yep, all gone. Was in my news feed at the end of October that the rails had been lifted and a temporary road surface laid all along commercial road before a final re-surfacing later in the year. Shame
Name and shame the Ponces who proposed this after 3 to 2 years ago,Loved Weymouth in its heyday ,When people had work and the trains ,Class 33s where running through here in the 1980s growing up ,It's heartbreaking no trains run through here anymore ,Shame on the local council and Network Rail .😠
@@stephenpowell5912 What were they actually supposed to do with it? It was used for boat trains. The ferry terminal moved to Poole years ago and most of the foot traffic has moved to the airlines.
The fact they upgraded parts of the infrastructure must surely mean Network Rail either intend to do something with it, or are preserving it in case it is needed in the future - almost doing the opposite of Mr. Beeching in anticipation of some unknown need for it in the future, knowing that if they remove it now, It won't be able to be re-built
I suspect bureaucracy - if the line is still officially 'open' then whoever is responsible for it will be mandated to keep it up to current specification and if there is a requirement that signalls across the network are upgraded to a certain level then this line gets them too.
Yes I noticed this the other week. Someone has upgraded the track system through the street I.e. welding and track replacement. A bit odd since this line is disused.
The Parking Nazis are the biggest constraint. Lots of double yellow lines = lots of fines. The cost of removing the rails is eye-wateringly high so the council have 'delayed' it!
@@jagman84 The council needs to help get the trains running again - not remove the rails! The kine was one of the sights and sounds of Weymouth, something people traveled from all over the world to see. This sort of unique attraction is exactly what town centres need. I cannot understand why councilors cannot see what an asset the line could be.
I used to travel regularly between Weymouth and Farnborough, mainly fyom Weymouth station. On one occasion, when there was disruption on the journey, I picked up the boat-train at Basingstoke. I rode it down to the quay on the tramway. I must have been on one of the last services. Brings back many happy memories.
I remember walking with the trains as a kid on Summer holidays in the 60s. So sad its now gone. According to Streetview it looks like the track has been retained where it curves through the car park just before the town bridge.
Excellent filming and very steady camerawork. I've lived in Weymouth for 65 years and had several family members who were British Railway employees and my maternal great-grandfather was a GWR man based at our docks. My earliest memories of our unique tramway go back to the late 1950s when, as a toddler, I stood in awe as huge, hissing, puffing steam locos with a clanging bell mounted at the front, operated by the fireman via a long pull-cord, hauling trains of clanking goods wagons or majestic passenger carriages progressed slowly along Commercial Road. Harbourside motor traffic was brought to a standstill as railway engines had the right-of-way at all times. As a 12-year old, I was lucky enough to ride footplate on several of our pannier-tank 0-6-0 engines with my uncle at the regulator and it's an experience which is still vivid in my memory. By the 1970s and 80s diesel locos had replaced steam and much larger engines with deep roaring and throbbing motors frightened young children and unsuspecting visitors alike. Motorists who'd inadvertently parked their cars in a way which encroached on the "iron road" would most likely return to find the vehicle had moved several feet as railway crew (and often helpful bystanders!) walking ahead of the locos would physically 'bounce' the errant car out of harm's way. Woe betide larger trucks or lorries as they'd find themselves at the end of a tow-truck's chain, if the driver was absent! Thankfully, efforts by some self-aggrandising and mean-spirited individuals to have the tramway rails consigned to the dustbin of history have come to a big, fat nothing. Accidents to cyclists, motorbikers and cars have been the result of the driver's own complacency and lack of awareness. I either cycle, motorcycle or drive my car over the rails nearly every week and have never come to any harm even in the wettest weather. Long may the Harbour Tramway be part of Weymouth's historic fabric and, fingers crossed, will once again be used for purpose.
Thank-you for this! I posted: Magnificent, hurrah! Thank-you. This is very close to my heart. Surely it is a case for a Heritage Trust restoration project.
I remember getting the boat train from Waterloo to Weymouth Harbour hauled by a Class 33 back in about 1978. Then the Ferry to.St Helier those were the days.
