VICTORIAN STEAM LOCOMOTIVE TO ‘WHISTLE OFF’ MARKING START OF NATIONAL RAILWAY 200 CELEBRATIONS

Story and photographs by Andrew P.M. Wright,

Swanage Railway official photographer and press officer.

New Year’s Day will see dedicated Swanage Railway volunteers take part in a national ‘whistle off’ at the start of Railway 200 celebrations marking two hundred years of railway development – and inspiring a new generation of young people to become involved with railways.

At 12 noon on Wednesday, 1 January, 2025, the crew of the Swanage Railway Trust’s unique Victorian T3 class steam locomotive No. 563 will blow its whistle as the engine departs Swanage station hauling a passenger train bound for Corfe Castle and Norden.

The Swanage Railway is operating its steam train service between Swanage, Herston Halt, Harman’s Cross, Corfe Castle and Norden from Friday, 27 December, 2024 to Sunday, 5 January, 2025, inclusive, with its annual Winter Warm Up steam and diesel passenger and freight train event taking place on the weekend of 4 and 5 January.

It was in 1885 that a ten-mile branch line railway linking Swanage and Corfe Castle with Wareham, on the main railway line to London, was opened – an historic move that turned Swanage from a fishing and quarrying town into a popular seaside resort and the picturesque village of Corfe Castle into a desirable day-trip destination.

The locomotive crew proudly blowing the whistle of the 1893 built T3 as it departs Swanage station at 12 noon on New Year’s Day will be volunteer driver Billy Johnson from Swanage and volunteer fireman Aidan Strand from Hamworthy in Poole.

Driver Billy Johnson, a dedicated Swanage Railway volunteer for more than 15 years, said: “I am delighted to be taking part in the national ‘whistle off’ for the Railway 200 celebrations which will be a very special occasion. It’s an honour and a privilege.

“There is so much to celebrate in terms of what the railways – both standard and narrow gauge – have contributed to the prosperity and development of the country, as well as the Isle of Purbeck, over the past 200 years,” added Billy who also helps to maintain the tracks of the Swanage Railway and lives in Swanage.

The ten-mile Victorian branch line connecting Wareham with Corfe Castle and Swanage also enabled industrial development with stone and ball clay exported out of the Isle of Purbeck by train instead of ship.

The first railway to be built into Dorset opened in 1847 and linked Southampton in Hampshire with Dorchester – passing through Wareham, near the start of the future Swanage branch line almost 40 years later, on its way to Dorset’s county town.

Swanage Railway Trust chair, Frank Roberts, said: “The Swanage Railway is proud to be marking the start of the Railway 200 celebrations highlighting the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway which changed Britain and the world.

“Railway 200 celebrates the past, present and future of rail and we are delighted that our two museums – the museum in the restored goods shed at Corfe Castle station and the Purbeck Mining Museum next to Norden station - showcase the important contributions that railways, both standard gauge and narrow gauge, have made to the Isle of Purbeck across almost two centuries.

“The controversial closure and demolition of the Swanage branch line in 1972 –and its slow rebirth as the Swanage Railway since 1976 – is part of the stirring Railway 200 story. The Swanage branch line took seven short weeks to demolish and 30 long years to rebuild against the odds,” added Frank who lives in Swanage and has been a dedicated volunteer on the Isle of Purbeck heritage line for more than 40 years.

The Swanage Railway celebrates the 140th anniversary of its opening on Tuesday, 20 May, 2025.

After an almost 40 year battle by Isle of Purbeck businessmen to be allowed to build the ten-mile branch line linking the market town of Wareham with Corfe Castle and Swanage – and after two years of construction work costing more than £80,000 in Victorian money – the first steam train departed Swanage for Corfe Castle and Wareham, on Wednesday 20 May 1885.

After being controversially closed by British Rail in January 1972 – with seven miles of track lifted between Swanage, Corfe Castle and Furzebrook in just seven weeks during the summer of 1972 – dedicated Swanage Railway volunteers started their 30 year battle to rebuild the line at a boarded up Swanage station in February, 1976.

New volunteers are welcome across the Swanage Railway and anyone interested in finding out more should contact the volunteer recruitment and retention officer Lisa Gravett on 01929 475212 or email [email protected].