BATH RAILWAY SOCIETY

President: Pete Waterman OBE DL

Chairman: John Froud    

 Email: bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com

JULY  2026  NEWSLETTER

Dear Member,

SOCIETY MATTERS

Our meeting on June 4, 2026 was our Annual General Meeting, held at the Museum of Bath at Work, and all the committee were re-elected to serve another year. Subscriptions for the coming 2026/27 season starting in September remain at £22 which includes the digital newsletter. For those who receive the newsletter by post, this is having to rise by £1 to £33 due to the rising costs of postage and of printing ink. 31 members attended the AGM.

After the AGM we had a most varied and entertaining members evening with presentations by Robert Howes on the ‘Sao Paulo Railway Brazil’, a cable worked main line, Paul Udey presented ‘Historic Bath by Train’, looking at visiting rail tours, while Brian May took us to ‘China, before QJs’. Finally, Bruce Parkin gave us ‘A Driver’s View’ of photographs he had taken whilst he was working. We thank each of the contributors who presented and made it an interesting and enjoyable evening.

We now take a two-month summer break, and our meetings will resume on Thursday September 3, at the Museum of Bath at Work, when we welcome back for a third time, Stephen Gay. He will be taking us to see ‘Scenic Britain by Train’.  Programme cards for the 2026/27 season will be available at that meeting. There will not be a newsletter in August.

If you would like to pay your subscriptions in advance of the September meeting, these can be made by bank transfer to Bath Railway Society NatWest Account No. 79725570, Sort Code 55-70-31. Please include your name in the reference box. This is our preferred method of payment. If you can only pay by cheque, these can now be accepted, and you can make payment at the September meeting.

In the last Newsletter competition, you had to give the names of the various junctions in Plymouth traversed by a Plymouth Railway Circle rail tour on June 18, 1966, using ‘goods’ brake vans and hauled by Class 03 shunters. The Junctions were: MOUNT GOULD, FRIARY, LIPSON, and CORNWALL. The Quiz/Puzzle competition will now return in the September newsletter.

NEWS ITEMS

The Spetisbury Railway Project are holding a ‘Railway Extravaganza’ at the station site on Sunday July 12 (just off the A350 in the village. Parking is available at the local school about a 10-minute walk along the trailway from it). There will be Photographic Displays, railway books and DVDs for sale along with Pimms, cold drinks and cakes for sale. The Somerset & Dorset Trust and the Shillingstone Project (North Dorset Railway) will be in attendance, and the Blandford Forum Ukelele Group will be performing. Entry is free, but donations would be welcome to help upkeep the station site.

The ‘Cotswold Diesel Gala’ will be taking place at the Gloucester and Warwickshire Railway on July 24, 25 and 26. There is a large line up of locomotives which include: 20 137, 20 228, 24 081, 25 262, 26 043, 27 056, D7018, 37 215, 37248, 45 149, 47 376, and W55003. (All subject to availability). Full details at www.gwst.com

A study into the feasibility of reopening the Dales Line between Manchester and Derby via Buxton and Bakewell has been submitted to the Department for Transport. If approved, it would require the relaying of just over 11 miles of railway through the Peak District National Park, with the project having the support of 26 MPs and Derbyshire County Council. The National Park can have up to 26 million visitors a year, and reinstating the railway is seen as one of the best methods to reduce car congestion in it.

USA 0-6-0T 30065 is due to re-enter service at the Kent and East Sussex Railway this month after overhaul. The locomotive is former War Department WD168 and it has also carried the BR departmental number DS 237 and the name ‘Maunsell’. It is one of two USA Tanks on the railway, the other being 30070 (DS 238) which is out of service.

The same year on July 27, 1986, F & W Railtours ran ‘The Coastway Crusader’ tour which originated at Wolverhampton and ran to Bognor Regis, Barnham and Littlehampton also visiting Andover and the Ludgershall branch enroute. Multiple locomotives were used on the tour with it starting with 50 050 to Birmingham where 45 128 took over to Bristol Temple Meads. From here, the train ran via Bath and the Avon Valley and Salisbury behind 25 181and 25 191 to Andover with the Class 25s also going up and back to Ludgershall. However, 25 181 suffered brake problems on the return run to Andover where it was declared a complete failure. The train then continued to Bognor Regis behind 25 191 and 33 011.  At Bognor Regis, 73 114 took the train on to Littlehampton. The return was worked by 25 191 and 33 011 as far as Salisbury where the Class 33 was detached and 37 046 and 37 117 then joined the Class 25 for the run to Bristol. 45 128 then returned the train throughout to Wolverhampton where arrival was considerably late! 25 181 was taken to Eastleigh where it was withdrawn on August 11, and it was eventually broken up there by Vic Berry in July 1988. It transpired that a hand brake had been left on causing severe wheel flats on the locomotive.

