Midsomer Norton Station 2012

PRESERVED & SPECIAL INTEREST
RAILWAY PHOTOGRAPHS

MIDSOMER NORTON SOUTH STATION 2012

This station was opened on 20 July 1874 as part of the Somerset & Dorset Railway's extension from Evercreech Junction to Bath. This extension allowed Midland Railway trains to establish a profitable holiday link from the north, with many summer expresses bringing holiday-makers from Manchester, Birmingham, etc to the sandy beaches of Bournemouth.

For most of its life, the S&DJR was operated in partnership by the London & South Western Railway (from 1923 Southern Railway), and the Midland Railway (from 1923 London, Midland & Scottish Railway). However, the S&DJR remained an independent company right through to nationalisation in 1948. After nationalisation, the S&DJR became part of the Southern Region of British Railways.

The inevitable move of passenger and goods traffic to the roads during the 1950s, and the fact that it was still essentially a rural line, left it vulnerable to closure. The "Beeching Axe" swung in 1966, and the line with all the remaining S&DJR stations from Bournemouth West to Bath Green Park were closed. Most of the stations have been demolished, but Midsomer Norton (and Shillingstone in Dorset) survived the bulldozers.

The Somerset & Dorset Heritage Trust was established in 1992, and has restored the Midsomer Norton South station. Visitor facilities include a restaurant car and a museum in the former stables. Plans include relaying tracks to Chilcompton, the next station south, via the Chilcompton Tunnel. There are thoughts of an extension in the opposite direction towards Radstock, but this would require the reinstatement of a road bridge.

The photographs below were taken on Sunday 25th March 2012.

Sentinel Steam locomotive 7109. Manufactured by the Sentinel Waggon Works at Shrewsbury in 1927, Sentinel 7109 is a balanced, double-engined, single-geared, industrial steam locomotive. It has a pair of transverse engines at the front and a vertical water-tubed boiler at the rear in the cab. It uses gears and chains to transfer the drive to the axles. Two 200HP design variants were made to suit the Somerset & Dorset at Radstock where a low bridge required reduced maximum height. These were the Radstock Sentinels with lowered cab roofs. As Sentinel 7109 has its boiler the right way up (vertical), steam and smoke exhaust straight up and out of the top, in this case through a hole in the cab roof.

This two-car Class 108 Diesel Multiple Unit arrived by road in November 2011 from their previous restoration home at Long Marston in Warwickshire. The DMU, on loan to the railway at Midsomer Norton, belongs to an owner group, who will restore and maintain the it during its stay, with some minor remedial attention being required before it is ready to run. It was hoped to have regular passenger services from April to September 2012.