Swanage Railway publishes new Stockbook

News item - dated 17th May 2000

This new and long-awaited book by George Moon and Robin Brasher was published by the Swanage Railway in February 2000. The book is an A5 format softback, running to 64 pages, ISBN 0-9525837-2-0, and is priced at £3-95 plus £1-50 postage, and is available via mail order from the Swanage Railway. Please see the Swanage Railway Shop page for details.

The book contains numerous illustrations in both colour and black and white, as well as detailed descriptions of each of the stock items including locomotives, coaches, goods and engineers stock both currently and formerly at Swanage. The book also provides some background and historical information about the various items. The previous stockbook was published in 1985. Since then, the growth and pace of change of the Railway has meant that there was no supporting reference document available for visitors to the railway. This book has been produced for the use of visitors to the Railway, who are interested to know more about the trains in which they ride and the locomotives pulling them.

An introduction from George Moon and Robin Brasher, February 2000

The objective of this Stockbook is to describe and illustrate the locomotives and rolling stock to be found on the Swanage Railway and, where possible, to give some brief background and historical information about them. It has been produced for the use of visitors to the Railway, who are interested to know more about the trains in which they ride and the locomotives pulling them.

Visitors to the Railway comprise, generally, the public, ranging from families on holiday, to former railwaymen rekindling old memories, and enthusiasts, ranging, again, from people wishing to photograph or measure an item, perhaps with a view to modelling it, to raiiwaymen and volunteers who descend on the line, roll up their sleeves and join in with the work of operating. restoring and administering the Project. What they all have in common is that they are on the Railway because they want to be, and because they enjoy the work - or hope to!

Within the confines of a book such as this, it is not possible to go into great detail about every item, nor would this be required by many readers. Several locomotive-owning groups have produced booklets about their engines, which are available from the Railway Shop, and details of these, together with a select bibliography, appear at the back of this publication for those who wish to study the subjects further.

The last Swanage Railway Stockbook was produced as long ago as 1985. Such has been the growth of the Railway since then, with many comings and goings of visiting locomotives in particular, that the sands have been constantly shifting and it has seemed that any catalogue would be out of date before it was printed. The present effort represents several years’ work by the compilers, who gratefully acknowledge help and information from various locomotive owners and from Departmental Heads on the Railway. Having said that, the responsibility for any errors that have crept in, despite their best endeavours, rests with the compilers. If any reader has additional or correcting information, please contact us via Swanage Station. The book is believed correct to February 2000.

Finally, it is inevitable that not all the artefacts described in the Stockbook will necessarily be on public view. Some may be under repair, stored or on loan elsewhere. If any readers wish especially to see a particular item, they should contact Station House at Swanage (01929 425800) before their visit, to enquire about the situation and possibly make special arrangements. Whilst the Railway staff will always be as helpful as possible, it must be appreciated that for reasons of safety they cannot allow visitors to wander around sidings and other places ‘off limits to the public.