Yesterday, 01 September 2007, I decide that with nothing else planned I would take a trip to Weymouth.

First snag my train from Yate arrives at BTM at 0804, the same time as the 0804 leaves for Weymouth.

Saw it leave, a 150 and a 153.

A TPE liveried 3 car 158 (158798) draws into platform 5 and awaits the incoming service from Cardiff, couples and forms the 0904 to Weymouth, now a 5 car 158.

Uneventful journey running a few minutes late by journeys end but every seat on the train was needed as passengers from Yeovil were hard pressed to find 2 seats together.

At Maiden Newton a load of hikers bailed out.

At Weymouth (arrived Platform 1) 3-car 158 uncoupled and shunted to platform 2 to join, but not couple to, 153 from previous 0804 service from Bristol.

Whilst on forward journey I also pointed out to a number of passengers brandishing all three timetable types, Heart of Wessex line pamplet, FGW pocket timetable and credit card sixe line timetable that they were all wrong and showed a return service at 1749 when in fact it was at 1721. Arrival at Weymouth and perusal of the line timetable posted in the foyer at the station confirmed this to them.

Arriving back at the station for the 1721 back to Bristol, I walked down the platform and noticed rubbish over the tables of the 3-car 158, some neatly bagged and tied in supermarket bags for ease of cleaning by thoughful passengers from the forward journey, but other visible rubbish was empty beer cans and coke bottles. At least the six females travelling to Weymouth for a 'Hen Night Weekend' and who were sat in the vacinity of myself did put their empty Carling cans in the rubbish bin behind one of their seats.

A SWT service from Waterloo arrived and within seconds of the last passenger disembarking from the end door of the last carriage a cleaner, female and smartly dressed in standard SWT issue uniform and carrying an empty see thru plastic bin liner boarded and started a sweep through the train for rubbish. A male colleague had started at the other end and both met up in the last but one carriage of the 5-car train.

I would say that within 5 minutes of that train arriving the interior was as spotless as one could get it at a terminal station.

On the other hand the FGW unit which had sat in platform 2 since its arrival there at about noon was still in the untidy state that it had arrived and been left by the inbound passengers.

In an even worse state was the inbound service due to arrive at 1709. This service was a Wessex branded 158, One rubbish bin in the train was jammed full of John Smiths Bitter cans, there were about 6 ermpty Sainsburys carrier bags aroung the carriage and I did notice a Sainburys till receipt which I looked at and it was for 10 4-packs of John Smiths bitter and was from the Frome store. Judging by the number of empty cans strewn about I can well imagine all were drunk en route. Also stewn about were newspapers clearly indicating where the train had come from, South Wales with the South Wales Argos, and Bristol with the Bristol Evening Post, The Sun, The Mirror and The times were other titles I noticed.

The inbound 158 coupled up with the 3-car 158 and I'll call it 'the rubbish pit' set off to Bristol a minute or two down but this was recovered by Catle Cary.

A smartly dressed female who boarded at Westbury refused to sit with, I presume, her boyfriend in one pair of seats, to use her words, 'I'm not sitting there amongst that lot of trash', and walked on through the carriage to seats towards the centre of the coach.

Not very impressed with FGW 'after sales service' today.

 
Your report Marty on the state of cleanliness of FGW stock at Weymouth doesnt surprise me. I doubt SWT staff go anywhere near FGW stock when it arrives at Weymouth if they can help it. Its a shame the National Rail slogan 'Britain's Rail companies working together' in many cases doesnt really apply as all the companies involved in running the railways are fierce competitors both on the bus and rail networks.

 
I think you will find that FGW pay SWT to clean their trains for them, so it sounds like they are wasting their money, and ought to ask for a refund

 
Probably pay back for having to put up with the hassle of FGW passengers in the summer who cant get on a two car 150 on a hot sunday afternoon and take it out on the SWT staff as they wouldnt know the difference. Most people probably still think that because the British Rail logo is on all the stations that it is still one company running the trains.

 
Not usually one to frequent the Weymouth area, out of interest, does anyone know what rolling stock FGW uses here?

 
Plus the 67s & mk 2s on the Saturday High Summer service.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that 153s don't get to Weymouth very often as they try to avoid sending lone 153s up the 1 in 50 climb at Evershot Bank. Of course Pacer's never get to Weymouth as they can't run over the juice rail!

