S15 No. 828 ‘Harry A. Frith’ and M7 No. 30053 en route for Swanage

NEWS RELEASE From: Andrew P.M. Wright. Swanage Railway Press Officer: May 30th 1998

VICTORIAN-designed M7 No. 30053 has made Dorset railway history by being the first M7 to run under its own steam on the main London to Weymouth line through Wareham station since May 1964 when the last of the M7’s used to run the Swanage branch were withdrawn.

It was also the first time that an S15 class locomotive - a freight equivalent of the Southern Railway King Arthur class of passenger express 4-6-0s - had run from Bournemouth to Wareham and Winfrith since the mid-1960s

The run on Thursday, May 21st, 1998, came as M7 No. 30053 and S15 No. 828 'Harry A. Frith’ ran light engine back to back under their own steam from South West Trains’ Bournemouth Traincare Depot at Branksome to the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s former nuclear flask rail siding at Winfrith.

En route to the Swanage Railway and set to leave Branksome at 11.35 am for their hour-long journey to Winfrith, M7 No. 30053 and 515 No. 828 ‘Harry A. Frith did not depart until 1.30 pm. M7 No. 30053 was facing London and 815 No. 828 Weymouth.

Slotted in between the hourly Wessex Electric service from London, the semi-fast service from Brockenhurst to Wareham and a stone train to Hamworthy Quay, the two locomotives were dwarfed by the huge 60 tonne overhead crane at Winfrith, last used in 1993 for lifting nuclear flasks.

The 450 site at Winfrith between Wool and Dorchester was the location of a nuclear power station that operated from the mid-1960s to 1995 and was used for research and power generation. M7 No. 30053 and 815 No. 828 were stored at Winfrith for a week thanks to the UK Atomic Energy Authority which is transforming the Dorset heathland site into a high-tech science park.

M7 No. 30053 and 815 No. 828 were taken by road from Winfrith down to the Swanage Railway’s road/rail interchange at Norden on Wednesday, May 28th, 1998. In the late afternoon, No. 828 was towed down to Swanage by 1880 Midland 1F No. 41708. After hauling the last service train, Standard Class 4 Tank No. 80104 towed the M7 from Norden down to Swanage.

M7 No. 30053 and S15 No. 828 had appeared at South West Trains’ Bournemouth Rail Gala on the weekend of May 16th and 17th, 1998. The Government’s Railways Inspectorate in London has said that subject to a speed restriction, it should be possible for No. 828 to run on the Swanage Railway during the summer. The Inspectorate is currently processing the relevant paperwork with a permission hopefully only a few weeks away.

"With No. 828 so close to Swanage, it would have been a waste of time and money to take it back to Eastleigh, only to be put on a road transporter and brought back to Dorset for a working summer holiday on the Swanage Railway a few weeks later," said Swanage Railway chairman Bill Trite.

"No. 828 is a fine locomotive. The fact she is a Southern Railway engine means she is perfect for the Swanage Railway. I know the volunteers looking after No. 828 are looking forward to seeing their locomotive run through Corfe Castle, as is everyone at Swanage," added Mr Trite.

Keith Horn of the Eastleigh Railway Preservation Society Ltd said: ‘We’re absolutely delighted that a Southern engine like No. 828 is to spend the summer running on a Southern branch line. Its good to see the engine doing the job for which it was designed - working for its living.

"Everyone who has worked on No. 828 is looking forward to the sight of the engine steaming out of Corfe Castle station and past the castle ruins. That will be great. This visit cements the relationship between our society and the Swanage Railway," added Keith of West Wellow in Hampshire.

Designed by Southen Railway Chief Mechanical Engineer Robert Urie and improved by his successor Richard Maunsell, 815 class 4-6-0 tender locomotive No. 828 ‘Harry A. Frith’ was built at Eastleigh in 1927. Shedded at Salisbury throughout its career until 1964, the freight locomotive was rescued from the Barry Scrapyard by the Eastleigh Railway Preservation Society Ltd in 1981.

Restored at Eastleigh’s locomotive, carriage and wagon works over eleven years as a tribute to Eastleigh’s rich railway history, it was named ‘Harry A. Frith’ after Eastleigh’s long-time erecting shop foreman, the major force behind restoring the Southern Railway locomotive at Eastleigh.