Places - Lost in Time: The Somerset and Dorset Railway

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Hello, and welcome back to Places - Lost in Time, a series that looks back on the tale of places and locations that have existing within living memory or photographic record, but are now lost to the pages of history.
This time, we look to the rolling hills of Somerset and Dorset, where for nearly 100 years, the eponymous joint railway provided an important route between the Midlands and the south coast, as well as connecting together the perpendicular mainlines linking London and the southwest.
Sadly, the Somerset and Dorset only knew a few years of consistent profit, as following World War I, this predominantly rural route, that avoided nearly all of the major traffic generators of the region, fell quickly victim to the rise of road transport as a viable alternative to sluggish steam trains, and today only a few isolated reminders exist to signify the route of this much-loved railway.
All video content and images in this production have been provided with permission wherever possible. While I endeavour to ensure that all accreditations properly name the original creator, some of my sources do not list them as they are usually provided by other, unrelated RU-vidrs. Therefore, if I have mistakenly put the accreditation of 'Unknown', and you are aware of the original creator, please send me a personal message at my Gmail (this is more effective than comments as I am often unable to read all of them): rorymacveigh@gmail.com
The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.
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References:
- Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust (and their respective references)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references)

Опубликовано:

17 ноя 2023

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Комментарии : 113

@DKS225

I still remember when Mum told me that when she was a child and well before she emigrated to Australia her and her family rode on The Pines Express on the first leg of their trip to Ireland. Thank goodness Ivo Peters filmed the line otherwise we would have never been able to enjoy seeing the S&D on film.

@tommy-mu2gf

I do think it’s funny how some completely useless lines remain as parliamentary services to this day, but some lines that were very important have disappeared completely due to Mr. Beeching.

@rayaspo4893

Best channel on RU-vid. No begging for likes or subscribers as you earn those through thoroughly entertaining videos. 👍

@holnrew

Of all the Beeching cuts, this one hurts the most having grown up in Somerset. My grandad talked all about the stations in Glastonbury and Wells last time I visited. If it still existed it would be very well used

@Dave_Sisson

Great stuff, but a basic map would have been nice to help us understand where the branches and connections were. Thanks.

@dacooldragonakadanny7833

The Bath to Templecombe section was the first route I've driven in DTG's Train Simulator when it was called Rail Simulator. I decided to have a late night session playing on the complete route for the first time in perhaps almost a year, thinking about the negative impact the line's removal had on the towns and cities it served as I neared the end. Needless to say I was happy and a bit surprised to see this on my homepage!

@songsmith31a

So much entrepreneural endeavour lost due to a range of factors in an arera vulnerable to loss of trade

@simonbradshaw3708

This is a sadly missed railway. It would have been useful to mention the restoration of some of the trackbed at Midsomer Norton and Shillingstone as well as the narrow gauge railway that runs near Templecombe. The significance of the last scene is the unique class 7F built specifically for the S&D of which two have survived.

@mikecartlidge5355

Wonderful film footage and information on the early years of this railway, can you imagine if the Bath to Bournemouth route had survived long enough to become an escape from today's grid locked roads.........Beeching and Marples road dream has turned into a night mare.

@paulEG6

I live just outside Blandford and although it closed over a decade before I was born, I still feel it was a shortsighted decision. Thanks for the interesting look at what would’ve been my local railway!

@mikebutler3263

Lovely film of S&D, how wonderful it was for the traveller to see the countryside without all the trackside trees and vegetation.

@BoaFilmsPlc

To add to the "What is left". You now have 2 heritage lines running. One is the Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust at Midsomer Norton & the North Dorset Railway Trust based at Shillingstone Station. There is also the Gartell Light Railway that runs a narrow gauge line, that utilises part of ther S&D route as well.

@vernongoodey5096

The line probably closed for the same reason as the Withered Arm my friends story goes that his father was a Porter at Holsworthy in North Devon. They had a lot of passenger traffic on Saturdays and Sundays all year holiday makers, also commuters in the morning and evening. So Beechings men deliberately came to do their survey on numbers Midday Tuesday, line closed buses lastest for a few years now most villages are isolated. Another reason for S&D closure was some trains required up to 3 locos and a total of 18 crew members (remember a steam Loco required 3 shifts a day to keep it working plus overtime) they cured this with the 9Fs, but even then surly they new Diesels were coming and a Warship yet alone a Western or Brush 4 could have done the job!

@zulfiqarali9808

Lovely portrayal of a fine railway section

@smorris12

It's funny to hear about the extension and subsequent closing of the line from Highbridge to Burnham as they're barely a mile apart!

@simonf8902

Everyone favourite lost railway. ❤

@nigelduckworth4419

Excellent video. One point to be made. After closure of the S&D, the spur at Radstock North was to the Bristol and North Somerset railway which then went onto Froome and not to the GWR main line as stated. The B&NS was single line throughout.. I have very fond memories of the S&D, travelling as a child several times from Manchester to Bournemouth on the Pines Express to holiday in Bournemouth. Since I lived in North Manchester at that time, the scenery over the Mendips and through the Stour valley was breathtaking, even at that age. I have never forgotten those journeys. However, we need to remember that even in 1962 when the expresses were discontinued, car ownership in this country was only a small fraction of what it is today and so I doubt if the car was even in part responsible for the line's demise. That was the Western Region. The Pines was always full.

@Ice_Karma

From the Wikipedia article about the Radstock accident, in the Aftermath section (with a small addition for clarity I added in square brackets): "Although the [telegraph] clerk at Wellow, Arthur Hillard, might normally have been expected to be blamed, it was obviously unjust to place the entire responsibility on a fifteen-year-old youth who was doing the job of several senior staff, in an environment of such corporate misconduct." Can you just imagine how he must've felt when he found out about the crash? Trying his best to juggle that ridiculous workload, and while he could hardly be held responsible for it, still playing a role in the disaster?