North Dorset Railway

On Bank Holiday Monday, the North Dorset Railway operated behind the scenes guided tours at Shillingstone allowing visitors to get a close up view of the projects currently being worked on by railway volunteers. This included the signal box and Project 62 which is working towards the restoration of Yugoslavian built Class 62 USA type 0-6-0 tank steam locomotives No.’s 30075 and 30076.

Class 62 “Yankee Tank” steam locomotives are a pattern build of the World War II USATC S100 Class 0-6-0T Switcher/Shunters designed by Colonel Howard G Hill. Many of these locomotives saw service in the UK – including 14 on the Southern Railway plus a number in industrial service with Austin Motors/BMC at Longbridge, the NCB in the North East and on the Longmoor Military Railway. Four original US built and two Yugoslavian built locomotives are preserved in the UK.

We had a lovely weekend at Shillingstone, everyone we spoke to was friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable and we look forward to more visits to see developments in the future.

Shieldhall

Yoshi took the opportunity to pop down to Poole Quay to see the Steamship Shieldhall, the largest working steamship in Britain, on her annual visit to the town.

Thanks to Shieldhall, PHC and Caroline, I had a look around the impressive vessel, visiting the engine room with its original steam engines and the bridge, with its traditional instruments and gleaming brasswork. You can discover more about how you can see Sheildhall here.

Dorset Movements of Note

15/08/2024 – “Weymouth Harbour – The Dorset Coast” and “The Dorset Coast Express”

With two railtours scheduled to visit Weymouth on Thursday 15th August, it was set to be a busy afternoon in the Dorset seaside town. First up was The Northern Belle operated “Weymouth Harbour – The Dorset Coast” special which originated from Birmingham International and was top and tailed by two West Coast Railway Company (WCRC) Class 57 locomotives. I intended to catch train to Weymouth to see the ensemble arrive, but problems with crossing gates in the Wool area resulted in my train being delayed and I arrived in Weymouth over 15 minutes late and behind the arrival of the “Northern Belle”.

Following the arrival and shifting into the sidings of the “Northern Belle”, around an hour later we saw the arrival of The Railway Touring Company’s “The Dorset Coast Express” hauled into Weymouth by another WCRC locomotive, this time Class 47 No. 47848. This excursion, however, enjoyed the sight and sound of a steam locomotive on the return working in the form of London Midland Scottish (LMS) Stanier Class 5 No. 44871. I stayed in Weymouth to watch the steam locomotive being serviced and the stock being shunted out to Jersey sidings to rest alongside that of the earlier arrival from Birmingham International.

For the return steam hauled “Dorset Coast Express”, I opted for Parkstone bank. I was disappointed with my photographic efforts, but the sound of the LMS Black 5 climbing the bank made it worthwhile all the same.

17/08/2024 – “English Riviera Express”

A couple of days after the Weymouth bound excursion trains, Locomotive Services Limited (LSL) Class 57 No. 57311 and Class 47 No. D1924 (47810) ‘Crewe Diesel Depot’ passed through Poole with the empty coaching stock for Saphos Trains “English Riviera Express” reporting as 3Z28 0432 Eastleigh Arlington (ZG) to Poole. The top and tail formation ran to Poole Storage Sidings before returning to platform 1 in order to pick up passengers who were off to Devon. The train departed with the Class 47 leading working 1Z29 0634 Poole to Kingswear (For Dartmouth). I declined popping out later in the day to see the return working, which was around an hour late back into Poole following a fatality further up the line.

19/08/2024 – Track Recording Unit (TRU) at Yeovil

Monday 19th August and we had a little trip just over the border into Somerset so I could see the Network Rail Track Recording Unit No. 950001. I’ve not seen this purpose-built unit previously, so took the opportunity while it was passing reasonably close to us on its way to Devon and Cornwall.