TLM

 
it could be anything except a 143,if a 153 is down there it is normally coupled to something else.

 
At approx 1750, a full FGW HST passed through Upwey, heading in the Dorchester direction.

Is this an additional non-timetabled service, or was it the 'loco-hauled' train running an hour late?

Unless Virgin used HSTs through to Weymouth (which I don't think they did), would I be correct in suggesting it is the first visit since the late 1980s, when Intercity ran a special through from Bournemouth?

Regards

Luke

 
Just had a look at the live journey information, and I believe that the HST was operating the 1730 Weymouth - Bristol Temple Meads rather than the loco hauled diagram. Was running 22 down when I last looked.

Regards

 
43124 + OC49 + 43041
2O90 1449 BRI-WEY
2V93 1730 WEY-BRI

67016 + CP02 + 67017
2O79 0909 BRI-WEY
2V67 1655 WEY-BRI

Quite an impressive line up for Weymouth 

 
So does anyone know why the HST ran?   

 
Presume the unit was short-formed after the farce at Bradford On Avon earlier.

 
Does anybody know if an HST will be working this service regularly on this year's summer saturdays?

 
Extremely unlikely, it didn't keep to timings at all well.

 
Could be a bit of squeeze on the 0915 BTM-Weymouth today:

09:15 Bristol Temple Meads to Weymouth due 11:27
This train will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 5.This is due to an earlier train fault.

This may affect the 1800 return journey this evening as the same stock that forms 0915 down service forms this train unless some re-gigging can be done to strengthen this train before this evening.

UPDATE: the 1800 managed to find an extra carriage!

18:00 Weymouth to Bristol Temple Meads due 20:20
This train will be formed of 4 coaches instead of 5.This is due to an earlier train fault.

 

what farce?

 
Units all misplaced after fatality.

 
Going off topic here, but does the Loco Hauled service operate on Sunday...? if so, does anybody know the timings...

 
No, it doesn't.

 
Boring

 
Could do with an HST heading to Weymouth again this afternoon as it could be a bit of a sqeeze this evening as the scheduled 5 carriages for the 1730 Weymouth to Bristol will be just a single 2 carriage unit. To FGW's credit, road transport is being provided fast to Westbury:

17:30 Weymouth to Bristol Temple Meads due 20:05
This train has been revised.This train will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 5.This is due to an earlier train fault.

Additional road transport will be in operation running non-stop from Weymouth to Westbury at 17:30.

 
Not likely, HST fleet is already quite stretched:

1x Relief Penzance - Paddington
2x Relief Plymouth - Paddington

and earlier
1000 Cardiff - Taunton
1211 Taunton - Bristol were formed of an HST.

Not sure what has happened to cause this drop in unit availability!

 
Not been the best of weekend for it to happen being a bank holiday/half term week.

 
Surely though if the HST was that stretched, they wouldn't have been able to diagram that additional HST last Saturday? Wouldn't that set be available at the same time next Saturday?

 
HSTs to Weymouth aren't a feasible option. 8 carriages is too many, and they require a special type of bogie to avoid risk of shorting out on the 3rd rail.

 
the only way hst's would run to time on that service without removing stops is to remove coaches, too much messing around for one service

 
Hmmm - while I understand about the length of the trains being a problem - I cannot see the 3rd rail being an issue.

HSTs have run regularly to Bournemouth, Poole and Portsmouth in the past, as well as diversions into Waterloo and i'm told no modification had to be made to them. If the risk of them shorting out was that great, HSTs would be banned from 3rd rail lines as per 143s surely?

 
yeh you dont normally see mk 3's bouncing like pacers

 

For Hsts to run on 3rd rail they need Short Swing Link SSL bogies. XC sets had these.

 
this is a wild guess... im guessing the chance of actual contact is very slim if not impossible? is it to prevent arc'ing

 
The Sprinter Meister is the person to ask. I read a detailed answer of his elsewhere today.

 
Buffet Refurbishment possibly...?

