1: The Bournemouth-Weymouth line (British Rail Motive Power in the 1980s)
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$21.99
Regular price $26.99
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1: The Bournemouth-Weymouth line (British Rail Motive Power in the 1980s)
Sale price
$21.99
Regular price $26.99
British Rail Motive Power in the 1980s provides a fascinating collection of photographs of the wide range of diesel and electric traction operated by British Rail during the 1980s. The photographs are accompanied by detailed captions, providing a full insight into railway operations in that decade.The Bournemouth-Weymouth line documents the variety of motive power to be found on the South West main line west of Bournemouth during the 1980s. For most of the decade the ‘DorsetWay’ line was an unelectrified spur in the Southern Region’s 750V third-rail electrified network, making pioneering use of diesel push-pull operation with specially equipped Class 33/1 locomotives and through-wired 4-TC multiple units.After a wait of over twenty years, electrification finally brought electric multiple units to the line in the shape of the Class 442 ‘Wessex Electric’ units.The line was also a major hub for cross-country inter-regional services to and from destinations all over the United Kingdom. This brought a daily stream of Class 47 locomotives to the line, terminating and reversing at Poole or Weymouth.As with any part of British Rail’s Southern Region, a major source of traction on the line were Class 33 locomotives which could be found on both passenger and freight duties throughout the decade. The line’s non-electrified status for most the 1980s also attracted the frequent use of Class 73 electro-diesel locomotives, most regularly on the line’s Channel Islands Boat Train.Although Dorset is not a major area of heavy industry, the Bournemouth-Weymouth line saw several substantial flows of freight traffic throughout the 1980s. Crude oil from Dorset’s onshore oil field at Wytch Farm on the Isle of Purbeck brought large tanker trains to the line almost every day.The Hamworthy goods branch, serving the working port of Poole, could always be relied upon to generate a wide variety of freight traffic in its mixed daily working. The list is completed by the line’s regular cement and stone traffic and occasional covered loads heading for the MOD facility at Bovington.As with any part of the UK rail network in the 1980s, the Bournemouth-Weymouth line had its share of railtours and Open Days, bringing even a Class 55 ‘Deltic’ to its tracks on two occasions during the decade.