Owned and operated by Network Rail, the Track Recording Unit (TRU) was built by British Rail Engineering Limited’s Holgate Road carriage works in York during 1987 for the British Rail Research Division for use as a track assessment unit. It utilised the final class 150/1 from the original batch built at York. The TRU is formed of two driving motor vehicles, numbered 999600 and 999601 and is designed to monitor and record track geometry. On Monday August 19th 2024, No.950001 worked 2Q08 0352 Derby RTC (Network Rail) to Plymouth. I had planned on seeing the TRU trundle through Yeovil Pen Mill, however because of road traffic delays and the train running 16 minutes early on departure from Castle Cary, I instead opted for Yeovil Junction. The unit was held in the station to allow a late running passenger service to make headway on the single line section west of Yeovil Junction. The driver took the opportunity to visit the buffet on platform 2, hence stopping the train short of the signal, catching me out! The unit is currently painted in a plain overall yellow livery with Network Rail branding. It mostly works on branch lines, where the track quality is not good enough for larger and heavier track assessment stock. It is able to operate over most railway lines around Great Britain. The unit is based at the Railway Technical Centre in Derby.

20/08/2024 – Balfour Beatty Class 20’s to Eastleigh

Much excitement was generated on the enthusiasts grapevine recently when it was discovered two Class 20 locomotives were being dispatched to Woking, following their use in Scotland, as cover for unavailable motive power for the “drain train”. The move which was carried out on the 12th/13th August was well covered and I considered making the journey up to Woking Yard the following Saturday in the hope of photographing the Balfour Beatty liveried Class 20’s No. 20901 & 20905 where they were being stabled since their arrival. I’m pleased I held off as the internet railgen was buzzing again when the pair were diagrammed to run from Woking to Eastleigh and back on Tuesday 20th August reporting as 6J09 1100 Woking Up Yard Reception to Woking Up Yard Reception. This was too much of a temptation for me, and I set off for Shawford to capture the outward and return runs. Despite a few spots of rain, the sun shone when the Class 20’s appeared on their outward run.

24/08/2024 – “Dorset Coast Statesman”

Saturday 24th August 2024 saw Statesman Rail run a railtour from Nantwich to Weymouth initially top and tailed by two Locomotive Services Limited Class 47 diesel locomotives No.’s 47805 ‘Roger Hosking MA 1925-2013’ and 47593 ‘Galloway Princess’. The train named the “Dorset Coast Statesman” experienced problems with 47593 leading on the outbound journey which forced a change of route in the Newport area so the train could turn and 47805 could lead. This configuration is how I saw the train passing through Branksome in the pouring rain.

For the return journey from Weymouth to Nantwich, the train was rearranged and both Class 47’s were marshalled to the front of the carriages and the train departed double-headed. I went to Holes Bay to see the “Statesman” pass over the causeway. As I was driving back towards Poole, I noticed the train was standing in the station, so pulled into the car park area behind the down platform and was able to get a bonus shot of the “Dorset Coast Statesman” pulling away. Hurrah!

26/08/2024 – Network Rail Plain Line Pattern Recognition Train

The regular monthly Plain Line Pattern Recognition (PLPR) train ran on August Bank Holiday Monday, top and tailed by GBRf Class 73/9 electro-diesel locomotives No. 73963 ‘Janice’ and 73962 ‘Dick Mabbutt’. I saw the train reporting as 1Q51 1115 Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Eastleigh East Yard passing through Poole on the outward leg to Weymouth in what was a busy ten minutes of activity with SWR Desiro EMU’s coming and going.

Plain Line Pattern Recognition uses a variety of tools to measure and detect defects and potential problems that might arise in track condition. PLPR uses equipment such as: 4 foot camera used to check the track condition, thermal imaging to check rail temperature, fasteners are checked with diagonal and top down cameras. The various cameras used store HD laser scanned images which show different angles and planes of the track and rails. PLPR was initially rolled out on the NMT measurement train, but has since been fitted to Network Rail’s coaches and can be seen across the UK rail network. PLPR trains often use class 1 headcode, 1Qxx. If you use Rail Record live train times, it will show you that it is a test train in the service description once activated. The train service code (TSC) for PLPR is usually 52495111 or 52495113.

