New Station for Shepton Mallet?

[whole diary]

[Oxonhutch]

Am I right in thinking that the Wallingford and Watlington branches were originally going to form part of such a route?

Correct: - the Wallingford and Watlington Railway. Unfortunately it ran out of financial breath before it could get past Wallingford on its way from the junction at Wallingford Road station.

[caliwag]

Out of Curiosity what is DN & S...I'm from Scotland!

[Oxonhutch]

Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway

[caliwag]

Ah, cheers...didn't think Dundee, Newtyle and Strathord was appropriate

[Red Squirrel]

Interesting to look at Beeching's analysis of the S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway) route - he shows the route from Bath to Templecombe as having similar traffic levels to the Westbury - Salisbury route, though beyond Templecombe traffic was rather lighter. I wonder if these two routes were considered close enough to be duplicates? In a similar vein, the S&D route from Templecombe to Bournemouth may have been considered a duplicate of the Yeovil - Dorchester route... it would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall when these decisions were made! I have the feeling that the S&D may have suffered from being historically associated with two of the Western's rivals.

[Oxonhutch]

Old company rivalry knows no bounds.  Once their operations fall into your hands, you owe it to your corporate memory to see them dead, dead, dead!!

Cornish/Devon branches passed to the Western - Which ones were closed? The Great Central - Passed to the Midland. The S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway) to the Western.

Didn't matter which might have been the best route - the rival must die - and now we have the power at last.  That'll learn 'em!

[grahame]

... The S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway) to the Western ...

and the Midland and South West Junction

and the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton

[bradshaw]

And from c1964 the Southern routes west of Salisbury to the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), including the ‘witherered arm’ . It was Gerald Feinnes, in his ‘How to run a railway’, explained how the Salisbury - Exeter was saved.

[Oberon]

I seem to recall Gerry Feinnes was instrumental not only in saving Salisbury-Exeter but also the Berks & Hants as a through route. Without him all would go through Bath. Imagine that in 2019! But I suppose had things been left entirely to Beeching everything west of Exeter would have closed too.

[grahame]

I seem to recall Gerry Feinnes was instrumental not only in saving Salisbury-Exeter but also the Berks & Hants as a through route. Without him all would go through Bath. Imagine that in 2019! But I suppose had things been left entirely to Beeching everything west of Exeter would have closed too.

There are various interesting speculations we could make of how the network could be different though perhaps with a similar mileage to today.  But I suspect we could find it getting pretty heated.

[jamestheredengine]

... The S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway) to the Western ...

and the Midland and South West Junction

and the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton

and the Llanelly Railway and Dock's Swansea Extension

[Red Squirrel]

I seem to recall Gerry Feinnes was instrumental not only in saving Salisbury-Exeter but also the Berks & Hants as a through route. Without him all would go through Bath. Imagine that in 2019! But I suppose had things been left entirely to Beeching everything west of Exeter would have closed too.

There are various interesting speculations we could make of how the network could be different though perhaps with a similar mileage to today.  But I suspect we could find it getting pretty heated.

Very likely! But we are where we are.

This question of Shepton Mallet has set some interesting hares running in my mind, though...

The traffic density maps in Beeching's report (which I'll shamelessly link to again here) obviously reflect a different era, but they do give some indication of the relative loadings of various routes. The Oxford to Cambridge route shows similar traffic levels to the Somerset and Dorset and fulfilled a similar role, linking two provincial centres of economic activity. I'm aware of various heritage groups operating along the S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway) route who would like to see it reopened, but I'm not aware of anyone having done a proper economic analysis into the benefits of a high-quality rail link between Bristol/Bath and Bournemouth/Poole.

I doubt whether the Shepton Mallet report will consider much beyond East Somerset, but maybe someone should!

[johnneyw]

I would be very interesting to be able to see just what Mendip DC^▸ (Direct Current) propose to look at as far as railway/station opening goes in this forthcoming report. Just a rough idea as to the scope of this part of the report could be quite revealing.

[Bmblbzzz]

Oxford and Cambridge could be expected to generate a significant number of journeys from one to the other (and from both to London, the three together supposedly making the golden triangle that will rescue the whole country) as they're centres of similar types of economy. Is the same true of Bristol/Bath and Bournemouth/Poole? Maybe, I don't know.

[Red Squirrel]

Oxford and Cambridge could be expected to generate a significant number of journeys from one to the other (and from both to London, the three together supposedly making the golden triangle that will rescue the whole country) as they're centres of similar types of economy. Is the same true of Bristol/Bath and Bournemouth/Poole? Maybe, I don't know.

Yes, they're not the same - the main similarity is that they were once connected by cross-country routes with moderate traffic levels. However:

• A Bristol - Bournemouth route would link WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about)'s a population of around 900,000 with BCP's 380,000. For comparison, Oxford has 240,000 and Cambridge 280,000.
• Bournemouth, like Bristol, has a strong financial service sector and (I will admit that I am surprised to read) a thriving youth culture. Unlike Bristol, it has poor transport links with its hinterland.

Who's for 'Western Powerhouse Rail'?