MORE NEWS ITEMS

The footbridge for the new two platform station, Bristol Brabazon, has now been fitted into place. This station will serve a new 20,000 capacity entertainment complex, due to open next year, and a new town in North Bristol being built on the old Filton Airfield site. Brabazon Station is set to open this coming autumn with a station at Henbury due to open during 2028. Eventually, they will be served by trains to/from Portishead when that line reopens for passenger services.

COMPETITION / PUZZLE / QUIZ

There is no competition in this newsletter, it will be back in September.

FURTHER NEWS ITEMS

GWR services between London Paddington and South Wales are being diverted via Chippenham and Bath between Monday July 6 and Sunday August 2. Track renewals, structural repairs and drainage work will be taking place on the Badminton route and the frequency of services between London and South Wales will be reduced to hourly due to the longer journey times.  Additional services are also going to be provided between London Paddington and Swindon by extending some trains between London Paddington and Didcot Parkway. Bristol Parkway will still be served by the South Wales services where a reversal will take place. Follow-up work will also impact train services on the weekend of August 8 & 9, with the same diversions in place.

On the GWR Reading to Basingstoke route, buses will replace trains between July 19 and 26 due to engineering works. This work will also affect CrossCountry train services. Do check before travelling.

The Bristol Indoor Toy and Train Fair will take place on Saturday July 25, at the BAWA Healthcare & Leisure Centre, Southmead Road, Filton, Bristol. BS34 7RG from 10am - 2pm.  Admission £2, under 16's free. Refreshments available and free parking.

Sedgemoor Rail 2026 takes place on Saturday August 29 and Sunday 30 at the King Alfred School

Burnham Road, Highbridge TA9 3EE. This is organised by Burnham and District Model Railway Club and should feature at least 20 layouts and 10 traders. Entry £8 for adults with accompanied children free. Free car parking and refreshments available. The venue is about a 30-minute walk from Highbridge Station.

A provisional date of Friday July 3 has been announced by GWR for the opening of the new Okehampton Interchange station. This is situated at Higher Stockley Mead, Okehampton EX20 1QQ and close to the A30 junction for Okehampton, Exeter side.

It is estimated that the cost of restoring the once branch line from Huntspill into the new gigafactory in Somerset, making vehicle batteries, will cost at least £50m. The former track bed into the former Royal Ordnance Factory site is still available including a single-track bridge that once carried the line over the M5. The gigafactory is still under construction and is due to open for production during 2027 although there are problems with contractors at present. In 2008 the ROD factory was completely closed, although rail traffic to it had ceased in 1990. In the autumn of 1996, the link onto the main line at Huntspill was severed, and the tracks were lifted. No decision has been made so far on the reinstatement of the branch line.

At the Avon Valley Railway at Bitton, a new attraction is a Mk1 carriage adorned with street art designs and known as ‘The Street Art Train’. It was created by three Bristol artists after they were commissioned to use authentic colours of the period to spray-paint one side of the carriage with street art designs of the 1980s. The carriage has been prepared for a role in a short film, the title of which is yet to be confirmed.  The ‘Street Art Train’, (coach) is on static display, and can be viewed when trains are running.

The Severn Valley Railway are holding a Summer Gala on July 18 and 19. This will feature mixed traction with steam being represented by GWR locos 813, 1450 and 7714. Neilson and Co. 0-4-0ST 2937 and Kerr Stuart 0-4-0ST 4388 will be visiting locos. Diesels will include D9551, D8568 and 20 048. An enhanced timetable will be in use, and more locomotives may be added to those already announced. See SVR website for more details.

The department for Transport (DfT) has refused to give any funding for the West Somerset Railway to run services into Taunton Station. Somerset Council and the WSR had submitted a business case asking for £137,000 to connect with the mainline. The DfT will however hold discussions with the council to see what improvements can be made locally.

At our meeting venue, the Museum of Bath at Work as part of their LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! :120 Years of Cinemas and Films in Bath, they will be sowing on Wednesday 8 July: Catch Us If You Can at 18.00 for 18.30. This is a rare and wonderfully quirky 1965 film featuring the band ‘The Dave Clarke Five’ with many sequences filmed in the city (spot the location); strange interlude in the deserted village of Imber on Salisbury Plain; and a critique of capitalism thrown in for good measure.  A must-see! Details for all the Museum’s events can be found on their Web Site

Mentioning the lost village of Imber on Salisbury Plain (above) the annual opening of the village takes place on August 15. Visitors to the event can travel by Routemaster buses from/to Warminster Station, and a special train will be running to Warminster from Hastings. This will run and pick up/set down passengers from London Waterloo, Woking and Basingstoke. The train will be formed of the Hastings Diesels Ltd. DEMU. Thousands of pounds are raised from this open day for the Royal British Legion who help maintain the village church at Imber, one of the few buildings to remain intact there.

