Following the success of the first one, on Wednesday 29th September UK Railtours have organised the "Purbeck Tornado II", from London to Swanage and back - a wonderful steam itinerary!
Leaving Victoria and Woking at a very civilised hour the train travels down the main line through Winchester, Southampton, Bournemouth and Wareham to Worgret Junction where it veers left on to the normally disused link to the Swanage Railway, arriving at the perfectly preserved Southern Railway seaside terminus early afternoon for a break of around three hours.
The station is a very short level walk to the sea front, and the resort should be very pleasant in late summer after the holiday crowds have gone home! The turntable at Swanage is too small for Tornado, so the train will return as far as Southampton with a diesel loco leading and Tornado at the rear. From here the steam action resumes as it heads up through Romsey, round the Laverstock Loop, then up the West or England Main Line through Andover and Basingstoke to Woking and London Waterloo.
While The A1 Trust appreciates people coming to see Tornado in action we must ask that the public stays safely on the right side of the fence and only goes where permitted.
Provisional timings are as follows:
08.45 London Victoria
09.01 Clapham Jc
09.14 Brentford
09.31 Staines
10.03 Woking d 10.05
10.15 Farnborough
10.30 Basingstoke
10.48 Winchester
10.59 Eastleigh
11.25 Southampton Central
12.07 Bournemouth
12.20 Poole
12.35 Wareham
13.17 Swanage
16.40 Swanage
17.40 Wareham
17.56 Poole
18.11 Bournemouth
19.00 Southampton d 19.15
19.28 Romsey
20.08 Andover
20.40 Basingstoke d 21.02
21.20 Farnborough
21.35 Woking
21.50 Surbiton
21.55 Wimbledon
22.01 Clapham Jc
22.13 London Waterloo