I remember the trains pulling into the harbour station as I was in the Warrington Sea cadets in the middle 70s and we was in Weymouth for a week doing a sailing and rowing course and we use to go down to watch the trains coming in to meet the ferries and we was over on the other side of the river, it was great fun to see both the trains and ferries coming in, and on the odd occasion they would both arrive at the same time
I'm surprised that nobody has come forward with an idea similar to the Bala Lake Railway. Running a Narrow Gauge Railway over the route where the Standard Gauge route would have taken would be space efficient, could possibly open up double track running at certain sections, and could be combined with the bus service with an "All Transport Ticket"
Another brilliant informative video! I expect they would have great difficulty in running trains down there - too many numpties parked all over the track!
That was a major problem when it was operating, often several cars would have to be bump-lifted out of the way 'cause their owners couldn't be found in short order.
Watching this was like a Secret Santa gift - thank you very much. Street running trains don't seem to be such a problem in other countries. Imagine sticking a heritage train or steam locomotive on this section. It would bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to Weymouth from all over the world. But nope, H&S overrides any potential to make this even worthy of consideration!
Rumours always start with a good story that sounds plausible, the story goes something like this... Wouldn't it be great to get the tramway going again? We could get a steam engine to run up and down the quay several times a day. That could meet up with one of the paddle steamers that visit Weymouth a few times a year and take the passengers to Swanage, where they would disembark and walk up to the station before travelling on the Swanage railway pulled by steam to Norden, then onto the SouthwestRail network and back to Weymouth.
Sounds nice, but there is no rail service from Norden to Network Rail. The main line runs to Wareham Station, which is on SouthWestern Railway Waterloo-Weymouth line. A successful trial service was run by the Swanage Railway Heritage Line in Summer 2017, but various issues have meant nothing since, although it is intended to connect Swanage-Corfe Castle-Norden-Wareham in the future. There were a handful of summer Saturday trains run by SWR two years ago to Corfe Castle, but most were cancelled because of strikes. At present, the only way to travel from Swanage, Corfe Castle and Norden to the main line is by road.
One of the the old Weymouth drivers told me that there used to be a board on the back of the freight trains warning cars to keep 20ft behind (I think this was the distance). Of course one driver ignored this and followed closely behind. The train came to a halt and the wagons took up the slack then started moving quckly back from the compressed buffers. One squashed motor 😄
@@hellothere6023 Yeah, embarrassed. Sorry, when I say squashed I just mean the front of the car up to the A pillars. Of course thsy weren't built to withstand major impacts in those days.
Occasionally, trains on the tramway did have signs on the final carriage or goods wagon telling motorists to keep their distance but it was only in the later years of the line's commercial operation that these notices were used. Somehow, common sense seemed to have eluded drivers who'd managed to pass their driving tests in the 1980s and after.
Me too - this sort of video will be gold in 20-30 years. I filmed my own town back in 1992 just before it was demolished and rebuilt, and I'm so glad I did. Just wish I'd got more footage!
I’m not particularly a train spotter myself either , but the pleasure I get from watching this suggests that I might be or I was in another life. I’d be proud to call myself a trainspotter too! I just need the anorak and a new pair of glasses.
This is one of those treasured locations you never forget, I was instrumental in organising a special weekend excursion to Guernsey and Jersey in 1977 (with the cooperation of British Rail and Sealink) . The train ran from Wolverhampton High Level, Birmingham New Street, Coventry, Leamington Spa and Banbury right through to Weymouth Quay. Locomotives changed at Bournemouth Central from a class 47 to a flashing class 33 which took us through the streets of Weymouth upto the quayside to board the boat. The ships on the route were either Earl Godwin or Caledonian Princess. The price included Bed, breakfast and evening meal with a coach tour of the island on the Sunday with lunch and evening entertainment at the hotels, on the return sea journey we had vouchers to exchange for 1 x litre of spirits and 200 cigarettes, all for £19.50 . What you might say! YES £19.50 We repeated the exercise the following year with 472 on board. at a slightly higher price with three further trips going via Portsmouth Harbour in 1978/9. Happy days.
