Heart of Wessex - 2018. Somerset and Dorset - 1963.

[whole diary]

[grahame]

These days of you want to travel from Bath to Cole, you take the Heart of Wessex to Bruton. From Bath to Poole, the Heart of Wessex to Dorchester and change there.  From Highbridge to Bournemouth, or Radstock to Templecombe, you take a look at the rail map and despair!

In the olden days, it was the "Somerset and Dorset" for these journeys ... and I'm a sucker for old timetables.  From the summer of 1963.

[Timmer]

you take a look at the rail map and despair!

Yes you do at one of the worst acts of vandalism that has ever taken place in this country.

[CyclingSid]

A trip to Poole for cycling today reminded me of this post when it passed the branch to what was the S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway) terminus at Bournemouth West.
Part of the route south of Bath Green Park is now part of a National Cycle route, with hopes to extend further down the former line. Would there be demand all the year round? My alternative trip for cycling this weekend could have been Portsmouth and the Hayling Ferry, which is saying it doesn't cover its costs in winter. When I grew up on Hayling most of the local businesses were not viable out of season, so they shut until the following Easter (did require you to have a good income during the season).
Is a seasonal railway viable? This presumably is the ultimate question for the Swanage extension to Wareham.

[grahame]

Is a seasonal railway viable? This presumably is the ultimate question for the Swanage extension to Wareham.

Undoubtedly a seasonal railway is viable - look at just about every heritage line.  Whether a link into the national (Network Rail, nationalised) network can pay all year is much more questionable - Grosmont to Whitby is a case to look at.    All the more interesting is whether a Heritage / specialist line that depends on tourist can run an all year service for the communities it passes through and the people who live there all year.  I believe that the "Ratty" - of all lines - used to have a single daily train all year; not sure if it still runs.

[grahame]

Would there be demand all the year round?

Bournemouth and Poole are a massive all-year economy.  And they are disjoint, public transport wise, with the rest of the South West.  Radstock and Shepton Mallet are major residential / commuter towns for Bath and the Bristol area. I suspect that a good service along the line, with strong commuter at both ends, would put certain other lines to shame.

[The Grecian]

I don't think there was any chance of the Somerset & Dorset surviving Beeching. Perhaps if it had been an early proponent of dieselisation and the 'basic railway', but not otherwise. On the face of it, it might seem surprising that the Heart of Wessex survived when the S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway) served the large conurbations of SE Dorset, but the following were against it.

1. The S&D had terrible connections for interchange. No physical connection at all to the ex-GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) route at Bath or at Cole / Bruton. A very over-complicated arrangement at Templecombe with a time-wasting reversal (a Tamworth style high and low level might work today).

2. The S&D was pretty much self-contained from Bath to Poole and didn't carry any other services. The Heart of Wessex is essentially only on its own between Dorchester West and Castle Cary, and arguably on the Frome branch. Otherwise it shares infrastructure with the Weymouth-Waterloo, Exeter-Paddington, Portsmouth-Cardiff and Paddington-Bristol routes.

3. The S&D was built on a shoestring (which exhausted the owners). The Heart of Wessex was built by a company supported by the powerful GWR. The S&D featured long steep gradients over the Mendips, the longest unventilated tunnel in the country at Combe Down, sharp curves and a maximum speed of 60mph. The HoW^‡(resolve) was built for faster running. Whilst the maximum speed between Dorchester and Castle Cary is 75mph, I suspect this is to save cost and due to the elderly condition of some the track - it looks as though it could easily support faster running if there was the budget for higher maintenance costs. The S&D also needed double heading for many services which wouldn't have helped the accounts.

4. The biggest intermediate population on the S&D was I think Blandford. The HoW has Yeovil, Frome and Trowbridge in the middle, all of which provide a reasonable amount of traffic.

I think commuter routes from SE Dorset-Blandford and Radstock-Bath might thrive (although maintaining Devonshire and Combe Down Tunnels for rail traffic would be expensive), but I can't see any likelihood of the through route coming back. Within Dorset a far bigger loss is the line from Poole to Broadstone, Wimborne and Ringwood - 'Castleman's Corkscrew'. With Ferndown as well, a through service into SE Dorset would be very popular and very competitive with the roads especially at peak time.

