Reopening the S&DJR - What are the realistic prospects?

Sun Chariot · 28 Jul 2026

Post 54, @35B mentions S&D Highbridge branch. I never tire of watching Betjeman's trip (linked) along the Slow And Dirty to Highbridge and thence Burnham-on-Sea.

Three years ago, whilst staying near to Cheddar and Axbridge (both stations still stand, albeit for other use), I convinced my dear wife and mother-in-law to visit Burnham; I imagined it as per that film.
Suffice to say, B-o-S is nothing like that, now. I drove us to the former station site (only the end bufferstop and one station's nameboard remain); but the place is deprived and a shadow of its former self.

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Severnia333 · 28 Jul 2026

drinnicksiding said:
I can’t see it happening. Shepton only being considered as it’s 95% in place already. Portishead for example is already facing challenges despite a trackbed almost totally undisturbed, something involving entirely new trackbed is very very unlikely.

And if it does happen it'll be a shuttle from Shepton to Westbury, not a through train to Bath or Bristol.

yorksrob · 28 Jul 2026

Sun Chariot said:
Post 54, @35B mentions S&D Highbridge branch. I never tire of watching Betjeman's trip (linked) along the Slow And Dirty to Highbridge and thence Burnham-on-Sea.

Three years ago, whilst staying near to Cheddar and Axbridge (both stations still stand, albeit for other use), I convinced my dear wife and mother-in-law to visit Burnham; I imagined it as per that film.
Suffice to say, B-o-S is nothing like that, now. I drove us to the former station site (only the end bufferstop and one station's nameboard remain); but the place is deprived and a shadow of its former self.

"Highbridge Wharfe, your hopes have died,
They float like driftwood on the tide,
Out, out into the open sea,
Oh sad, forgotten S&D"

The Pelican · 28 Jul 2026

The S and D's early plans to send Welsh coal (and other products) to ports on the South coast via Highbridge and Bournemouth are an interesting piece of freight economics- two extra transshipments (Welsh Railway-Bristol Channel Ferry- S&Dorset Railway-cross channel ferry) must have looked cheaper than the extra cost of sending things via Gloucester or later the Severn Tunnel.

Sun Chariot · 28 Jul 2026

yorksrob said:
"Highbridge Wharfe, your hopes have died,
They float like driftwood on the tide,
Out, out into the open sea,
Oh sad, forgotten S&D"

Perhaps it should be updated:
"Oh Burnham, fall from giddy height:
Your arcades closed, your hotels $h!te,
The Bristol Channel's nearby sluice -
A mecca for your drug abuse."

Grecian 1998 · 28 Jul 2026

The S&DJR was a masterclass in how to build a through railway as badly as possible with the benefit of long-term hindsight (I won't try to proclaim I knew the thoughts of railway companies in the mid-19th century). Completely ignore the largest railway system across the north part of your range as far as possible and decide to compete with it after it had picked and chosen the most favourable routes. When you get to Bath, connect with the far less direct route to Bristol. Where you do make a connection with another railway system at Templecombe, make it hugely convoluted with a considerable time penalty - but at least enthusiasts will love the reversals. Build your railway on the cheap so there's plenty of steep gradients and sharp curves, meaning expensive double-heading will be needed for heavy services. And make sure the two longest tunnels on the line have as narrow a bore as possible on a sharply rising gradient so your crews have to lie on the floor of the engine and hope it doesn't stall (on one occasion with tragic consequences). The fact that Combe Down Tunnel was the longest unventilated tunnel in the country wasn't a good thing.

There are still two Bristol Channel - English Channel routes open today. One has essentially 2tph from Westbury to Southampton. The other is largely 1tp2h plus summer Saturday extras. Both still have a significantly higher ruling speed than the S&D - minimum 75mph, with several higher speed sections - and would be much easier to upgrade than reopening the S&D. I suspect that Bristol - Weymouth could justify an hourly service given the population (Bristol, Bath, Frome, Yeovil, Dorchester and Weymouth) along the route if it hadn't been singled to the extent that it has, although the chances of anyone funding additional passing loops anytime soon seems remote. If there was the will, you could probably split a 5 coach Cardiff - Portsmouth service at Southampton and have 2 coaches going to Bournemouth and Poole, in a similar journey time to the S&D's crack expresses but with far more stops. I can't recall anyone calling for direct Bristol - Bournemouth services, which probably says it all.

izvor · 29 Jul 2026

Sun Chariot said:
"Oh Burnham, fall from giddy height:
Your arcades closed, your hotels $h!te,
The Bristol Channel's nearby sluice -
A mecca for your drug abuse."