I remember travelling along this on a Boat Train from Waterloo in early April 1981 en route to Guernsey. I was working in Central London and commuted to Waterloo and saw the trains to Weymouth Quay on the indicator boards. The opportunity presented itself - I think it might even have been a Golden Rail holiday - to travel the line. While the journey to the boat was fine, once we were on the ferry all hell was let loose and we had a very, very unpleasant crossing in a Force 8 gale.
In the mid 1960s I and a school friend used the same rail service to get to Guernsey where we camped for 2 weeks. We had a similar nightmare voyage when returning to the mainland.
I just happened to come across your video by chance. It's a very good documentary, and the local scenery is great including the barking dogs. No spoken words just on screen text to explain things when needed. It was like I was there walking in your footsteps. I liked that your camera didn't bounce around making the experience even better.
Habedank ich finde eure Filme immer wieder atemberaubend und hört ja nicht auf damit jeder ist seines angucken Schwert und ich finde euch phänomenal ich bin ein leidenschaftlicher Fan von RUclips Filme und gucke alle Richtungen ich kann gar nicht hin so viel gucken wie ich gucken möchte schönes Fest und schöne Feiertage wünscht ein leidenschaftlicher RUclips Zuschauer
I did this line on a mid-90s railtour, and took my mother along as she loved Weymouth. She wasn't a rail enthusiast by any means, but considered the trip down the tramway as one of the best experiences of her life.
Really fascinating video...even for someone on the other side of the world. It's hard to imagine the activity that would have been going on around the line in it's heyday. How the "powers that be" can't see the potential in operating the line occasionally as a tourist attraction beats me.
It’s a great experience, going through the streets of Weymouth on a train. I took a train from Waterloo to Weymouth and discovered that it was going to the harbour, decided I was not going to miss this one; stayed on the train at Weymouth and when the police escort for the train arrived we were off to the harbour. Lovely journey.
I remember as a youngster travelling on this line a few times, my parents often went to the Channel islands on holiday and would take this train to the harbour station to catch one of the two British Rail ferries "Sarnia" and "Caesarea" to the islands.I also remember holidaying in Weymouth and seeing the trains snaking through the back streets.
There's no real reason to do so as the line doesn't really go anywhere interesting apart from the quayside and if this vid was done at a slow walk in 17 mins how long would the tram ride last? Ten max? Not worth it.
Yeah. Surprised they didn't try using it as a vintage historical preservation line, kind of similar to other branch lines, junctions and mining routes in the country.
I've been thinking the same for a while, ever since seeing the video of a train coming down it. In my head I see a small saddle tank loco pulling a few carriages down the line.
That would be great running on wooden sleeper that are 160 years old and have been kept nice and damp underground (I bet they are like sponge), those lines have had more cyclists face planting than any other menace in the WORLD
@@davidstorton910 And that's one of the reasons they have refused to let trains run down it. The tracks have been there since the 1860's so you would have thought that cyclists should have got used to them being there by now really, kind of like the tramlines in Nottingham and Sheffield etc.
I think that you will find that this branch line (not a tramway) is listed as a "strategic asset by the MOD and it is not the only one. You are not supposed to know this of course !
That would make sense, having a rail line that heads directly to a harbor is quite useful for military operations. The MOD could consider this as a backup plan for if a harbor must be closed or is damaged. As long as Network Rail keeps the tracks in operable condition, you have a fully functional possible military installation.
This line should be part of a heritage line, most of the track is in reasonable condition and it could be an asset to Weymouth once more. They could even organise heritage boat trips to France from the end of the line where the ferry used to run from.
Thank you for this excellent video. My partner Susan Jeffrey and I have happy memories of working in a Summer Repertory Theatre Season at the Weymouth & South Dorset Arts Centre in Commercial Road - sadly, now demolished - the site is now a car park, visible at the left of frame behind the black railings at 6'45'' approx. We remember the trains passing frequently during our stay.
Thank you! I well recall the sense of awe when, en route to guernsey in 1976 the train just seemed to break out of the station and go down the road - as in fact it did!
I have a whole bunch of photos of a train running along the harbour from the early 1990s. It was actually a big thing at the time, brought loads of tourists out. I'm sorry to see that it is currently disused; I had wondered if that was now the case. Thanks for the video.
