BBC SOUTH TODAY NEWS TEAM VISITS THE £100,000 SWANAGE STATION DRAINAGE WORKS
- 21st January 2012
News Item from Andrew P.M. Wright - dated 22nd January 2012
Official photographer & press officer, Swanage Railway.
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BBC South Today reporter Briony Leyland and cameraman
Ian Da Costa visit the site of drainage system replacement work at Swanage station and interview
volunteer Swanage Railway chairman Peter Sills on the morning of Saturday, 21 January 2012.
Photo Andrew P.M. Wright.
See below for a selection of photos from Andrew P.M. Wright
showing the visit from a news team from BBC South Today to Swanage on 21st January 2012.
By Andrew P.M. Wright
Viewers across the south of England have gained a fascinating insight into the £100,000
drainage works at Swanage station - thanks to a visit from a news team from BBC South Today based
in Southampton.
It is the first time that such extensive drainage work has been carried out at the Victorian terminus
since the steam days of British Railways on the branch line almost 50 years ago.
Donning personal protection equipment, experienced reporter Briony Leyland and veteran craft cameraman
Ian Da Costa visited the work site on the morning of Saturday, 21 January 2012.
BBC South Today visits the site of drainage system replacement work at Swanage station January 2012.
Photo Andrew P.M. Wright.
When the broadcasting pair visited, soldiers from the Royal Corps of Signals based at Blandford Forum in
Dorset were lending a hand with the resassembly of a section of track and the tamping of its ballast using
pneumatic hammers.
Thanks to the work of Andrew P.M. Wright, Briony was given three clips of restored colour archive film of
Swanage station to use in her TV report.
The film report can now be seen on the BBC News website at
.
The first clip was of a Bulleid Pacific leaving Swanage in 1966 shot by Chris Phillips, the second clip was an
abandoned Swanage station in 1973 with the long grass blowing in the wind filmed by long-time Swanage Railway
volunteer and driver Nick Hanham while the third clip was one of the first steam trains since 1967 leaving a
fledgling Swanage station in 1980 for its journey to the engine shed and back, also filmed by Nick.
After Ian Da Costa filmed the work taking place, reporter Briony Leyland interviewed Swnage Railway volunteer
Mike Rodgers from Wareham as he worked on the track with fellow volunteer and former Sygnet Mathew Baxter.
Briony then interviewed infrastructure foreman and long-time Swanage Railway volunteer Barry Light
about the details of why the work was needed and how the drainage system was being radically improved
before speaking to volunteer Swanage Railway chairman Peter Sills for a strategic overview.
BBC South Today visits the site of drainage system replacement work at Swanage station January 2012.
Photo Andrew P.M. Wright.
Peter Sills said: "It was good to welcome Briony and Ian to Swanage station because it was a chance to show
BBC South Today viewers across the south of England just what it takes in terms of materials, manpower and
cost to maintain an efficient and safe railway for our passengers.
"Swanage station - in fact the whole line up to Corfe Castle - was built on Wealden clay back in 1883 and
1884 and I gather that the railway line out of Swanage was built on an old river bed which was tidal for
some two miles up to New Barn until Medieval times.
"An efficient drainage system means a more comfortable train ride for our passengers because the track sinks
less and moves out of alignment less. The stone track ballast retains its holding and draining capacities
which means less maintenance attention by our track gang.
"With the use of modern materials, we are hoping the new drainage system at Swanage will last more than 50 years.
We are able to use the latest plastic membranes - materials that the Victorian designers of Swanage station
back in the early 1880s could only dreamed of," added Mr Sills.
BBC South Today visits the site of drainage system replacement work at Swanage station January 2012.
Photo Andrew P.M. Wright.
Taking some eight weeks to complete, the extensive drainage system work involves lifting the railway tracks,
digging out the clay underneath to a depth of up to six feet - together with the old post-war drainage system -
and laying a new drainage system made of modern and more effective and efficient materials.
While trains are not operating to and from Swanage because of the major civil engineering work, a diesel rail
bus shuttle train service is still running at the other end of the relaid Purbeck Line - between Norden Park &
Ride and Corfe Castle stations on Saturdays and Sundays until 26 February, 2012 (inclusive).
Peter Sills explained: "When the first volunteers started to rebuild the Swanage Railway from nothing at a
disused Swanage station in 1976, they inherited a derelict and blocked drainage system after British Rail ran down,
closed and then demolished the branch line railway in 1972.
"The last time the Swanage station drainage system was upgraded was probably around 50 years ago during the days of
British Railways," explained Mr Sills.
BBC South Today visits the site of drainage system replacement work at Swanage station January 2012.
Photo Andrew P.M. Wright.
Over the past two years, the Swanage Railway has invested more than £200,000 in relaying a mile of
new track between the limits of Swanage station and Herston Halt on the outskirts of Swanage - track that
was originally laid during the Swanage Railway's early days of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
While the drainage works are taking place at Swanage, t he diesel rail bus shuttle trains departs Norden Park
& Ride and Corfe Castle every 30 minutes on Saturdays and Sundays between 10.45am and 3.55pm until 26 February,
2012 (inclusive).
Tickets are £1 for an adult single and £2 for an adult return - with children travelling free of charge.
Full steam train services are due to resume between Norden Park & Ride, Corfe Castle, Harman's Cross,
Herston Halt and Swanage on Saturday, 3 March, 2012.
BBC South Today visits the site of drainage system replacement work at Swanage station January 2012.
Photo Andrew P.M. Wright.
After 35 years of rebuilding work, the Swanage Railway now carries more than 200,000 passengers a year and has
become the most visited paid-for attraction in Dorset.
The award-winning Swanage Railway operates some 2,800 trains a year, mostly steam-hauled, with those trains
clocking up a total of almost 17,000 miles - that is two thirds of the way around the world.
Contributing around £10 million to the Purbeck economy, profits from the Swanage Railway's train
services are ploughed back into the development and extension of the heritage railway and its facilities.
The Swanage Railway is run by some 500 regular volunteers - assisted by a team of more than 30 paid staff -
and the value of the volunteers' work is some £2 million a year if they were paid.
Swanage Railway service details are available from the Swanage Railway on 01929 425800 - or by
following the links in the index on the left of this page.
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