So the new PM's a druggie? o_O

Acathater · 29 Jul 2026

Grecian 1998 said:
The S&DJR was a masterclass in how to build a through railway as badly as possible with the benefit of long-term hindsight (I won't try to proclaim I knew the thoughts of railway companies in the mid-19th century). Completely ignore the largest railway system across the north part of your range as far as possible and decide to compete with it after it had picked and chosen the most favourable routes...............

Factually incorrect. The Somerset Central Railway was built to broad gauge and worked by the Bristol & Exeter and was very much a local feeder service into the broad gauge network. It was connected to the Dorset Central and regauged later. The Dorset Central was worked by the L&SWR and seems to have had the controlling interest in how the line progressed.

yorksrob · 29 Jul 2026

Sun Chariot said:
Perhaps it should be updated:
"Oh Burnham, fall from giddy height:
Your arcades closed, your hotels $h!te,
The Bristol Channel's nearby sluice -
A mecca for your drug abuse."

I couldn't help reading that in Sir John's voice :lol:

One of these days I will visit Burnham to see what it's like.

Acathater · 29 Jul 2026

yorksrob said:
I couldn't help reading that in Sir John's voice

One of these days I will visit Burnham to see what it's like.

Muddy
when i was a kid we called it Burnham-on-Mud because that was more realistic than Burnham-on-Sea

HSTEd · 29 Jul 2026

I must admit I had to look this line up on the map.... it does appear to be a railway through the (relative) wilderness.

I can't see it having any chance of developing any kind of positive benefit-cost ratio.

TastyMaltesers · 30 Jul 2026

In the northern section the only settlements of note that the route crosses that aren't served by pre-existing lines would be Shepton Mallet and Radstock/Midsomer Norton. And it would be much easier to connect them to the network by extending the pre-existing lines from East Somerset Jn and Frome respectively.

mrcheek · 30 Jul 2026

Theres a magnificent series of railway books, the "Then and Now" series, mostly made in the 1990s.

They took old railway photos, and tried to recreate the scene years later.

many of the photos are similar, with only the trains being different. Often of course, junctions have been rationalised, maybe a station has lost a platform, or the trees are now a bit higher.

But in the Somerset and Dorset volume, for the "Now" photos, you barely see a train, or even track.
Its mostly housing estates and industrial parks. The lines have long been built over.

If it was agreed to bring every single old railway line back into service, this one might well be the very last on the list!

Acathater · 30 Jul 2026

TastyMaltesers said:
In the northern section the only settlements of note that the route crosses that aren't served by pre-existing lines would be Shepton Mallet and Radstock/Midsomer Norton. And it would be much easier to connect them to the network by extending the pre-existing lines from East Somerset Jn and Frome respectively.

Problem is those lines run south and east while what is really needed are lines north for commuting into Bath and Bristol. But you also need to add the other towns around there into the mix - Street, Glastonbury, Wells. Problem is then that again the old routes were all on branches with a mainline heading south and junctions facing the wrong direction.
Maybe a better idea to look at reopening the GWR line north/east from Radstock toward Bristol and somehow linking that south in the Street / Glastonbury direction on a new route. Light rail maybe?

Zomboid · 30 Jul 2026

Acathater said:
Problem is those lines run south and east while what is really needed are lines north for commuting into Bath and Bristol. But you also need to add the other towns around there into the mix - Street, Glastonbury, Wells. Problem is then that again the old routes were all on branches with a mainline heading south and junctions facing the wrong direction.
Maybe a better idea to look at reopening the GWR line north/east from Radstock toward Bristol and somehow linking that south in the Street / Glastonbury direction on a new route. Light rail maybe?

This really illustrates why reopening isn't the right approach. Whilst there would never be the money for it, if the likes of Shepton Mallet or Wells were to get a rail service, a new line linking it to the cities that the population of those places want to go is the answer, not putting back a Victorian compromise that was designed to get mendip coal to Bournemouth and the like.