Very interesting after watching Fred Ivey's film of 1994 showing the line in use - the sad passing of time. Liked the the written commentary, nicely paced and informative. Thank-you.
Ahh Weymouth, the land of fish & chips :) how i miss living there. I remember as a kid watching the train very slowly roll by flanked by railway workers, forcefully 'bouncing' cars out of the way that were parked too close to the tracks, the path of the train was often slowed by these idiot drivers...
Thank you for this interesting video. I am only slightly familiar with this line as I was a passenger on the first train after the services was discontinued. It was a rail tour in the early 90s I'm not sure which year. I remember the crowds watching the train coming down the street and the crew having to bump cars out of the way where they had been parked on or too close to the line despite all the warning signs and the fact that notices had been sent warning residents the the train would be coming. It was all very exciting and a great day out in a sunny Weymouth. I remember my family spent most of the day on the beach near the harbour and excellent fish and chips on the seafront. What a great way to spend a day. I seem to recall that we were in old southern railway green carriages pulled by a diesel but I might be wrong.
How come rails can prevent a town from developing. Also how are they a hazard. People are becoming H&S obsessed. The Blackpool tramway has 2 tracks and actually runs trams on it and that's open with no issues
Very imformative and interesting video. I lasted visited Weymouth Harbour when travelling to Jersey in the 90's. It's a real shame the train and ferry services have stopped.
a great piece of history that will will just disappear in sections of lines left uneffected over the coming years. great vid but so sad. as we know all good things go in the end no matter what...
Based on the sattelite view one may just walk around that building to the left of that massive blue "Restricted area" gate and see the remaining couple meters of the tracks
another Interesting Fact: Just at the end of the loading quay 13:33, there used to be a siding going off to the end of the raised part of the quay (you can still see the tracks), and there was another siding constructed during the war going off to a linkspan for a train ferry alongside the cargo stage. It was never used as such though I think. The track alongside the cargo stage was for loading trains of vans with potatoes and things straight off the boats. 14:38 that's now been extended until about February,. like nearly everything
Would be interesting to see what potential there is for a battery electric tram. Quiet, clean, and possibly narrower than a standard train to make access easier. Recharge at each end of the branch. No need for running round. Seaton tramway does a good trade.
So can one presume that, if the tramway is a 'danger' then the one in Manchester has in someway, been made 'safe'? Not that having one dangerous thing is a reason to have two.
Nice to seeing it cling on in there, I suspect Brexit is possibly the reason as an emergency port of need as the government does have a duty to maintain such in dire times. Chatham docks lingered on for yonks before final severing, before it was clipped and padlocked entry and I would hazard a guess the Quay is similarly clipped and padlocked to prevent accidental ingress meaning a signalman has to go down with the key and literally unlock the point arm and motor rather than rely on a lock out box at the panel. Strange setup with the quay block exit signal to mainline, you would have thought someone would have put it before the level crossing not immediately after it lol The council and police both have always been resolute enemies of this line, the police because it is their lawful duty to ensure the line is clear and often bouncing errant cars out the way of the encroaching 33 loco, the council are interested in snapping up that parcel of land between mainline and quay road trackwork, to them its worth quite a lot of money and cannot see the actual potential of it other than lining their venal pockets. Ideally, the line needs to be shifted over in that car park to come in on the Island platform, the council would get their bit o' land, the town retains a money making tourist attraction and revenues on the line go up too.
Stumbled across your lovely video by accident but thoroughly enjoyed it! Visit the area a few times a year. Am known to be an occasional train spotter too ;) and have an interest in old railways. People find that quite odd for a woman in her 30s. It would be lovely to see a tram going from the station/large car park area along to the harbour, would be a lovely tourist attraction. Can't see it happening, too much effort and money. Thanks again :)
Good interesting video update. Well done. I guess removal would be expensive causing hazard and traffic congestion . It will have to be done one day as it corrodes - i;e. tarmac and metal. It's a flipping hazard for cyclists and pedestrians - as I know personally very well myself as a daily cyclist. Motorists don't help as they skim past oblivious, probably as non (never) cyclists.
sad to see it like that how it cope years ago with the traffic was there none then hope it does reopen again it reminds me of folkestone harbour station shame that didn't reopen and used by heritage railway part of that line between the crossing at the top of the line and harbour crossing by the signal box looks like it's going to be left to overgrow with weeds
We used to visit Weymouth in the 1970's. I well remember this line in use. The "end of the line" shown here was not quite, there were points for the locomotive to 'run around' to make return trip. I also remember tanker trucks in a siding to the left of the station. Once we used the ferry from here, and on deck waited until the boat train had arrived to drop of passengers. No ferry terminal so no need of the station I guess.