The Hastings Unit will also be used on a rail tour to the West Somerset Railway on July 18. This will again start at Hastings, and it will do a rather circular route via Reading and the Cotswold Line to Worcester. It then runs south via Cheltenham and Bristol Parkway and Temple Meads. The train will also travel over some unusual lines during its outward and return journeys for a passenger working. It will traverse the goods loops at Cheltenham, the down goods loop at Bristol Parkway and both the down and up through lines at Temple Meads. The tour is being organised by the Branch Line Society.

Plans are being explored to see if a station at Laira in Plymouth could be reopened. Local MP, Luke Pollard, is looking to see if a station could be provided as part of a metro system for the city. There was originally a halt at Laira which opened on June 1,1904 and closed on July 7,1930. Another station which could also reopen is at Plympton. This originally opened on June 15, 1848, and closed to passengers on March 2, 1959, remaining open for goods traffic until June 1, 1964.

The London Transport Museum depot at Acton will be open July 3 to 5 inclusive, with the theme being ‘Powering London’. The depot will be open between 1000 and 1700 on all three days, and admission prices will be Adult: £19 / £18 concession. Full details at www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/depot-open-days/powering-london

On the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway at Bratton Fleming Station, steel work framing and the roof have been completed for a goods shed which is being constructed by Exmoor Associates. Reclaimed bricks will be used for exterior walling.

The former Southern Railway’s Exeter Central Station has undergone a £2.7m facelift. It now boasts an expanded concourse, new smart ticket barriers and an enhanced open plan information area. The station is served by both South Western Railway and Great Western Railway services, and is used by three million passengers per year. The station is managed by Great Western Railway.

On Saturday August 1, a rail tour will traverse the Portishead branch as far as the Portbury Docks Stop Board. The ‘Avon Gorgeous’ originates at Crewe and runs via Hereford (reverse), Worcester and the Cotswold Line to Didcot and then via Bristol Parkway to Temple Meads. It returns from the branch via St Philips Marsh back into Temple Meads. The train returns to Crewe via Bath Spa, Swindon (reverse) Kemble and Cheltenham.  It is being organised by InterCity, which is part of Loco Services Limited, and it will be top ‘n’ tailed by two Class 47’s. 

35028 ‘Clan Line’ will be working from London Victoria down through Salisbury to Yeovil Junction on July 9 to mark the anniversary of the end of Southern steam. The train will continue from Yeovil Junction to Weymouth behind a Class 47 while the Merchant Navy is turned and serviced at the railway centre. It will then run light to Weymouth and haul the return train to London Waterloo via Bournemouth and Southampton. This is a Railway Touring Company excursion.

On Saturday July 11, Saphos Trains are running the ‘English Riviera Express’ which originates at High Wycombe, running via Oxford, with pickups/set downs at Swindon, Chippenham, Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads. The train is being hauled by a pair of Class 47s to Taunton where steam takes over (from LSL Steam Pool) to Kingswear and back to Norton Fitzwarren where the diesels again take over for the return journey. This train is reported as being fully booked!

On Sunday July 26, ‘The Royal Duchy’ will be running from Bristol Temple Meads to Plymouth and Par & return. This will be steam hauled, details to be announced. This is a Railway Touring Company special.

Restored USA designed 0-6-0T 30075 has left the North Dorset Railway at Shillingstone and now resides temporarily at the Plym Valley Railway in Devon, where it is planned to get it certified as ‘fit to run’. Meanwhile, at Shillingstone, work continues on dismantling sister locomotive 30076.

The Swanage Railway has launched a fundraising appeal to help overhaul and convert two Mk 1 coaches to facilitate accessible features, such as extra-wide doors and accessible toilets. This will allow wheelchair users much better access to the railway. The railway hopes to raise £25,000 from its appeal and it has applied to the National Heritage Lottery Fund for a £249,000 grant towards the work.

The South Devon Railway has been granted planning permission to construct a new locomotive restoration shed built at Buckfastleigh. The railway first applied for permission in 2022, and work will include new car parking and landscaping. A share issue has raised the funding for the shed.

Currently, a study is taking place into extending the Borders Railway from its existing Terminus at Tweedbank to Hawick, or the full distance to Carlise. The study is costing £10m and the outline business case is due to be delivered towards the end of next year.

LOOKING FORWARD

The newsletter will now take a summer break and return in September, and our next meeting will be on Thursday September 3.  We look forward to seeing you back at the Museum of Bath at Work.

Bob Bunyar

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