 
HST was definitely a 'last minute' decision caused by acute set shortages mainly caused by the fatality near 'Tuckers' crossing, Bradford on Avon. Set was operated by a 'High Speed' (HSS) crew (Bristol based presumably), as they had the traction knowledge, with them being piloted by a 'West' crew (Bristol or Westbury based), as they had the route knowledge.

One way an untrained eye can tell if an FGW HST set is formed of SSL fitted vehicles is that the letters SSL or LSL are usually displayed at the ends of the carriages, depending on which type is fitted.

 
Indeed. On Saturday 2x158/9s and 1x150/2 were taken out for inspection after than fatality.

8 carriages is quite a substantial amount!

 
To be fair this is not the first time a FGW HST has run over 3rd rail territory this year, dont forget they sent a HST set down to Fratton in January for the Portsmouth vs Swansea match.

 

Twice!

 
Hi, fullspeedahead - thanks for your post, and welcome to the Coffee Shop forum! 

 
Thanks very much. Been reading the forums for some time and so decided to join.

 

After reading this post I've been keeping an eye out and haven't so far spotted a single FGW HST set that does not have all vehicles marked "SSL", so from a purely technical point of view regular HST services over the 3rd rail could be feasible.

 
From an operational point of view, platform length and slow acceleration would be the main barriers I suspect.
8 Coaches is too long for a number of stations on the Portsmouth-Cardiff route for instance,  shame since a reintroduced Portsmouth to Penzance service on a HST would be quite a pleasant ride I'm sure.

As far as I'm aware the trips down to Fratton were at police insistence- Imagine the scene if the away supporters got to the station and saw that the 17.31 was a 3-car 158! 

 
There are trailers which don't have SSL bogies but I am sure I read somewhere that what is now wrote on the trailers is not necessarily the truth.

 
Another went today!!!
1749 ex Bristol, and it was very, very late!
The computer says 52 late back into Bristol!

 
Reading the Wikipedia page on Cardiff Central it currently states that FGW will run a Cardiff (or wherever in South Wales) -> Weymouth train in 2012 prior to the Summer Olympics.

Given Wikipedia's renowned unreliability for fact, Can anyone here confirm this?

 
Probably hasn't been finalised so I wouldn't trust anything on Wiki that isn't referenced.

 
Sounds perfectly plausible though - no-one said anything about using HSTs in this case. It's not so many years ago a lot of Weymouth services originated/terminated at Cardiff. I used to catch one such regularly on a Saturday morning which always switched to an ATW crew at Bath for some reason.

 

had a set with 2 LSL Trailers Yesterday

 
Are there many sections on the Cardiff - Portsmouth route that have a speed limit high enough to justify having some permanent HST services?  I'm thinking that during rush hour and popular off-peak times, a couple of HSTs would be more than welcome serving this route, especially if they reduced the journey time slightly!

 
Almost certainly not!

I don't know if an HST would be able to keep to 158 timings either - it may be that the acceleration isn't good enough. Then there's the issue of SSL vs. LSL bogies over the third rail and it all gets rather complicated!

 

Bath - Bristol is probably the only section where an HST "trumps" a 158 on top speed.

 
The Fratton - Cardiff service went via Eastleigh and Chandlers Ford apparently because HSTs are too heavy for the Hamble bridge near Bursledon, therefore missing out Southampton. I guess that wouldn't be too successful an alteration in the peaks...

Paul

 

Or at all!

Travel to Southampton is one of the more popular 'flows' on that route.

Certainly it's the only journey i've ever made on Cardiff - Portsmouth trains in the direction of the south coast!

 
Wow I am suprised. I would not mind sitting in the quiet carriage on the way to Weymouth.

 
Hi

I thought you might like to know that the Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day is once again being held on Sunday 20th June 2010. FREE vintage buses run to all different places in and around Weymouth including Bowleaze Cove, Nothe Fort and Portland Bill and much more. The event will be held at Weymouth College which is right next to Lodmoor Coach Park and the Sea Life Centre. The FREE bus service 454 will connect Weymouth Railway Station to the rally site at 09:55, 10:45, 11:15, 11:45 and approximately hourly thereafter.

This event attracts a large number of visitors every year and is very popular, including this event which is being held in Torquay on Sunday 5th September 2010. 