I lived in Weymouth when the line was active, always wonderful to see, and great fun watching them bump the obstructing cars out of the way. Thank you!
Not being funny but the railway has been there for over 150 years, you’d think people would have got used to the rails being there, if the track isn’t strong enough why not reinforce it and use it as a tourist attraction, I know I would travel down from Wigan to here to ride this awesome line, there is very few other places that could say they have this
Thank you SO much for walking the line - have watched the older "tour" vids and mapped the route - good to follow you at a sensible pace! I'll put it out @4RailTrail immediately 🙂
Whilst the line was indeed fascinating, the howls of outrage over the closure and removal of it are a bit ridiculous. It's been disused for decades. The ferry terminal it served closed years ago. The rails make maintaining the roads more expensive and difficult. Suggestions for making it a heritage tramway are completely unrealistic as it doesn't go anywhere useful for tourism. It's gone, get over it.
Sadly, all the nostalgia and wishful thinking won't make 'them' reinstate the line - just to get to a disused ferry port? Condor Ferries stopped sailing from Weymouth in 2015, which saved most rail passengers an hour (Poole to Weymouth) plus heaven-knows-how-long at walking pace to the quay, stopping each time a car was overhanging the line. Fun to watch but not really appropriate for the 21st century.
I'm greatly saddened to say that (as of October 2020) the thumb-suckers and arm-flailers have got their evil way. Weymouth's 155 years-old street railway is being ripped up and soon this unique piece of line will be history. 😠
Looks like a tartsy-fartsy upscale area. No doubt the residents and shops complained about having trains running down the same street where they park their BMWs and Mercedes.
I remember travelling down there in the late 1960's behind a steam locomotive if I remember correctly. The train was preceeded by a number of P-Way staff who were bumping parked cars out of the way and trying to get them tightly into the gaps between the lamp posts so they would have difficulty getting out - some sort of measure to disuade them from parking obstructing the tracks in future. A very slow journey to the ship and it was very rough on the ferry. We got stuck in Guernsey for the night as it was too rough for the ferry to Sark to run.
John Murrell I was told of cars (and other vehicles) literally being shoved/crashed out of the way by trains on this line. A class 33 loco is a good bit heavier than an average car and wouldn’t take any crap!
@@nigelkthomas9501 The only car I have ever seen in person hit by a train was a black BMW 300 series that was parked in the railway depot where I used to work. It was hit by the corner of a flat wagon at low speed. The wagon survived without damage but the entire top right corner of the BMW was demolished - the headlamp ended up by the windscreen ! The top of the front right suspension was ripped off as well though the engine survived. I beleive the car was a write off - London Underground refused to pay as the owner did not have permission to park in the depot & he had left it infringing the tracks. In a depot of course a bit like the Weymouth Tramway there are no sleepers to give an indication of the swept area.
They should at least clear the flange gaps and check the gauge of the track & then run a locomotive or a 2-car DMU through there a few times to see if there is any change. I assume the complete passage would not be that fast: 10mph or less. Do that on a monthly basis and it keeps the idea that it is still an active railway in people's minds. Do you really wanna find a buffer-shaped imprint in your GTI s***box? So park it elsewhere!
So the council regards the railway a danger, and it ran everyday for 122 years..yet in many cities now,we have trams running through the streets,same principle,railway in the streets.The danger here is the general public,and car-owners,and complete ignorance of something that was once an everyday occurrence, with complete safety.two people walking in front of the train, at walking pace..and if you grow up with the scenario,you are more aware of it..some people really do live in a closed, molly-coddling world..and unfortunately a lot of those people, end up on local Councils,afraid of being sued by the present culture we have..I travelled along this in the late 70s, and was fascinated by the experience, but I guess back then, we were all taught to look after ourselves, and made aware of any dangers..unlike the present culrure,where they have to be told do everything, the previous generation did without hesitation.by using common sense.