28/08/2024 – Class 458 Unit Drags to and from Bournemouth T&RSMD

While a CrossCountry Voyager and South Western Railway Desiro EMU’s come and go, refurbished SWR Class 458/4 arrives ‘down South’ after conversion work at Widnes Transport Tech as GBRf Class 69 No. 69009 ‘Western Consort’ hauls unit No. 458418 through Bournemouth station on its way to Bournemouth depot. Later on, the same locomotive makes a return trip setting off on the first leg with No. 458511 which will undergo refurbishment in Widnes. The train runs from Bournemouth Traincare depot to Poole Storage Sidings where the Class 69 runs around the train before propelling it back eastwards to Eastleigh.

31/08/2024 – 33111’s Last Running Day on the Swanage Railway

Announced as Swanage Railway resident BR&CW Class 33 Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotive No. 33111’s last scheduled running day on the Purbeck heritage line for the foreseeable future, Yoshi and I spent the afternoon of 31st August barking at our favourite Crompton. The loco is off to The Bluebell Railway in West Sussex at the beginning of September. This will be followed by much-needed bodywork repairs and a fresh coat of paint being carried out at Barrow Hill meaning she will be away from Swanage for several months.

For The Record

The New Measurement Train running as 1Q23 0552 Reading to Salisbury via Exeter passed through North Dorset on Thursday 22nd August 2024 top and tailed by Colas Class 43 former High Speed Train power cars No.’s 43272 and 43274 . We were not able to see this working, but good friend of the blog @smithy.377 caught the NMT configuration the following day passing through Highbridge working 1Z18 1539 Paignton to Taunton via Bristol East Yard before it returned to Derby RTC.

Colas Class 37 No. 37610 ran through North Dorset with test train 3Q07 2031 Exeter Riverside N.Y. to Exeter Riverside N.Y. overnight on 29th/30th August 2024.

The Heart of Wessex Line will be closing between Castle Cary and Weymouth on Monday 23rd September 2024 to Sunday 29th September 2024 as Network Rail replace less than a mile of over fifty year old track. Improvements will also be made to the junctions either side of Maiden Newton railway station. A rail replacement bus service will operate during the closure period.

Engineering work is also scheduled to take place between Dorchester West and Weymouth on Sunday September 22nd.

From the Archive

Back in 1989, Hunslet-Barclay acquired six Class 20 locomotives from British Rail, re-engineered and re-numbered them for use as the motive power on a Nomix-Chipman weedkiller train. A subsequent loco was also purchased for spares. Hunslet-Barclay were the second company after Foster-Yeoman to operate privately owned locomotives on the BR Network. Although driven by a Hunslet-Barclay employee, they were always accompanied by a BR driver over routes being sprayed. The locomotives were sold to Direct Rail Services in November 1998.

Great Western Approaches

Great Western Railway (GWR) passengers across Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset can now travel back in time as part of an archive film project by Windrose Rural Media Trust. It’s been inspired by an old film called “Great Western Approaches”, a renowned film made in 1936 and still available, which took viewers on a journey to the sun.

Windrose has used footage from 1909 to the 1990’s to craft short films relevant to 24 stations across seven routes:

• Westbury to Salisbury
• Westbury to Weymouth
• Westbury to Bath
• Westbury to Swindon
• Westbury to Bedwyn
• Westbury to Taunton
• Taunton to Bristol

Each film explores local life as it used to be, allowing customers to travel into the past via a QR code link on posters displayed at stations, which can be scanned into phones while waiting for the train.

Windrose Rural Media Trust is a Dorset-based charity which uses the media – television, radio and the internet – to portray the past of rural communities in the south west and to give them a voice in the present day.

That brings us up to date with Dorset railway events to the end of August 2024. Thanks for reading and your updates and corrections which are very much appreciated. Be seeing you!