Born by accident, financially insecure, difficult to operate and mostly unwanted throughout its existence, the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway has nevertheless gained legendary status amongst enthusiasts and modellers alike. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at what made this line so special and why it is so well remembered even today.
Above: A fleet of 11 Fowler ‘7F’ 2-8-0s were built specifically for the S&D in two batches in 1914 and 1925. All 11 remained in service into the BR era – the last being withdrawn in 1964. On June 17 1960 53803 heads a northbound goods near Evercreech. David Hepburne-Scott/Rail Archive Stephenson.
ON the face of it, a trunk route linking Bath in Somerset and Bournemouth on the south coast should not have had any chance of success. Neither end of the line generated enough local traffic to make a railway between the two viable and the land it traversed was hostile, hilly and sparsely populated. Yet this line was to see periods of intense activity and even in its dying days would accommodate a continuous stream of express trains pulled by a spectacular variety of different locomotive designs which originated from all parts of the country.
The reason for all this activity was …