I remember being on a railtour which came down the branch and the crew having to hand bump cars out of the way and squeeze past others by the thickness of the shine! I have several pictures I took at the time including the loco stopped behind a green double decker bus at the terminal platform. All would give the HSE bods heeby jeebys these days.
General public safety is one thing. Unfortunately public stupidity is much more common and increasingly on the rise. All these people will get a nice surprise when that big blue locomotive engine decides to start moving again! Certainly the ones with their cars parked right over the railway line tracks!
This line should be reopened as a single car diesel line running on waste cooking oils and having 2 new stations on the line.... All they would need to build are some short DDA compliant platforms made of steel....
On that note, wasn't a Parry People Mover prototype tested out here, only for it to struggle because it was too light to deal with the debris in the tracks?
@@wclifton968gameplaystutorials: Well, if you want a single car diesel train but don't want a 139 derivative (or a light locomotive), you're down to only 153s and the 121 Bubble Cars, and I don't think the 121s are disability regulation compliant. Of course for the 153s you may get away with locking the toilets out of use, but overall I don't see the line being used as anything more than a heritage tourist ride (or at all for that matter, considering the need for police escorts)
Today (5th October 2020) the line was severed from the network and contractors are due to lift the line over the next few months - very sad occasion
yep, all gone. Was in my news feed at the end of October that the rails had been lifted and a temporary road surface laid all along commercial road before a final re-surfacing later in the year. Shame
Sad but inevitable
Surprised it lasted so long in situ after its use for boat trains ceased
This tramway made Weymouth,I have fond memories of this and actually seeing g a train use it,wonderful !!
Name and shame the Ponces who proposed this after 3 to 2 years ago,Loved Weymouth in its heyday ,When people had work and the trains ,Class 33s where running through here in the 1980s growing up ,It's heartbreaking no trains run through here anymore ,Shame on the local council and Network Rail .😠
@@stephenpowell5912 What were they actually supposed to do with it? It was used for boat trains. The ferry terminal moved to Poole years ago and most of the foot traffic has moved to the airlines.
The fact they upgraded parts of the infrastructure must surely mean Network Rail either intend to do something with it, or are preserving it in case it is needed in the future - almost doing the opposite of Mr. Beeching in anticipation of some unknown need for it in the future, knowing that if they remove it now, It won't be able to be re-built
I suspect bureaucracy - if the line is still officially 'open' then whoever is responsible for it will be mandated to keep it up to current specification and if there is a requirement that signalls across the network are upgraded to a certain level then this line gets them too.
I believe the signals need to be upgraded otherwise the interlocking for the rest of Weymouth would confuse the system.
Yes I noticed this the other week. Someone has upgraded the track system through the street I.e. welding and track replacement. A bit odd since this line is disused.
@@invicta1015 Very likely a formality - its more or less the same situation as newhaven marine
LAND RAIL BANK
I passed this once on a school trip on the coach. I was very amazed as I haven't seen an abandoned railway before.
7:20 The b**locks Councillors do talk. If anyone constrains the development of the town it's blinkin' them.
The Parking Nazis are the biggest constraint. Lots of double yellow lines = lots of fines. The cost of removing the rails is eye-wateringly high so the council have 'delayed' it!
AndreiTupolev how much was spent on the ferry port upgrade? Then condor said fuck it wont sail from weymouth anymore
@@jagman84 The council needs to help get the trains running again - not remove the rails! The kine was one of the sights and sounds of Weymouth, something people traveled from all over the world to see. This sort of unique attraction is exactly what town centres need. I cannot understand why councilors cannot see what an asset the line could be.
Fond memories of the Tramway. Thank you for posting in your usual style which I love
Thanks!