35B · 30 Jul 2026

Acathater said:
Problem is those lines run south and east while what is really needed are lines north for commuting into Bath and Bristol. But you also need to add the other towns around there into the mix - Street, Glastonbury, Wells. Problem is then that again the old routes were all on branches with a mainline heading south and junctions facing the wrong direction.
Maybe a better idea to look at reopening the GWR line north/east from Radstock toward Bristol and somehow linking that south in the Street / Glastonbury direction on a new route. Light rail maybe?

Wells was on the GW Frome - Yatton line; the branch to Glastonbury closed very early indeed and was even less viable than the S&D Highbridge branch

Mike Machin · 30 Jul 2026

HowardGWR said:
Would not a serious update of the line Weymouth to Bristol / Swindon (essentially the WW&WR) do the trick? The present route is low speed, part single tracked, and stocked with bus-like units. A service starting in Bournemouth and reversing in Weymouth, that could run every hour, and provided better comfort and did not try to be a local service at the same time, could be transformational. I suggest that a service from Bournemouth that, after Weymouth, only stopped at Dorchester West (having already stopped at South on the way*), then only Yeovil, Westbury, Trowbridge, Bath and Bristol, would provide most of what the S&DJR attempted to provide. Connection at Westbury or Trowbridge for Swindon would provide a link north eastwards.

*The alternative is to provide a turn back siding at Dorchester or construct a chord through "Do-it-all" across the carpark. The former is realistic, not the latter, I think.

If the prime requirement is to provide a link between Bournemouth to Bristol and South Wales, subject to suitable paths being available, perhaps a direct service from Bournemouth setting off in the other direction could be considered.

This service could call at Brockenhurst (New Forest/IOW potential), Southampton Central, Parkway (airport link), Salisbury, Westbury, Bath, Bristol etc.

Just a thought?

brad465 · 30 Jul 2026

TastyMaltesers said:
In the northern section the only settlements of note that the route crosses that aren't served by pre-existing lines would be Shepton Mallet and Radstock/Midsomer Norton. And it would be much easier to connect them to the network by extending the pre-existing lines from East Somerset Jn and Frome respectively.

Acathater said:
Problem is those lines run south and east while what is really needed are lines north for commuting into Bath and Bristol. But you also need to add the other towns around there into the mix - Street, Glastonbury, Wells. Problem is then that again the old routes were all on branches with a mainline heading south and junctions facing the wrong direction.
Maybe a better idea to look at reopening the GWR line north/east from Radstock toward Bristol and somehow linking that south in the Street / Glastonbury direction on a new route. Light rail maybe?

Is the North Somerset Heritage Railway proposal still happening? If not, maybe a tram linking Frome to Radstock and Midsomer Norton, using the old trackbed of the route to Radstock, then the S&DJR route onward to Midsomer Norton (with some sort of road crossing in the town centre)?

overthere 2 · Thursday at 12:26

The following is a "Cloud":

Farewell

G ARTELL LIGHT RAILWAY: APPROACHING THE END OF THE LINE This is a situation I have been trying to avoid, but the time has come to announce that our Open Day on 26th October 2026 will be the last for...

newglr.weebly.com

GARTELL LIGHT RAILWAY: APPROACHING THE END OF THE LINE

This is a situation I have been trying to avoid, but the time has come to announce that our
Open Day on 26th October 2026 will be the last for the Gartell Light Railway.

Age has caught up with us all, and the amount of work required to keep the locomotives,
coaches, platforms, permanent way, and all other aspects of the railway running must not be
underestimated. This work has been carried out by our hardworking team of volunteers,
including the unsung heroes in the buffet who have kept us and our visitors fed and watered.
I would also like to thank all the volunteers, past and present, who have helped make the
railway what it is today. I hope you are all proud of how the railway looks now.

I feel I must mention four volunteers who have been with us for most of the journey. Ian
Matthews, a school friend of mine, helped me lay the original track in the engine shed and
build the set of green coaches. John Penny (CJ, as we know him) has been responsible for
the extensive signalling and the general daily operations. Shortly afterwards, Sheila and her
late husband Graham joined us; they tended the gardens and parked the cars. Sheila also
provided refreshments for us on working days and looked after the buffet.
From Christine and myself, a huge thank you to you all.

