Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust facts for kids

First Santa service of the day leaves Midsomer Norton South on Sunday 16 December 2018

The Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust is a UK-registered charity which owns the museum and railway at Midsomer Norton railway station. Commercial activities such as catering, retail services and the operation of public trains over the original trackbed come under the control of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway Company Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trust. It is separate to and should not be confused with the Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust, which is located at the West Somerset Railway's Washford railway station.

History

The restored signal box

The S&D Heritage Trust was formed some 30 years after the closure of the S&DJR in 1966 under the Beeching Axe, headquartered in Midsomer Norton. The station site was sold in 1969 to a local school, and then in 1995 to the Wansdyke district council, who leased it to the Trust to restore to its 1950s condition.

The Trust has since restored the original station buildings, a signalbox and a goods shed. A museum is located in an old horse stable block that houses a collection of S&DJR memorabilia, and there is also a pillbox with World War II exhibits. Having agreed a lease arrangement with the trackbed owners, the Trust has over time relaid the track which now runs for 1 mile from the station up the ruling 1:50 gradient to the infilled cutting towards Chilcompton. The railway bridge over Silver St has been removed, and further extension Southwards will require removal of the in-fill and restoration of the former Chilcompton railway tunnel.

In May 2013 an online appeal was launched to raise £500,000 by 30 September 2013 to purchase the station at the summit of the S&DJR at Masbury. The Trust eventually raised only £80,000 by the deadline, and the site was sold to another party.

Operations

The trust has two operational diesel locomotives and a 200 hp double engined Sentinel steam loco, and operates regular passenger trains using three Mk 1 carriages. In 2019, public services will run every two weeks, with steam and diesel traction alternating.

Rolling stock

Locomotives

• Sentinel 0-4-0VBT, works no. 7109 named 'Joyce'. Similar to the S&DJR Sentinels used on the line at Radstock North and built at the Sentinel Waggon Works, but neither survived into preservation. In service - boiler ticket expires 2026 (privately owned).
• English Electric 0-6-0DH, works no. D1120, in service
• British Railways Class 08 0-6-0DE D4095, built Horwich Works 1961. TOPS number 08881. In service

Previous visitors

• British Railways 4MT 2-6-4T No. 80072 Visited from the Llangollen Railway September 2016 numbered as 80043 for the duration of the visit as this was the number of a classmate that had worked on the Somerset & Dorset line in the 60s
• LMS Class 3F 'Jinty' 0-6-0T No. 47406

Coaching stock

British Rail Mark 1 coaches were the principal passenger stock of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway from 1951 until the closure of the railway on 6 March 1966. The railway currently has three of these vehicles but the aim is to eventually have two rakes of 3 coaches including a BSK or BSO with one train in BR lined maroon and the other in BR Southern Region green.