I used to travel regularly between Weymouth and Farnborough, mainly fyom Weymouth station. On one occasion, when there was disruption on the journey, I picked up the boat-train at Basingstoke. I rode it down to the quay on the tramway. I must have been on one of the last services. Brings back many happy memories.
I remember walking with the trains as a kid on Summer holidays in the 60s. So sad its now gone. According to Streetview it looks like the track has been retained where it curves through the car park just before the town bridge.
Excellent filming and very steady camerawork. I've lived in Weymouth for 65 years and had several family members who were British Railway employees and my maternal great-grandfather was a GWR man based at our docks. My earliest memories of our unique tramway go back to the late 1950s when, as a toddler, I stood in awe as huge, hissing, puffing steam locos with a clanging bell mounted at the front, operated by the fireman via a long pull-cord, hauling trains of clanking goods wagons or majestic passenger carriages progressed slowly along Commercial Road. Harbourside motor traffic was brought to a standstill as railway engines had the right-of-way at all times. As a 12-year old, I was lucky enough to ride footplate on several of our pannier-tank 0-6-0 engines with my uncle at the regulator and it's an experience which is still vivid in my memory. By the 1970s and 80s diesel locos had replaced steam and much larger engines with deep roaring and throbbing motors frightened young children and unsuspecting visitors alike. Motorists who'd inadvertently parked their cars in a way which encroached on the "iron road" would most likely return to find the vehicle had moved several feet as railway crew (and often helpful bystanders!) walking ahead of the locos would physically 'bounce' the errant car out of harm's way. Woe betide larger trucks or lorries as they'd find themselves at the end of a tow-truck's chain, if the driver was absent! Thankfully, efforts by some self-aggrandising and mean-spirited individuals to have the tramway rails consigned to the dustbin of history have come to a big, fat nothing. Accidents to cyclists, motorbikers and cars have been the result of the driver's own complacency and lack of awareness. I either cycle, motorcycle or drive my car over the rails nearly every week and have never come to any harm even in the wettest weather. Long may the Harbour Tramway be part of Weymouth's historic fabric and, fingers crossed, will once again be used for purpose.
Thank-you for this!
I posted:
Magnificent, hurrah! Thank-you. This is very close to my heart.
Surely it is a case for a Heritage Trust restoration project.
I remember getting the boat train from Waterloo to Weymouth Harbour hauled by a Class 33 back in about 1978. Then the Ferry to.St Helier those were the days.
I remember the trains pulling into the harbour station as I was in the Warrington Sea cadets in the middle 70s and we was in Weymouth for a week doing a sailing and rowing course and we use to go down to watch the trains coming in to meet the ferries and we was over on the other side of the river, it was great fun to see both the trains and ferries coming in, and on the odd occasion they would both arrive at the same time
I'm surprised that nobody has come forward with an idea similar to the Bala Lake Railway. Running a Narrow Gauge Railway over the route where the Standard Gauge route would have taken would be space efficient, could possibly open up double track running at certain sections, and could be combined with the bus service with an "All Transport Ticket"
Another brilliant informative video!
I expect they would have great difficulty in running trains down there - too many numpties parked all over the track!
That was a major problem when it was operating, often several cars would have to be bump-lifted out of the way 'cause their owners couldn't be found in short order.
Brilliant thanks for that I assumed it was long gone.
bravo very informative ,keep it up.
Interesting video, thanks for posting.
Watching this was like a Secret Santa gift - thank you very much. Street running trains don't seem to be such a problem in other countries. Imagine sticking a heritage train or steam locomotive on this section. It would bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to Weymouth from all over the world. But nope, H&S overrides any potential to make this even worthy of consideration!
its a shame to see it in it state now how sad
Will they develop the old condor port to anything
Rumours always start with a good story that sounds plausible, the story goes something like this... Wouldn't it be great to get the tramway going again? We could get a steam engine to run up and down the quay several times a day. That could meet up with one of the paddle steamers that visit Weymouth a few times a year and take the passengers to Swanage, where they would disembark and walk up to the station before travelling on the Swanage railway pulled by steam to Norden, then onto the SouthwestRail network and back to Weymouth.
