwaytrust.org.uk

Successful completion of the training school will allow you to work our fabulous new signal box at Corfe Castle along with our award winning Signal Boxes at Swanage and Harmans Cross.

• Permanent way volunteers - applications may be made at any time
There is now a volunteer permanent way team meeting every Wednesday evening led by permantent way manager Alistar Hall. Our current project is the tidying and remodelling of Eldons siding area (which includes extension of Woodpecker siding) and remodelling Eldons siding. The team will also help with building the new road/rail pad at Norden as the old one has to be taken out of use when the Wytch Farm Road level crossing is commissioned.
The team usually meets at 6:30pm on Norden road/rail pad every Wednesday evening, and is in need of more volunteers.
Any help is appreciated, and there is something for everyone to do of any age or ability. For more information, contact Alistar Hall on 07587 130382

• Shop part-time sales staff - applications may be made at any time
The Swanage Railway has recently undertaken a major refurbishment of our shop on Swanage Station. We are now looking for volunteers who would love to work in this new shop and help make a major contribution to the further development of Swanage Railway.
For further information, please see our downloadable job advert here. (Please note: The Shop Supervisor position is now filled)

Steam trains run on most weekends throughout the year and daily from April to October. In July and August we operate a very intensive service with a train every 40 minutes, plus an evening diesel service that runs till after 11pm. You can see why we need plenty of volunteers!

For almost 90 years, this branch line wound its way through the beautiful Purbeck countryside, from Wareham, past Corfe Castle to the attractive, Victorian, sea-side town of Swanage. In 1972, British Rail closed the line, and seven miles of track between Swanage and Furzebrook was ripped up in just seven weeks. When a small group of volunteers got together later that year, they were faced with a disused and boarded-up Swanage station, bulldozed platforms and no track! However, after over 30 years of hard work, they have produced a miracle - one of Britain's best preserved heritage railways. From small beginnings, our volunteers, joined later by a small core of paid staff, re-laid track, built new stations at Herston, Harman's Cross and Norden, rebuilt Swanage station platforms, restored Corfe Castle station to the delightful feature it is today, and can now boast the most intensively operated standard gauge preserved railway in the country. As well as being a major tourist attraction in the Purbeck area, the line now provides an important transport link from Norden Park & Ride station to Corfe Castle and Swanage, helping reduce the number of cars on the already busy A351.

Birth of a railway - the first tracks are laid at Swanage in 1977. (Photo by the late John Kellaway via the Andrew P.M. Wright collection)