I would highly recommend the Portland Bill bus ride as this journey gives spectacular views of Chesil Beach. There is a static display of buses next to the departure area with stalls selling a wide range of bus and train merchandise. Me and my mum attended last year and it was very enjoyable and fun to have FREE bus rides on vintage buses. We shall be attending again this year by train and then taking the FREE bus service from the railway station forecourt to the rally site (approx 10 mins journey).

For more information visit www.weymouthvbrd.co.uk and if you do decide to attend have a lovely day and we will see you there.

Many Thanks

 
Thanks very much for posting that, James 158: I've just added it to our calendar, as well.

C. 

 

What calendar?

 
See http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?action=calendar

There's a link to it, in the bar towards the left-hand top of the screen, just under your username login details.

C. 

 
Me and my mum have just come back from Weymouth after spending 2 days staying with a friend. We caught the bus on Thursday at 06:38 and arrived Weymouth at 14:29. We caught all First Bus services and had to change 3 times. The ticket we bought is called FirstDay South West and costs ^8.00 before 09:00 and ^7.10 after 09:00 for a adult (^5.60 for a student and ^5.80 for a child). The journey details are below:-

Bristol - Wells (service 376)
Wells - Yeovil (service 377)
Yeovil - Bridport (service 47)
Bridport - Weymouth (service 31 or X53)

We were originally going to stay in a Guest House but they were all fully booked so a good friend offered to put us up for the night. We then went back out and went on the bus to Lyme Regis (service 31 or X53). We then caught the last bus back to Weymouth after spending 1hour 35 mins there.

The following day we just relaxed on a bench on the esplanade in Weymouth before catching the last train back to Bristol Temple Meads at 20:21 (unfortunately it wasn't cancelled as we did not want to go back home). If this service was cancelled what would FGW have done? We bought our ticket on the train costing ^12.45 for an off peak single with the Family & Friends Railcard. The train was lovely and peaceful until Bath Spa where hords of drunk people boarded shouting and singing all the way to BTM. It is like this all the way from Weymouth on Saturday nights. According to a poster at Weymouth Railway Station FGW have now banned alcohol on the 20:21 Weymouth to BTM service on Saturdays due to the rowdy lot that get on. They now need to consider banning alcohol all the time. BTP also need to make a presence on this service to keep an eye out for any trouble.

 

Provided alternative transport, i.e. a bus or taxis. It's all covered in the conditions of carriage.

And on the alcohol point, it doesn't do a lot of good banning alcohol on the service if people are already well oiled before they get on board - like you said, they only travelled from bath to Bristol. That must have taken all of 15 minutes. Not even I could put away enough booze to do that much damage in 15 minutes.

 
You'd enjoy the last one back from Bristol to Frome on Saturdays then...

 
Or indeed either of the last two services from Temple Meads to Paddington on a Saturday...

 

Why would we? Is it full of drunks. They would not have that on the Rail Replacement Buses to Frome.

 

Why?

 
You've answered your own question two posts above.

And rail replacement buses suffer from exactly the same problem, trust me. I've experienced it at first hand.

 
Did anybody attend the Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day. It was a fantastic event yesterday.

 
i wish i went! i belive my fav a gm buses metrobus was in attendance looking very smart :-) photo from the owner below

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markamis/4718881050/

 
It was an excellent day. The vintage bus rides were good. Portland Bill was the best journey as it gives panoramic views of Chesil Beach when climbing up steep hills. The attendance was good. The stalls and stands were interesting selling a wide range of bus and train products. We went on every bus route apart from the ''mystery tour'' as there was no room left on the bus for us.

 
From the Dorset Echo:

 

While I genuinely have every sympathy with Becky Leeming, I do think that her sentiments about 'getting rid of' those currently disused, but historic, tramlines (just for the sake of it) could be applied, rather more relevantly, to the present and rather more dangerous potholes and raised drain covers that we cyclists also have to deal with.

 

 
I tend to agree with Chris's sentinments.

It's intersting that the same thing used to said about tramlines in major towns.

I recall my mother saying she used to cycle into Southampton every day before the war and she was always very careful about crossing tramlines and they could be tricky in the wet.

But there is one thing to said about tramlines rather than potholes and drain covers they are always in the same place and don't appear suddenly in front of you.

