How to become a Volunteer with the Swanage Railway, and information on full-time staff vacancies

There's more to working on the Swanage Railway than driving trains or collecting tickets!

The Swanage Railway thrives as a busy seaside railway. It relies on its mainly volunteer workforce to enable it to operate one of the most intensive private railway services in Britain. This page will also include information on full and part-time paid Swanage Railway staff vacancies which arise from time to time.

Our illustrated leaflet on becoming a volunteer is now available to download in PDF format suitable for printing by clicking on the image below.

Click to download our 2010 Volunteering Brochure

At the foot of this page you can also find downloadable documents in PDF format giving detailed information on all of the Railway's departments including our many Engineering and Operations departments. You may need to download the free Adobe Reader to view them.

There are so many varied jobs around our Railway that whatever your professional background, skills or interest, you can find a niche which allows you to contribute to the success of the whole enterprise. Full training is given where necessary.

VACANCIES: Whilst the Swanage Railway always welcomes Volunteers in all areas and departments throughout the year, we have the following specific vacancies which we need to fill urgently:

PAID VACANCIES:
There are no paid vacancies at present.

VOLUNTEER VACANCIES:
• Permanent way volunteers - applications may be made at any time
There is now a volunteer permanent way team meeting every Wednesday evening led by permantent way manager Alistar Hall. Our current project is the tidying and remodelling of Eldons siding area (which includes extension of Woodpecker siding) and remodelling Eldons siding. The team will also help with building the new road/rail pad at Norden as the old one has to be taken out of use when the Wytch Farm Road level crossing is commissioned.
The team usually meets at 6:30pm on Norden road/rail pad every Wednesday evening, and is in need of more volunteers.
Any help is appreciated, and there is something for everyone to do of any age or ability. For more information, contact Alistar Hall on 07587 130382
• Shop supervisor - closing date for applications: Please enquire
• Shop part-time sales staff - applications may be made at any time
The Swanage Railway has just undertaken a major refurbishment of our shop on Swanage Station. We are now looking for volunteers who would love to work in this new shop and help make a major contribution to the further development of Swanage Railway.
For further information, please see our downloadable job advert here.

Steam trains run on most weekends throughout the year and daily from April to October. In July and August we operate a very intensive service with a train every 40 minutes, plus an evening diesel service that runs till after 11pm. You can see why we need plenty of volunteers!

For almost 90 years, this branch line wound its way through the beautiful Purbeck countryside, from Wareham, past Corfe Castle to the attractive, Victorian, sea-side town of Swanage. In 1972, British Rail closed the line, and seven miles of track between Swanage and Furzebrook was ripped up in just seven weeks. When a small group of volunteers got together later that year, they were faced with a disused and boarded-up Swanage station, bulldozed platforms and no track! However, after over 30 years of hard work, they have produced a miracle - one of Britain's best preserved heritage railways. From small beginnings, our volunteers, joined later by a small core of paid staff, re-laid track, built new stations at Herston, Harman's Cross and Norden, rebuilt Swanage station platforms, restored Corfe Castle station to the delightful feature it is today, and can now boast the most intensively operated standard gauge preserved railway in the country. As well as being a major tourist attraction in the Purbeck area, the line now provides an important transport link from Norden Park & Ride station to Corfe Castle and Swanage, helping reduce the number of cars on the already busy A351.

Birth of a railway - the first tracks are laid at Swanage in 1977. (Photo by the late John Kellaway via the Andrew P.M. Wright collection)

One of the aims of the Swanage Railway Trust (the charity that has overall control of the Railway), is to reinstate the line to Wareham and facilitate a rail service that will connect the Isle of Purbeck to the main-line railway. With this in mind, work has already been completed beyond Norden to the end of the Network Rail line at Motala. Once the necessary work has been carried out on the presently disused part of the Network Rail line, we will have a rail link that will allow excursions in and out of Swanage, as well as, eventually, services to Wareham or beyond.

All these aims require much money and labour. Most of our labour by far is from volunteers as this is the only cost-effective way that we can undertake the work. This labour takes many forms, as this leaflet shows, so whether you want to get involved physically (laying track, working with locomotives or carriages, signalling etc.), or whether you would like to help with administration, publicity, fundraising etc., there is a place for you at our Railway. We also need people willing to work in the shop or in catering, checking tickets on the trains, acting as station staff and generally making our customers' day a memorable and enjoyable one.

You can be a part of this by becoming a working member in one of our many departments. You do not need specific skills as training will be given in your chosen area. Junior members who can join our "Sygnets Youth Group", are also welcome. See our separate leaflet for details of volunteering.

INTERESTED? Please contact Mike Whitwam, our Volunteer Liaison Officer, who will introduce you to the Railway and a suitable starting point in your chosen railway career.

Mike Whitwam - Telephone 01929 475212 all times (answerphone facility is available)
or in writing c/o Swanage Railway, Station House, Swanage, Dorset, BH19 1HB.

e-mail: volunteer@swanagerailwaytrust.org.uk

We can then show you the various areas that interest you and introduce you to the departmental or project managers, and you can meet other volunteers at work. If you can't wait or just want to find out more about some of the work undertaken by volunteers simply click the links below to download departmental volunteer profiles.

Downloadable Volunteer Information Leaflets in PDF format

Overview brochure

Operations

• Guards
• Motive Power
• Passenger Services
• Porters
• Signalman

Retail

• Buffets
• Shop
• Wessex Belle Dining Train

Engineering & Infrastructure

• Carriage & Wagon
• Civil Engineering
• Cranes
• Permanent Way
• Signal & Telegraph
• Station Maintenance
• Telecom
• Trackside Clearance

General (Some of these roles may also suit those less able to get to Swanage)

• Fundraising, Marketing etc
• Special Events, Admin etc

Affiliated Groups

• Locomotive Works (SLL)
• Purbeck Mineral & Mining Museum