Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

I

thas taken40years,but atlast ,regular

passengers from thenatio nalnetwork can

completetheir journeys to thecoast over

oneofEurope’stop seasideheritagelines,

namely theWestSomerset Railway(WSR).

As highlightedinissue 254, main line

operator GreatWestern Railwayhas agreed

to runatrial series of DMUshuttlesfrom

Tauntontothe southe rn terminusofheritage

services,Bishops Lydeard, wherepassengers

canchangefor atriptoMinehead, ta king in

theexhilaratingviews of theBristol Channel

coastast he lineweavesitway past the

QuantocksHillsand between Doniford Bay,

Watchet, Blue Anchor andDunster.

As reported in ourNewssection,the first

such shuttleran on Saturday,July27, andthe

expe riment withfive trains aday will continue

unti lOctober5.

Suchaservice could–and should–have

beenrun after theWSR reachedBishops

Lydeardin1979, but theintransigence of local

tradeunionists whofearedthe loss of ahandful

of busmen’s jobsstonewalled it.

However, thetrial hasopenedanew

chapter in theproudhistoryofBritain’s

seasiderailways.

Notonlydid Britaininvent thesteam railway

locomotive, but itsnetworkofrailwaysallowed

resortstospringupall aroundthecoast in

Victoriantimes, formingaplanofthe nation’s

touristeconomy. Even though themotor coach

andthe carrepla ced thetrain as thepreferred

Wanttogetawaytothecoastforadayorweekendbreak,ormaybelonger?RobinJones

andGarethEvansrevisitthesplendidchoiceofheritagerailwaysbythesea.

BRITAIN’S

20 BEST SEASIDERAILWAYS

Apopularheritagelineby theseaside:BR4MT No.75014Braveheart

climbsGoodring tonbankonJuly4withthe3pmPaigntonto Kingswear

serviceontheDartmouthSteamRailway.PAULBIGGS

DAYOUT FOCUS