The Somerset & Dorset Railway Through Time - Softcover

Gillett, Steph

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1445650371 ISBN 13: 9781445650371

Publisher: Amberley Publishing, 2016

Synopsis

The Somerset & Dorset Railway, known as the S&D (said to also stand for Slow and Dirty’ or Serene and Delightful’), ran from Bath across the Mendip hills to Bournemouth on the south coast. Never a high-speed line, the main traffic for the Somerset & Dorset during the winter months was freight and local passenger traffic. In the summer, however, there was heavy traffic as Saturday holiday services from the northern industrial towns passed along the line. In 1962, John Betjeman travelled along the Somerset & Dorset from Evercreech Junction to Highbridge and Burnham-on-Sea, making a BBC documentary called Branch Line Railway, in which he pleaded for the line to be spared from the Beeching cuts. However, despite an active campaign to save it, and the promise by the new Labour government that there would be no more railway cutbacks, on 7 March 1966 the whole line was closed. 2016 will see the fiftieth anniversary of the closure of this much-mourned railway; here in this well-illustrated book, the history of the line is preserved.

About this title

About the Author:

Steph is a railway enthusiast and museum curator. He is also a member of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust. He lives in Bristol.

About this edition

• Publisher: Amberley Publishing
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1445650371
• ISBN 13: 9781445650371
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96