ONE man experienced a full-circle moment after he returned to drive a steam train out of Swanage on the 53rd anniversary of the last British Rail trains to the seaside town.
Mel Cox who drove diesel trains to Swanage in the dying years of the Purbeck branch line in the late 1960s and early 1970s, took to the controls of unique Victorian T3 class steam locomotive No. 563 on New Year’s Day this year.
The locomotive, which was built at Nine Elms in London during 1893, was hauling the heritage trains between Swanage, Herston, Harman’s Cross, Corfe Castle and Swanage.
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Mr Cox started his career as a 15-year-old steam locomotive cleaner at Bournemouth station in 1964 and by the late 1960s he was driving three-carriage ‘Hampshire’ class diesel-electric multiple unit trains on the ten-mile branch line connecting the main line from London at Wareham with the village of Corfe Castle and the seaside town of Swanage.
No 563 pulling into Swanage on New Year’s Day Picture: Andrew PM Wright
After a four-year battle to close the line – which opened in 1885 and was operated with steam locomotives until 1966, when diesel trains took over for the final five years of the branch line’s operation – British Rail ran its last passenger trains on the single-track branch line to Corfe Castle and Swanage on January 1, 1972.
As Mr Cox, who is a Swanage Railway volunteer driver, pulled the steam train into Corfe Castle station, he was welcomed by Bob Richards, who was the last British Rail signalman at the village station and who signalled the last British Rail train through Corfe Castle on the evening of January 1, 1972.
At Corfe Castle, Mr Cox and Mr Richardson were united with a special piece of Swanage branch line signalling history – an engraved steel tube that was issued by the Corfe Castle signalman to the British Rail train driver as the permission for the train to run on the single track from Corfe Castle down to Swanage and back to Corfe Castle.
Dating from the late 1960s, the historic item – known as a staff and used to prevent two trains from running on the same track – is preserved in the Swanage Railway Trust’s museum housed in the restored Victorian goods shed at Corfe Castle station.
Mel Cox and Bob Richards holding the staff Picture: Andrew PM Wright
Mr Cox said: “It doesn’t seem like 53 years since the last British Rail trains ran from Wareham down to Corfe Castle and Swanage – driving them through the lovely Isle of Purbeck was like entering a more leisurely and friendly world.
“Between trains at Swanage station, we used to nip down Station Road to the seafront and buy fish and chips before returning to the station and eating them with the train guard who had also come from Bournemouth station.
“It was great to meet Bob Richards again at Corfe Castle station. Some drivers at Bournemouth didn’t like branch line work but I loved it because it was different from the hustle and bustle of the main line at Bournemouth and trains to London Waterloo.
“The Swanage branch staff were like a family and it was a slower pace of life. It was very sad when the line was closed and the tracks were lifted six months later.
“Like myself, most of the other train drivers and guards at Bournemouth never thought the Swanage Railway would or could be rebuilt – because the task seemed so huge – but several generations of dedicated Swanage Railway volunteers have proved us very wrong.
Bob Richards – 1972 last BR train signalling staff Corfe Castle – with signal box Picture: Andrew PM Wright
“It’s a privilege to be a Swanage Railway volunteer and drive steam trains through the Purbeck countryside and past the ruins of Corfe Castle.
“There is a wonderful camaraderie and thankfully we have young people joining the world of the steam locomotive footplate at Swanage – just like I did at Bournemouth station back in 1964 as a 16-year-old.
“The last days of the British Rail branch line to Swanage were very sad because there was the very real prospect of a bypass being built on the redundant railway trackbed through Corfe Castle with the glorious Purbeck stone viaduct and the Victorian station being demolished to make way for the new road,” added Mr Cox who lives in Swanage and retired as a main line driver based at Bournemouth station in 2007.
Retired and living in Corfe Castle, Mr Richards said: “It was strange to hold that metal signalling staff that I handed to so many train drivers while I was a signalman at Corfe Castle but it brought back many happy memories of the branch line, the railway staff and the train drivers – including Mel who was a real character and still is.
“It’s good to know the signalling staff has been preserved and is on public display in the museum at Corfe Castle station – it’s part of the operation and history of the Swanage branch line,” added Mr Richards who started his railway career as a station porter at Corfe Castle in 1962 before moving to Swanage station as a shunter in 1964 and then returning to Corfe Castle in 1967 as a signalman.
After the closure of the Swanage branch line in January, 1972, Mr Richards moved to Wareham station signal box, from where he retired in 2007 after 45 years working on the railways.
What are some of Mr. Cox’s fondest memories from his time as a mainline driver based at Bournemouth station? Regard IT Telkom