NEWS FEED
A teenager who travelled on the last British Rail train from Swanage to Wareham in 1972 has, 45 years later, driven the first timetabled diesel train to carry passengers from Norden along four miles of newly upgraded line – to within sight of Wareham.
A founder Swanage Railway member and volunteer since restoration work started at Swanage in 1976, Peter Frost took the controls of a 1960s’ heritage rail bus. He said: “It was a very exciting and special moment to drive the first diesel train to the River Frome, which is within sight of Wareham – you could see the tower of Lady St Mary’s Church across the water meadows.
“The last time I rode on a timetabled diesel train between Norden and the River Frome, was back in 1972 when I was 13 years old – sometimes the British Rail drivers would let me ride in the cabs. Forty-five years later, I was driving the train, which was exhilarating and absolutely marvellous.
“There was an air of excitement and expectation on the train as passengers enjoyed the views of the countryside between Norden and the River Frome not seen by passengers on a regular timetabled diesel train since January, 1972, when British Rail closed the branch line from Wareham to Swanage.
“I regularly rode the branch line from Wareham to Swanage as a child with my mother and knew many of the staff. I watched the line closed and the tracks ripped up for scrap but myself and other Swanage Railway volunteers – many of them teenagers like me – were determined to rebuild it,” added Peter who lives in Swanage.
As he drove the first two-carriage Class 108 diesel multiple unit on Monday, 25 July – en route to the River Frome – he admitted to feeling a little sad, saying, “It’s a shame so many Swanage Railway volunteers – and many former members of branch line staff – have not lived to share the excitement of the first diesel trains to within sight of Wareham after experiencing the anger of closure 45 years ago. Most people thought the trains would never return.
“The special trains enabled the public to see the transformation achieved by the Swanage Railway over 18 months in restoring and upgrading three miles of former Network Rail freight-only line which saw the last gas train visit Furzebrook during 2005.
Restoration work has seen 1,200 wooden track sleepers replaced, half a mile of track laid, a quarter-mile-long embankment upgraded, undergrowth and drainage cleared along six miles of embankments as well as the installation of a new track points at Furzebrook.
The special two-day diesel service between Corfe Castle, Norden, Furzebrook and the River Frome was operated because Swanage and Harman’s Cross stations were closed for two days due to shooting taking place for a new feature film set in 1940 at the start of the Second World War.
During the two days – Monday and Tuesday, 25 and 26 July, 2016 – the two-carriage diesel rail bus, built in the Midlands during 1960 for British Railways, made 24 eight-mile return trips to the River Frome with trains running every 45 minutes between 10am and 6pm.
The Swanage Railway’s steam train service between Norden, Corfe Castle, Harman’s Cross, Herston Halt and Swanage resumed on Wednesday, 27 July, 2016, with steam trains every 40 minutes between 10am and 6pm.
