Welcome to the 'New Somerset and Dorset Railway'

The original Somerset and Dorset Railway closed very controversially in 1966. It is time that decision, made in a very different world, was reversed. We now have many councillors, MPs, businesses and individuals living along the line supporting us. Even the Ministry of Transport supports our general aim. The New S&D was formed in 2009 with the aim of rebuilding as much of the route as possible, at the very least the main line from Bath (Britain's only World Heritage City) to Bournemouth (our premier seaside resort); as well as the branches to Wells, Glastonbury and Wimborne. We will achieve this through a mix of lobbying, trackbed purchase and restoration of sections of the route as they become economically viable. With Climate Change, road congestion, capacity constraints on the railways and now Peak Oil firmly on the agenda we are pushing against an open door. We already own Midford just south of Bath, and are restoring Spetisbury under license from DCC, but this is just the start. There are other established groups restoring stations and line at Midsomer Norton and Shillingstone, and the fabulous narrow gauge line near Templevcombe, the Gartell Railway.

There are now FIVE sites being actively restored on the S&D and this blog will follow what goes on at all of them!
Midford - Midsomer Norton - Gartell - Shillingstone - Spetisbury


Our Aim:

Our aim is to use a mix of lobbying, strategic track-bed purchase, fundraising and encouragement and support of groups already preserving sections of the route, as well as working with local and national government, local people, countryside groups and railway enthusiasts (of all types!) To restore sections of the route as they become viable.
Whilst the New S&D will primarily be a modern passenger and freight railway offering state of the art trains and services, we will also restore the infrastructure to the highest standards and encourage steam working and steam specials over all sections of the route, as well as work very closely with existing heritage lines established on the route.

This blog contains my personal views. Anything said here does not necessarily represent the aims or views of any of the groups currently restoring, preserving or operating trains over the Somerset and Dorset Railway!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

amazing amazon



We now have an Amazon Associates store. Anything you order via this link will earn 5% of the sale price directly to the New S&D. This % will rise as more is sold.

I've tried to put in a good range of books, DVDs, model railway items etc but if there is something you need and it's not on here please let me know and I'll add it to the site so you can order it through us.

Not all items are priced, this is because they are not currently in Amazon's stocks, but I'll leave all these items open in case they do appear at a later date.

With two hungry stations to feed and perhaps a signal box as well soon this is an excellent and painless way to donate money to us without actually doing anything!

As the stations at Spetisbury and Midford are rebuilt we will be opening shops at each site as well, so soon you'll have a huge range of products, both S&D and non-S&D, to choose from.

Incidentally we are still looking for a Sales Manager to take over the whole New S&D sales side, which will be a really interesting, important and fun job. If interested please email leysiner@aol.com

You can also reach our Amazon shop by clicking here.

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