Members' Weekend - 21st/22nd February 1998

Report and photographs by Keith & Morgan

The Annual Swanage Railway Members' Weekend and Annual Dinner took place over the weekend of 21st/22nd February 1998. As agreed at the AGM, the Annual Dinner was combined with the Members' Weekend for the first time, and was held at the Pines Hotel on the Saturday evening.

Whilst the railway was open to the public as usual, Members received the benefit of free travel on the two days on production of any category of membership card on the trains. In addition the Railway's main installations were available for behind-the-scenes viewing, including Swanage loco and goods sheds, Herston Works, Harman's Cross signal box and Corfe Castle station buildings.

We were able to visit Swanage on Sunday 22nd, which was a gloriously sunny mid-February day. High on the list of things to do was the inspection of the HRA Award which is now on proud display in the booking hall at Swanage. The Award is a glass cased London Brighton and South Coast Railway Royal Train crest on loan from the National Railway Museum In York. See the separate news item for more information.

The scheduled passenger service was hauled by Battle of Britain class 257 Squadron No 34072. Running as its counterpart on a two train timetable was BR Standard class 4 Tank No 80104 and its brake van. We took advantage of the relatively mild weather and spent the complete round trip between Swanage and Norden outdoors on the balcony of the Brake Van, and visited the footplate of No 80104 at Corfe Castle while the crew enjoyed a well earned tea break.

The restored Corfe Castle station is increasingly busy with visitors arriving at the picturesque and historic village by train in order to explore the castle and surrounding area. Here we see a photograph of No 30075 hauling a goods train waiting in the down platform on 28th February, the weekend following the Members' weekend. The railway is now running demonstration goods trains every Saturday and Sunday plus brake van rides until the middle of July. See the separate news item for more photographs and further details.

Here we see the driver's view as 257 Squadron approaches Corfe Castle from Harman's Cross. The National Trust owned castle can be seen clearly, with the best views afforded from the left hand side of the train between Harman's Cross and Corfe Castle. The castle is open daily throughout the year and has a shop and tea rooms for visitors.

As well as the two locos travelling between Swanage and Norden, which can be seen here passing each other at Harman's Cross, the Yugoslavian built 'USA' tank locomotive No 30075 (pictured at the top of this page) busied itself at Swanage giving footplate rides and carrying out shunting movements in between the scheduled arrivals and departures. Members who had attended the Saturday night dinner could add their name to the list of those wishing to ride on the footplate of No 30075 between the Swanage platform and the station limit beyond the loco shed. This short but exciting footplate experience was an appetite whetter for the Golden Arrow Driving Experience on the much, much, larger 257 Squadron. (The Golden Arrow has proved to be so popular that it is now extended until July, and will restart in September after the Summer peak. If you've ever wanted the chance to fire and drive 130 tons of main line locomotive this is your chance - see the Golden Arrow page for more details.)

Here we see No 80104 at Harman's Cross waiting to depart for Corfe Castle. The contrast between the footplates of the spacious No 80104 and the much more cramped conditions in No 30075 is immense, and it's easy to see yet another reason why the powerful and economical BR Standard class 4 is so popular with the crews.

All this activity created a busy railway scene at Swanage, best savoured from the window seats in the Bird's Nest Buffet which was serving cooked meals as well as the normal wide selection of sandwiches, cakes and hot savouries, plus plenty of tea, coffee and soft drinks.

Maintenance work on the track in the New Barn area between Herston and Harman's Cross continued throughout the weekend, with quite a number of sleepers being replaced. The two train timetable limited the time which the gang could spend working on the track, but the fine weather gave some compensation. On our return trip to Swanage late on Sunday afternoon, No 80104 stopped to allow the working party to board our brake van to be carried in luxury back to Herston and Swanage.

This relatively quiet low-season weekend was ideal for meeting up with friends, catching up with developments on and around the railway and getting in the mood for the 1998 season. Don't forget to check the Special Events page to keep up with what's happening on the railway.