THE prospect of regular Swanage Railway services to Wareham came ever nearer after the running of
night-time trains over the line’s western extension during the October 14-16 autumn steam gala.
Next June, the Purbeck line will join the elite group of former BR standard gauge lines, including the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, the Dartmouth Steam Railway and the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, which run services over the full length of their original branches.
In the meantime, a taster was given during the hugely successful gala, which saw passenger numbers rise to 2335 compared to the figure of 2175 for the same event in 2015. The Friday and Saturday evening timetabled passenger trains ran in the dark on the newly restored four-mile line between Norden and the River Frome, near Wareham, for the first time since the Swanage branch closed in January 1972,
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Read more in Issue 222 of Heritage Railway
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