HISTORIC STEAM-HAULED PASSENGER TRAINS TO RUN BETWEEN LONDON AND SWANAGE - FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE JUNE 1967!

News Item and Press Release from Andrew P.M. Wright - dated 29th March 2009
Official photographer & press officer, Swanage Railway.
Photographs are copyright Andrew P.M. Wright.
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Southern Railway Bulleid Pacific Battle of Britain Class No. 34067 Tangmere at Wareham with the 'The Royal Wessex' service to London from Wareham on 6th December 2003, before the efforts of Swanage Railway volunteers allowed main-line services to return to Swanage. Photo Keith Morgan

By Andrew P.M. Wright.

History will be made this weekend - Saturday 2 May and Bank Holiday Monday 4 May 2009 - when special trains hauled by a huge 1940s express steam locomotive named after a Battle of Britain airfield run between London and Swanage for the first time since the summer of 1967.

That was when the Beatles pop group made their historic worldwide television broadcast from London, Michael Aspel read the BBC television news and the six-day Arab-Israeli war rocked the Middle East.

Hauled by the mighty 1940s-built Southern Railway Bulleid Pacific steam locomotive No. 34067 'Tangmere' - named after the West Sussex Battle of Britain airfield - the historic twelve-coach 'Dorset Coast Express' train departs London's Victoria station for Swanage on Saturday 2 May 2009.

Resplendent in its distinctive air-smoothed casing, 'Tangmere' - a Battle of Britain class Bulleid Pacific - will be hauling the first steam train from Swanage to London Waterloo for the first time since June 1967 on Bank Holiday Monday, 4 May 2009.

The last time that a steam-hauled passenger train ran between London and Swanage was on Sunday, 18 June 1967. That was an enthusiasts' rail tour organised by the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (RTCS) marking the end of British Rail steam traction in southern England.

On the Swanage-end of that 12 carriage train was 'Battle of Britain' class Bulleid Pacific No. 34089 '602 Squadron' - the last steam locomotive to be overhauled at British Rail's Eastleigh Works in Hampshire in September 1966 - while on the Wareham end was ex-BR Standard Class 4 Tank No. 80146 based at Salisbury.

Another piece of railway history will be made on Sunday 3 May 2009 when 'Tangmere' runs on its own - known as 'light engine' in railway terminology - from Swanage to Eastleigh in Hampshire where it will be turned using the railway triangle there.

The last time that a steam locomotive ran 'light engine' from Swanage and Corfe Castle to Wareham, Poole and Bournemouth was on Sunday 4th September, 1966 - the last day of regular timetabled steam-hauled passenger trains between Wareham, Corfe Castle and Swanage.

The 'light engine' manoeuvre on Sunday 3 May 2009 is being made so that when 'Tangmere' returns to Purbeck later that day, it will be facing London for its historic departure from Swanage at the head of the first steam-hauled passenger train to London Waterloo since Sunday, 18 June 1967.

Swanage Railway Trust chairman Mike Whitwam said: "The first steam trains between London and Swanage is something that several generations of determined Swanage Railway volunteers have been working towards, against all the odds, for almost 40 years.

Organised by Past Time Rail and operated by West Coast Railways, this weekend's historic steam trains are being named the 'Dorset Coast Express' with 'Tangmere' carrying a special nameboard on its smokebox door.

Mike Whitwam explained: "When the last special steam train ran between London and Swanage, the branch line from Wareham was being run down by British Rail prior to closure. Steam trains between Wareham, Corfe Castle and Swanage had disappeared in September 1966 - with the line being operated by diesel trains - and British Rail made the first proposal to close the Swanage branch line in the autumn of 1967.

"Despite repeated objections from residents and local councils in Purbeck, the line was finally closed in January, 1972, with the tracks being ripped up for scrap that summer. The Swanage Railway has been rebuilt from nothing since 1976 so these first steam trains between London, Corfe Castle and Swanage since the summer of 1967 are very important and a huge achievement.

"It took British Rail seven weeks to lift the seven miles of track from Furzebrook to Corfe Castle and Swanage in the summer of 1972 and it took us 30 long and arduous years to relay them," explained Mr Whitwam.

Hauled by 'Tangmere', the 'Dorset Coast Express' on Saturday 2 May 2009 is due to arrive in Swanage at 1.15pm.

At the head of the 'Dorset Coast Express' for its return to London on Bank Holiday Monday, 4 May 2009, 'Tangmere' leaves Swanage for London Waterloo at 4pm, arriving at London Waterloo at 9.05pm.

Battle of Britain Class 34067 Tangmere at Waterloo after hauling 'The Royal Wessex' from Wareham on 6th December 2003 - Photo Keith Morgan

Mike Whitwam said: "The running of the first steam-hauled passenger trains between London and Swanage is the achievement of a long-held and treasured dream by everyone involved with the Swanage Railway over more than 30 years. It has been a very long and tiring road which will make this weekend even more sweet.

"I'm sure that the atmosphere on this weekend's trains - as well as the lineside - will be similar to that in June 1967 when the last steam train ran between London, Corfe Castle and Swanage. It will be a very historic weekend indeed because it really is such a huge achievement," he explained.