 
Update on this from the Dorset Echo
http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/9306448._Danger__Weymouth_quayside_tracks_to_be_filled/?ref=mr

 
I've come a cropper twice while riding my bicycle along Bristol's harbourside where there are similar embedded tracks.

I get off and wheel my bike across at certain points now.

 
One of the points raised elsewhere is that although it is known as a tramway, they are actually normal rails and parallel checkrails, so the gap is much deeper than you get with a normal street tram rail cross section.

It will never be used again now so I reckon they should just get on and dig it up...

Paul

 
The Highway Code places a clear responsibility on the road users who's reading the code (which will be cyclists, motorcyclists, car, van, lorry and bus drivers - presumably in addition to tram drivers) and having been given that responsibility, it's a bit rich to claim a danger.  Heck - lorries are a danger to cyclists too, but there's no proposal to ban them; we ask the cyclists to take care.


Having said which ... as it stands, the Weymouth tramway is the worst of both worlds ... it's not used, but at the same time it probably adds an element of risk.  What a further tourist draw it would be if a shuttle passenger service were to run from the back of Comet down to the Quay. I was thinking "steam train" but one could also consider tram, with a terminal loop in front of the station. My heart says "keep it in that way" but my head says that if that can't be the case, then there is a case for taking it out.

 
Does it cost any money to maintain? if not or if the cost is minimal how much would it cost to remove?

 
How do the cyclists in Fleetwood, Wolverhampton, Sheffield, Manchester, Croydon (and soon to be joined by Edinburgh) - all of which have street running trams - cope when it seems cyclists in Weymouth cannot?

And cyclists in Porthmadog where the Welsh Highland line runs along the street to the Ffestiniog railway station?

Come to think of it, how do cyclists cope with all those potentially dangerous rails at level crossings on the national rail network?

Perhaps cyclists in Weymouth should take a tip from cyclists in these towns and take care to avoid the tram lines.  An appropriate warnng sign might help them.     

 

Despite the name, the line in Weymouth is not really a tramway, there are normal rails and sleepers buried under the road surface, the gap is more like that between a mainline running rail and checkrail.  Therefore the gap is significantly deeper than a modern tram rail, where the recess is only about the same depth as a wheel flange.


They generally ride straight across the rails, not along them...   

 
What's the use of keeping the Weymouth tramway? As far as I can see it's almost entirely pointless these days - there's very little shipping from the harbour, absolutely no demand for services and in any case they'd be a regulatory nightmare to reinstate on public roads. Add to that the fact that there's a signal or some other fairly permanent structure erected in the four-foot of the line just south of Weymouth station and it would seem to me that the chances of any sort of traffic running over the line is virtually zero.

The track really isn't all that historic, and just creates a risk for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike. Would anyone really genuinely miss it if it was removed?

 
It's a waste of money removing it

 
Concur. 

While it remains in situ 'enthusiasts' will carry on with all sorts of amazing ideas for how it could be used, but a few minutes online research suggests that the only official debate is centred on who should pay to remove it. 

NR will probably be hoping that the local council bites the bullet whenever resurfacing of the road is needed.

Paul

 

from http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/10818220._/?

Despite the "celebrations" both being of closures (should they really be celebrated?) the article contains some interesting historical information and commentary

 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-28141829

..hopefully, but I'm not optimistic

 
Probably totally impractical and IMHO of all the re-opening schemes discussed on this forum, the least likely to be able to provide a viable business case as part of the national network.  As a self-contained one-tram-working tourist attraction, there may be a case, but as the trains only ever travelled at walking pace through the narrow street section, as a serious Park and Ride option (again IMHO) a non-starter.

We may need to be content with the You Tube videos of the 'glory' days.

 
Hadn't the local authority started the ball rolling to 'officially' close the line so that it could be lifted?

 
Interesting that the stub of the Quay branch is still available, e.g. for parking the Saturday HST during busy periods:



http://stevestrainpics.weebly.com/uploads/6/9/0/5/6905506/1238474_orig.jpg?684  (found via wnxx)

Paul

 
I lived in Weymouth during its last years of regular operation. The slow speed was as much due to parked cars having to be cleared off the line as well as the safety issues of a heavy railway on the street.

