RARE HORN THAT MARKED FIRST WAREHAM TO SWANAGE TRAIN IN MAY 1885 TO START SPECIAL 125th ANNIVERSARY STEAM TRAIN - 20th May 2010

News Item and Press Release from Andrew P.M. Wright - dated 19th May 2010
Official photographer & press officer, Swanage Railway.
Photographs are copyright Andrew P.M. Wright.
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LSWR 1885 first Purbeck Branch train whistle. Photo Andrew P.M. Wright

A rare stationmaster's horn sounded to mark the departure of the first train from Wareham to Swanage in May 1885 is to be used on Thursday, 20 May 2010 - to send off a special Victorian steam train from Swanage marking the 125th anniversary of the rebuilt branch line.

Hauled by rare Victorian-built London and South Western Railway 2-4-0 wheel arrangement Beattie Well Tank class steam locomotive No. 30585, the special 'yesteryear' train is due to depart Swanage station for Herston Halt, Harman's Cross, Corfe Castle and Norden 'park and ride' at 11.30am.

Time warp back to May, 1885. The Victorian opening ceremony is re-enacted at Swanage on 20th May 2005. Photo Andrew P.M. Wright.

Before the historic train departure, special guests and railway supporters will be gathering at Swanage station in Victorian costume to hear speeches of welcome and celebration by the Mayor of Swanage, Councillor Bill Trite, and Swanage Railway general manager Mick Dean.

The running of the special Victorian train from Swanage on the late morning of Thursday 20 May 2010 will be the start of four days of celebrations marking the 125th anniversary of the Swanage Railway - including a Victorian menued 'Wessex Belle' bistro dining train which takes to the rails on the evening of Friday, 21 May 2010.

The first public trains ran between Wareham, Corfe Castle and Swanage on Wednesday, 20th May, 1885, and were also hauled by a Beattie Well Tank class steam locomotive.

Visiting Beattie Well Tank 2-4-0WT locomotive No 30585 arrived at Norden on the Swanage Railway on the morning of Monday 17th May 2010. Photo Mike Brown

The building of the ten-mile single track branch line - which left the main London to Weymouth line just west of Wareham at Worgret Junction - was the result of a 40 year battle by businessmen and entrepreneurs in Swanage.

Weymouth-based transport historian Brian Jackson will also be signing copies of his new illustrated book 'Swanage - 125 Years of Railways' during the Thursday, Saturday and Sunday celebrations.

Flashback 5 years to the re-enactment of first train in May, 1885. Beattie Well Tank No. 30587 leaves Corfe Castle with a train for Norden on 20th May 2005. Photo Andrew P.M. Wright.

The Victorian Beattie Well Tank steam locomotive No. 30585 will also be hauling trains between Norden 'park and ride', Corfe Castle, Harman's Cross, Herston and Swanage on Saturday and Sunday, 22 and 23 May 2010.

Also hauling the trains during the 125th celebrations - the trains passing at Harman's Cross station - will be Victorian-designed M7 class tank steam locomotive No. 30053 which hauled trains for British Railways between Wareham, Corfe Castle and Swanage from late 1963 to May 1964.

When the ten-mile branch line from Wareham to Corfe Castle and Swanage opened in May, 1885, there were only five trains a day each way between 7.20am and 9.10pm - with the journey taking 23 minutes and there being no trains on Sundays. By April 1909, that branch train frequency had doubled to ten trains a day each way and there were two trains each way between Wareham, Corfe Castle and Swanage on Sundays.

To mark the 125th anniversary of the Swanage Railway, a special commemorative collector's mug - priced at only £5.99 - has also been produced which is available from the Swanage station shop or via the Swanage Railway's on-line shop. Click here to visit our dedicated shop page.

Swanage Railway Trust chairman, Steve Doughty, said: "The 125th anniversary of the Swanage Railway is very important to us because British Rail closed and lifted the line during its 87th year in 1972 when most people thought Purbeck had lost its railway forever. But, a small group of determined volunteers wanted to prove the doubters very wrong and steadily they rebuilt the railway, along with the infrastructure needed to run and maintain it.

Swanage Railway Company chairman, Peter Sills, explained: "It is very appropriate to have a Beattie Well Tank steam locomotive hauling our commemorative 125th anniversary trains because a Beattie Well Tank hauled the first trains between Wareham, Corfe Castle and Swanage in May 1885.

Dorset's Lord Lieutenant, Captain Michael Fulford-Dobson (centre) with his wife Barbara and 'Victorian' enginemen George Crouch of Lymington and Tony Hallworth, right at Swanage on 20th May 2005. Photo Andrew P.M. Wright.

"By the end of 1979 and the first year of the rebuilt Swanage Railway running trains over a few hundred yards of hand-laid track at Swanage, a few thousand passengers had been carried. Now, we are carrying more than 200,000 passengers a year along six miles of line and accommodating charter trains to and from Swanage off the national railway network - something thought impossible back in 1972."