Tobbes Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I was thinking about the Royal Wessex Set after reading the excellent Blood and Custard article about it. It says that the coaches were spare at Bournemouth on Sundays - were they ever used for excursions on Sundays when otherwise not required? One could imagine a nice day out in Padstow from Bournemouth of a summer Sunday... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green too Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 You wouldn't have a lot of time for a paddle and a pint ........... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bécasse Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Were the carriages "spare" at Bournemouth on Sundays? I believe that for most of its life "The Royal Wessex" was a three-portion train, splitting off a significant portion at Bournemouth Central for Bournemouth West (which was standard Bournemouth line practice at that period) while the remainder continued to a further split at Wareham for Swanage (2 cars) and Weymouth (3 or more cars). It seems unlikely that the Swanage and (particularly Weymouth portions were worked back to the Bournemouth area for servicing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PortlandStone Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 (edited) My recollection is that both splits were done at Bournemouth Central. The Bournemouth West portion leaving first, then the Swanage portion and finally the Weymouth portion. A split at Wareham would have required a spare locomotive to be at a location that had no shed. Edited January 21 by PortlandStone Clarification. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green too Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 29 minutes ago, PortlandStone said: ... A split at Wareham would have required a spare locomotive to be at a location that had no shed. ... unless the portion was added to the regular branch train ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bécasse Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 I wasn't certain, other than knowing that there definitely was a Swanage portion for most of the life of the train. Splitting at Wareham and adding the through portion to the branch train, even if that were a pull&push motor train, would have been the normal Southern practice for single track branches, but it is possible that it was split off at Bournemouth Central, in which case extra carriages for local traffic would almost certainly have been added. I no longer have timetables for that period so I can't check. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PortlandStone Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 I can recollect watching the down Royal Wessex being split at Bournemouth Central. 1. Train is split in front of the Swanage portion and the Bournemouth West portion departs. 2. Loco backs onto Swanage portion, which is split from the Weymouth portion and departs. 3. Another locomotive backs into the platform line and departs with the Weymouth section. No extra coaches were added. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobbes Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 Thanks @PortlandStone Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30851 Posted January 23 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 23 On 21/01/2024 at 15:35, PortlandStone said: I can recollect watching the down Royal Wessex being split at Bournemouth Central. 1. Train is split in front of the Swanage portion and the Bournemouth West portion departs. 2. Loco backs onto Swanage portion, which is split from the Weymouth portion and departs. 3. Another locomotive backs into the platform line and departs with the Weymouth section. No extra coaches were added. Anyone know what happened when the train was put back together in the up direction? That would involve more shunting I presume. Rob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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