With a regular tram / light railway service maybe this wouldn't be much of a problem, although I can't see what business case could be made for it.

 
Incidentally, the line from Weymouth Station to Weymouth Quay which served the Channel Island ferries is the subject of a rescue bid to save it from being ripped up. The aim seems to model it on the likes of the Bristol Docks Railway or the Chatham Dockyard railway. It's been started by quite a young chap who began it all with more enthusiasm than experience but has been gradually learning the ropes and has lost none of his drive to make something happen. The Weymouth Quay Heritage Campaign page on Facebook is quite informative.

 
Good luck to anyone trying that - there have been many attempts to turn it into a tramway of some kind most latterly for the Olympics; the main problem hitherto is that it doesn't do anything like a really useful journey end-to-end to make it financially viable.

 
In view of some renewed interest in this particular set of rails, in discussions on the Coffee Shop forum, I've now moved and merged a couple of threads here. 

 
From (my) Facebook post


It's MASSIVE good news that the TransWilts Sunday service starts now and henceforth at 09:00 on on Sunday morning all year rather that 2 hours later in Winter.   Not (yet) running as far as Swindon ... but just wait.

Recent reliability issues have lead me to delay this announcement here, with advise from GWR to check today to see if the train's running tomorrow.    However, GWRHelp told me earlier today


but added when I quoted recent weekend record of last minute issues

 
P.S.  Outbound to Weymouth - 09:17 ex Swindon with an extra change at Chippenham.   Return evening train should go all the way Westbury to Swindon (and then carries on to Cheltenham Spa)

 

 
A one off (for now at least) return for me, purely because I happen to be on site right now.

No trains have run to Weymouth Quay since the late 1990s, which is obviously an awfully long time ago now. If someone were to try and organise a theoretical railtour to Weymouth Quay in the present day late 2010s, can those with knowledge of these things give an idea of what would need to be done to make it feasible?

 
I think this would have been done by the railtour companies by now if it were at all possible.

I understand that current H&S rules won't allow it, and nor would NR.

 
I do not think is will ever see trains again. This link may be of interest



http://www.rail.co.uk/rail-news/2016/weymouth-quay-line/

 

PARTIAL data, Lee ... to start you off

a) The Quay station has (or had when I was there) a fence / vertical post for a fence right on the platform at about the north end of the building which would need to be removed if you wanted to get more that about 1 carriage into the platform

b) There is significant undergrowth on the track where it leads onto railway land just to the west of the main Weymouth station; how much is just summer growth and how much would need to be cut back, I don't know

c) I think I read that the state of the sleepers / ties under the road surface in the area alongside the quays where points use to be is poor - may be so poor that they would not support a train.

Knowing all the H&S issues with heavy rail, perhaps a lightweight diesel or petrol tram brought in on a low loader .... driver up front, trips between the little 'island' area that's off the main road near the bus garage and the north end of the quay station?

 
As far as I can tell from the current online sectional appendix, dated June 2017, the first part of the branch is (although overgrown) is theoretically open as a siding, from 168 m 31 ch, to the point at 168 m 52 ch, say a quarter mile. That puts the railway operational boundary right at the road crossing behind B&Q.  Depending on how you measure it the boundary might even be the south side of that road, hence including the 'crossing'.   

However beyond that point the tramway is declared permanently out of use, and no longer included in the track line drawing.  I reckon they ought to get on and finalise the full closure.

Paul

 
Wow. Somewhere on the yootoobz I've seen a video which shows this:
But I don't recall it showing either this:
or this:

 
This gives more detail and indicates the line south of the road now belongs to the Borough Council. There is a very strong cycling lobby asking for the removal of the rails since bikes get stuck in the gap between the rail and guard rail.

http://www.island-publishing.co.uk/quaybrch.htm

John Lucking's 1986 book on the Weymouth tramway is full of photos.

Documents in the National Archive indicate that the first scheme for a tramway went from the station to the esplanade and down the front by the sea all the way to the pier! It was rejected unsurprisingly.

 
There is a sort campaign to keep it open:
https://www.change.org/p/weymouth-weymouth-quay-heritage-railway

 

Yes, I travelled behind a loco & coach set a couple of times when it still ran, and can recall this....


No, maybe in steam days?