 Whilst I don't doubt there's a demand for Bristol-SE Dorset travel, it could probably be met by using the Wessex Main Line via Salisbury and Southampton. A curve over the Itchen at Redbridge could avoid the need for a reversal at Southampton - although that would be very expensive and I doubt (the modern) GWR would want to miss out Southampton. Even without that, it should be possible to run Bristol - Bournemouth in about 2 hours if there was a real demand for it and sufficient capacity over the Bath-Westbury section. If the Heart of Wessex linespeed is ever increased between Yetminster and Yeovil from the current 45mph and the points speeds increased above 15mph at Yeovil Pen Mill, Maiden Newton and Dorchester West then that could also be a potential route for a Bristol-Bournemouth service - but that isn't likely before the life expiry of the infrastructure, and I don't know how likely it is then.
 

[ray951]

This is the second time in a week I have had to be pedantic about the same subject
But it is the River Test at Redbridge, the River Itchen is on the east side of Southampton and goes towards Eastleigh and Winchester. The River Test is on the west side and goes towards Romsey and Andover.

[grahame]

This is the second time in a week I have had to be pedantic about the same subject

It must be very Testing having to put up with us northerners from Wiltshire ... 

But it is the River Test at Redbridge, the River Itchen is on the east side of Southampton and goes towards Eastleigh and Winchester. The River Test is on the west side and goes towards Romsey and Andover.

[The Grecian]

Quite right. Considering I lived in Southampton for 3 years, I ought to have remembered that.

[JayMac]

It's worth remembering that Dr Beeching only recommended closures.

In 1964 Labour came to power with Harold Wilson pledging, in the run up to the election, to halt the closures. Labour actually accelerated them and added further line and station closures not recommended by Beeching.

Barbara Castle is the real villain. She signed the S&DJR^▸ (Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway) closure order.

[grahame]

I don't think there was any chance of the Somerset & Dorset surviving Beeching. Perhaps if it had been an early proponent of dieselisation and the 'basic railway', but not otherwise. On the face of it, it might seem surprising that the Heart of Wessex survived when the S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway) served the large conurbations of SE Dorset, but the following were against it.

[continues]

So much excellent and logical comment there ... and Heart of Wessex itself only survived south of Yeovil by the skin of its teeth.

I would agree that the Somerset and Dorset isn't going to be the English Border Railway cutting right across country to join two major centres which are otherwise linked 'around the houses'.   I could see improvements south of Yeovil ... but a triangle at Southampton or at Dorchester is improbable.  The HoW^‡(resolve) partnership has done so much for that line, though the growth has been pushed to the limit and the limit of capacity and frequency not raised so there has been some recent levelling out and I suspect frustration.

Grecian - you make no mention of Broadstone - Downton - Salisbury ... I suspect like most other ideas in this thread, unlikely in the foreseeable future.

[ray951]

This is the second time in a week I have had to be pedantic about the same subject

It must be very Testing having to put up with us northerners from Wiltshire ... 

But it is the River Test at Redbridge, the River Itchen is on the east side of Southampton and goes towards Eastleigh and Winchester. The River Test is on the west side and goes towards Romsey and Andover.

I am Itchen to say that as a Sotonian I consider anyone from Winchester a northerner.  

[martyjon]

A very over-complicated arrangement at Templecombe with a time-wasting reversal (a Tamworth style high and low level might work today).

There was a lower platform at Templecombe but I think it was only used in one direction at the time of closure by the last daily departure from Bournemouth which terminated there and the engine and coaches went on Templecombe depot. I don't know if there was a pedestrian access connecting the two. In the back of my mind I have a feeling the station on the Salisbury - Exeter line was specified as Templecombe (Main) and a footnote to the timetable indicated, Lower Platform, for the arrival time of that last service described above.

By the way the line closed in 1966, it was down to close on the 3 January 1966 but due to problems licensing and putting in place the replacement bus services a short reprieve was incurred and the shutters finally came down on the line on 3 March 1966 but there was an enthusiasts special from London that traversed the whole line on the following day, a Sunday, from Bournemouth to Bath and then via Bitton and Mangotsfield to Bristol and thence to Highbridge and then on the branch to Evercreech Junction and back to Bournemouth before returning to London.

[Timmer]

Was there much protest at the time about the closure?

[Western Pathfinder]

Was there much protest at the time about the closure?

Oh yes there was plenty but too no avail.