FIRST EVER SWANAGE TO WAREHAM 'DRIVER'S EYE' CAB RIDE DOCUMENTARY RELEASED ON DVD TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THE SWANAGE RAILWAY - 30th August 2011

News Item & Photo Report from Andrew P.M. Wright - dated 30th August 2011
Official photographer & press officer, Swanage Railway.
Photographs are copyright as noted
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The first ever 'driver's eye' documentary giving the public the rare chance to experience a journey from Swanage to Wareham in the cab of a diesel locomotive has been released - to raise money for the development and extension of the volunteer-run Swanage Railway.

The Swanage Railway's official photographer & press officer Andrew P.M. Wright has supplied a series of stills from the new DVD showing sample views along the line from Swanage to Worgret Junction and Wareham on the main line.

To see the full set of Andrew's photos - which can be viewed as a slideshow - please scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Visiting Class 73 electro-diesels No. 73 205 'Jeanette' (left) and No. 73 136 'Perseverance' wait at Swanage ready to leave after the 2011 Diesel Gala in May 2011. Photo copyright Andrew P.M. Wright

The 'Swanage to Wareham Cab Ride' DVD includes the little used section of railway between Norden 'park and ride' - the current limit of Swanage Railway operations - and Worgret Junction, via Motala and Furzebrook, which is only used by occasional charter trains bound for Corfe Castle and Swanage.

The professionally produced programme is a complete 'real time' run - as train drivers see it - from Swanage to Wareham in the cab of a rare 1960s ex-British Rail electro-diesel locomotive, with the last mile of the journey being along the double track Weymouth to London main line.

Filmed to broadcast TV standards - and featuring an introduction section that includes rare colour archive photographs and tickets from the last day of British Rail trains on the Swanage branch line in 1972 - the 'Swanage to Wareham Cab Ride' DVD retails for just £12.95.

The Class 73 driver position. Photo copyright Andrew P.M. Wright

With a duration of 72-minutes, the 'Swanage to Wareham Cab Ride' documentary features on-screen location and gradient captions throughout as well as audio recordings of the 'Hampshire' class diesel units that formed the branch service between Swanage and Wareham from 1966 until the end of the line in January, 1972.

Swanage Railway commercial manager Martin Payne said: "This DVD is the first ever 'driver's eye' cab ride featuring a run from Swanage all the way to Wareham and it's a chance for people to relive that final journey from January, 1972, when the last British Rail train ran from Swanage back to Wareham.

"As well as offering the public the chance to see the views that Swanage Railway locomotive crews enjoy, it's particularly thrilling to experience a trip between Norden, Furzebrook and Worgret Junction - along three and a half miles of track on which trains do not normally run.

Waiting for a South West Trains scheduled service to pass at Worgret Junction before joining the main line after the 2011 Diesel Gala in May 2011. Photo copyright Andrew P.M. Wright

"I'm delighted with the documentary because the weather for the filming was perfect with full sunshine and blue skies - the picture really leaps off the TV screen and you feel that you are really driving the diesel locomotive.

"The cab of the Class 73 electro-diesel locomotive is particularly well suited to filming because of its large square windows offering fabulous views of the line and countryside ahead of the train," explained Mr Payne.

The trip from Swanage to Wareham in the cab of the Class 73 electro-diesel was filmed during May 2011 when the locomotive - in tandem with a second Class 73 - was returning to London after the pair belonging to GB Railfreight appeared in the Swanage Railway's annual Diesel Gala. The driver was Paul Lemon of GB Railfreight.

The new 'Swanage to Wareham Cab Ride' DVD has been filmed, edited, directed and produced by Andrew P.M. Wright of Wareham in Dorset who is the Swanage Railway's official photographer and has been a volunteer on the heritage line since the summer of 1982 when he was a 17-year old student.

A sample of the new Cab Ride DVD

After the last passenger train ran from Wareham to Swanage in January, 1972, trains of Purbeck ball clay ran along the three miles of remaining branch line between Worgret Junction and Furzebrook until the mid-1980s.

Between 1978 and 2005, oil trains and then gas trains from 1988 ran from Furzebrook where British Petroleum opened a rail terminal for the massive Wytch Farm on-shore oil field just north of Corfe Castle.

The seven miles of track from Swanage through Corfe Castle to half a mile east of Furzebrook was lifted by British Rail in just seven weeks during the summer of 1972.

Starting with nothing at a disused Swanage in 1976, it took determined Swanage Railway volunteers 30 years to relay the seven miles of track back to half a mile east of Furzebrook and the start of the national railway network.

In case of difficulty, call 01929 425800.

To view a larger version of any photograph on this page, just click on the thumbnail photograph to view a full size version, and then click on CLOSE or 'x' on your keyboard to close it and return to this page.

The photos on this page can also be viewed as a slideshow - just click on any image and then click on the enlarged to continue scrolling through the photos - Next and Previous links on the right and left of the photos - or use the CLOSE link or 'x' on your keyboard to exit