The Record Shot

LITTLEHAMPTON

(All 21.6.1986 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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A succession of pictures taken on 21 June 1986 from the former footbridge at Littlehampton station. This was just before the NSE colours started appearing on trains, and this was just an everyday scene (repeated six times!) Much has now changed, 30 years on. The slam door trains of course have gone, the track layout has been changed and the footbridge has been removed, replaced by a far less photographer friendly one closer to the station.

These days I try to get a lot of atmosphere shots, in an attempt to set the trains within the context of the wider social scene. But I still take plenty of record shots as well. I find the more everyday and mundane the scene the more interesting they become as years pass. Far too many railway photographers take the same shots of steam specials, of the glamorous but slightly fake stuff. Or they pop along to a heritage line and take lots of 3/4 front view shots concentrating on the engine. All the time there are fantastic shots that never get taken!

I also hear a lot of complaints about 'railways not being as interesting as they used to be'. This has always been said, and probably always will be. It's true to an extent of course, but we are all affected by this feeling that we've just missed out. I did just miss out on everyday steam, at least for photos, but I did at least see real steam on action on the network - at Ryde, at Lyminster, at Waterloo. But I got to photograph the class 33s and 50s on passenger duties, the WR diesel-hydraulics on the sea wall at Dawlish, the Bridport branch, Swanage, Okehampton, Kemp Town and a good few other lines that have closed or become heritage lines.

Just get out there and snap and don't complain! Future generations will be grateful that you did, and envy what YOU saw ...

Bridport stirs!

BRIDPORT

3 above 7.8.1973 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing

Bridport 25.2.1975 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing

POWERSTOCK

Powerstock 25.2.1975 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing

FACEBOOK - REVERSING BEECHING - BRIDPORT BRANCH

This was a lovely line that I was lucky enough to visit twice before closure (and once after). From the classic GWR junction station on the wonderful (and busier than ever) Weymouth to Castle Cary line at Maiden Newton it followed a very rural route through hills and valleys and via the classic village stations at Toller and Powerstock to a crumbling and overgrown station in Bridport.

It struggled on as late as 1975, but was closed completely in that year, one of the last major rail closures in the UK. A few more years and this would never have happened. There were a couple of half hearted attempts to get trains back to Bridport, both narrow gauge and only one looking at reopening the original route. Both schemes were well ahead of their time, espcially the Brit Valley Railway scheme which probably is STILL a few years ahead of its time, proposing a modern narrow gauge network including routes to Weymouth and Crewkerne. After the Oil Age has gone I'm sure that scheme will go ahead.

There are some (currently very tentative) aims to rebuild the line as a standard gauge heritage and community railway. There is very little if any encroachment on the line except at the extreme Bridport end and no major engineering issues. The line is in a very busy tourist area, and the town of Bridport could easily support a railway in the 21st century. With the potential reopening of the Weymouth Tramway and the incredible success of the Swanage Railway there is plenty to attract railway enthusiasts to the area, to add another layer of potential traffic to this line.

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DISUSED RAILWAYS

BRITISH BRANCH LINES

WESTERN REGION SCENE - 1970s

DORSET TRANSPORT HISTORY 

Purbeck narrow gauge

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Way back in 1971 I took a couple of trips to the Swanage branch just before it's  ridiculous closure and on one trip got off at Corfe Castle to explore a bit. I'd spotted a small bridge crossing the track near the station and wanted to see what it was.

Amazingly when I got there there was a two foot gauge railway complete with wagons, that led off on to the heath. I didn't have time to explore further as I had a train to catch back, but took a few photos. Sadly the whole roll of film didn't come out so all I have is memories, but the line was one of the many NG lines on the Furzebrook peninsular.

Now the Swanage railway - rebuilt and thriving - has opened a museum to celebrate these fascinating lines!

Star opening for heritage museum

11:56am Friday 6th June 2014 in NewsBy Martin Lea

Emmet the steam engine at the museum

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AN INDUSTRIAL museum celebrating Dorset’s clay mining heritage will be officially opened today.

Antiques Roadshow star Paul Atterbury, an expert on ceramics and author of railway books, has been invited to open the Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum.

The museum is next to Swanage Railway’s station at Norden, near Corfe Castle.

It was built by volunteers on the site of old ball clay works demolished during the 1970s.

Explaining the history and technology behind ball clay mining – which dates back 2,000 years – the museum features a realistic reconstruction of an under-ground mine tunnel, a rebuilt ball clay trans-shipment building, a 300-metre section of narrow gauge railway as well as an engine shed with viewing area.

Purbeck ball clay was used in the manufacture of fine china and was also used in the 27,000 ceramic tiles making up the space shuttle’s outer skin and preventing the hi-tech spacecraft from burning up during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The museum, which has been built over the past decade, won the Heritage Railway Association’s Interpretation Award for quality earlier this year recognising its value as an educational resource and quality visitor attraction.

Museum chairman Peter Sills said: “We are delighted that Paul Atterbury has agreed to officially open the museum which has taken volunteers some 12 years and 40,000 hours to plan and build from scratch.It will be opened in a ceremony beginning at 2pm witnessed by guests including South Dorset MP Richard Drax and Swanage Railway Trust patron Sir William McAlpine who is a keen railway expert and enthusiast.

“Part of the Swanage Railway Trust and its educational remit, the museum has been achieved thanks to a £100,000 European Union grant from the Chalk and Cheese organisation as well as £40,000 donated by generous members of the Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum.”

alresford 1976

 

(All 24.6.1976 copyright Rail Thing)

 

Back in 1976 Alresford had not long been part of the Watercress Line and I don't think trains were running at this time. Whilst there is a Southern tender engine all the other locos on site were industrials. It's sometimes easy to forget that many of today's flagship lines started off very small and some didn't even make it (though 97% did!) Of course back in the 70s, or at least in the first half of the decade, there were still a few lines being closed by BR, which is perhaps easier than rebuilding a line from the trackbed up, but remember that the track through Medstead HAD been lifted at this time (photos will follow!)

 

When I hear people today questioning the viability of new build lines I think they need to remember that some of our biggest and busiest lines nearly didn't make it. Swanage struggled for years and all the track was lifted. The Kent and East Sussex had terrible problems with level crossings. The Festiniog lost part of its line under a reservoir. All were overcome.

 

The Third Wave of railways is now happening. These are lines that mainly closed before 1970 and have been lifted. Most of these new schemes have a community railway element, some (like the Waverley) have even been taken over by governments and built. The S&D of course falls into this category and who would have thought that this line now has a group that plans to restore the whole route, and that there are now five separate restoration and operating sites along the line?

 

I think it's a good idea to sometimes look back at the early days of some of the stars of the heritage (1st and 2nd wave) restorations!