We are saying goodbye to approximately 45 years of work, from the time construction began through to the open days, which started in 1991. In those early days, my late father parked the cars in the works yard and my late mother sold the tickets for the train rides.
Chris thought I was mad to start this project, but I am incredibly grateful for her endless
support and hard work behind the scenes, as well as that of our family, whose unseen efforts
have helped make the railway what it is today.

Thank you all.

We do intend to keep things operational for a while for special events, just to keep the
railway alive a little longer, without the commitment of regular open days.
Finally, I must thank our visitors for their support of the railway over the years. We have met
some lovely people along the way, and hopefully we will go out on a high.
Once again, to all our volunteers, past and present, many, many thanks.

You have made the railway what it is today.

John Gartell

But here is the possible "Silver lining"

The problem for a lot of heritage railways is back in the day they wanted to save a complete line from "A - G" but for various reasons (usually financial) they had to settle for just "D - E".

Years later when they are established and have got money they find that while "A - B" and "F - G" are good to go station "C" has been turned into a supermarket and the track bed from "E" - to just before "F" is now a road so the line can never be completed.

Meanwhile with the canal restoration movement and I've noticed lately with both the Lynton and Barnstaple and the Helston railway they are buying up any odd bit of land that becomes available with the hope in the future that they can acquire the in-between bits and have a canal/railway that runs all the way from "A - F"

Looking at Google maps the line starts from what I guess was back in the day a farm, now light industrial units across a field and on to the old track bed itself.

Reading the press release it doesn't sound like they are selling the buildings and moving on so the whole site would become available at a considerable price, instead, it sounds like they are staying put just shutting the railway so I'm wondering if any of the following would be feasible?

Shillingstone or any other of the other S a D preservation groups take it over and keep it running as it is then IF a standard gauge preservation line ever gets to the site the narrow-gauge tracks are taken up and along with the locomotive's, carriage's and anything else that cant be used on a standard gauge track are sold lock stock and barrel and then the track is re-laid as standard gauge.

Or, if the family want to cash in the assets now the track bed is given/sold at a giveaway price to Shillingstone/a S a D group and "banked" for future use.

35B · Friday at 16:29

overthere 2 said:
But here is the possible "Silver lining"

The problem for a lot of heritage railways is back in the day they wanted to save a complete line from "A - G" but for various reasons (usually financial) they had to settle for just "D - E".

Years later when they are established and have got money they find that while "A - B" and "F - G" are good to go station "C" has been turned into a supermarket and the track bed from "E" - to just before "F" is now a road so the line can never be completed.

Meanwhile with the canal restoration movement and I've noticed lately with both the Lynton and Barnstaple and the Helston railway they are buying up any odd bit of land that becomes available with the hope in the future that they can acquire the in-between bits and have a canal/railway that runs all the way from "A - F"

Looking at Google maps the line starts from what I guess was back in the day a farm, now light industrial units across a field and on to the old track bed itself.

Reading the press release it doesn't sound like they are selling the buildings and moving on so the whole site would become available at a considerable price, instead, it sounds like they are staying put just shutting the railway so I'm wondering if any of the following would be feasible?

Shillingstone or any other of the other S a D preservation groups take it over and keep it running as it is then IF a standard gauge preservation line ever gets to the site the narrow-gauge tracks are taken up and along with the locomotive's, carriage's and anything else that cant be used on a standard gauge track are sold lock stock and barrel and then the track is re-laid as standard gauge.

Or, if the family want to cash in the assets now the track bed is given/sold at a giveaway price to Shillingstone/a S a D group and "banked" for future use.

The comparisons are of chalk and cheese. Both L&B and Helston are relatively confined lines, with the L&B (if restored in full) at the outer end of what might be viable for a heritage railway.

The S&D is a 70 mile trunk, with a 25 mile branch. It goes through very empty country, and the sections are neither especially close nor likely to join.

The L&B have been land banking, but it's also notable that they've done this as a considered project, with active support and fundraising, and at market value - not relying on people giving away land.

Reopening the S&DJR - What are the realistic prospects?

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