Sounds nice, but there is no rail service from Norden to Network Rail. The main line runs to Wareham Station, which is on SouthWestern Railway Waterloo-Weymouth line. A successful trial service was run by the Swanage Railway Heritage Line in Summer 2017, but various issues have meant nothing since, although it is intended to connect Swanage-Corfe Castle-Norden-Wareham in the future. There were a handful of summer Saturday trains run by SWR two years ago to Corfe Castle, but most were cancelled because of strikes. At present, the only way to travel from Swanage, Corfe Castle and Norden to the main line is by road.
One of the the old Weymouth drivers told me that there used to be a board on the back of the freight trains warning cars to keep 20ft behind (I think this was the distance). Of course one driver ignored this and followed closely behind.
The train came to a halt and the wagons took up the slack then started moving quckly back from the compressed buffers. One squashed motor 😄
Kris Jenders did the driver survive
@@hellothere6023 Yeah, embarrassed. Sorry, when I say squashed I just mean the front of the car up to the A pillars. Of course thsy weren't built to withstand major impacts in those days.
So I guess that car was well and truly BUFFER-ted ha ha!!
Occasionally, trains on the tramway did have signs on the final carriage or goods wagon telling motorists to keep their distance but it was only in the later years of the line's commercial operation that these notices were used. Somehow, common sense seemed to have eluded drivers who'd managed to pass their driving tests in the 1980s and after.
@@j.d.philipps288 to be fair, very few people would automatically know how train buffers behave when the train stops.
I'm not a trainspotter or anything, but I find ordinary real-life videos like this interesting.
I Love Taylor Swift It’s interesting to see in this case what the town would have been like back when it was in use isn’t it 👌🏼
Me too - this sort of video will be gold in 20-30 years. I filmed my own town back in 1992 just before it was demolished and rebuilt, and I'm so glad I did. Just wish I'd got more footage!
I’m not particularly a train spotter myself either , but the pleasure I get from watching this suggests that I might be or I was in another life. I’d be proud to call myself a trainspotter too! I just need the anorak and a new pair of glasses.
I find “branch line” to be very appropriate for its current condition!
This is one of those treasured locations you never forget, I was instrumental in organising a special weekend excursion to Guernsey and Jersey in 1977 (with the cooperation of British Rail and Sealink) . The train ran from Wolverhampton High Level, Birmingham New Street, Coventry, Leamington Spa and Banbury right through to Weymouth Quay. Locomotives changed at Bournemouth Central from a class 47 to a flashing class 33 which took us through the streets of Weymouth upto the quayside to board the boat. The ships on the route were either Earl Godwin or Caledonian Princess. The price included Bed, breakfast and evening meal with a coach tour of the island on the Sunday with lunch and evening entertainment at the hotels, on the return sea journey we had vouchers to exchange for 1 x litre of spirits and 200 cigarettes, all for £19.50 . What you might say! YES £19.50
We repeated the exercise the following year with 472 on board. at a slightly higher price with three further trips going via Portsmouth Harbour in 1978/9.
Happy days.
I remember travelling along this on a Boat Train from Waterloo in early April 1981 en route to Guernsey. I was working in Central London and commuted to Waterloo and saw the trains to Weymouth Quay on the indicator boards. The opportunity presented itself - I think it might even have been a Golden Rail holiday - to travel the line. While the journey to the boat was fine, once we were on the ferry all hell was let loose and we had a very, very unpleasant crossing in a Force 8 gale.
In the mid 1960s I and a school friend used the same rail service to get to Guernsey where we camped for 2 weeks. We had a similar nightmare voyage when returning to the mainland.
@Laz Arus What are the dark rumours about Guernsey?
@@ssbohio Royal paedo scandal! Jimmy Savile Haute De La Garene (Jersey) etc.
Dont remind me about terrible crossings....blech...yerch...hewoinkerrrr
I just happened to come across your video by chance. It's a very good documentary, and the local scenery is great including the barking dogs. No spoken words just on screen text to explain things when needed. It was like I was there walking in your footsteps. I liked that your camera didn't bounce around making the experience even better.
I remember going on the boat train in about 1975, it was bizarre looking out of the train and seeing cars alongside.
Part of history still stands my dad use too walk infront of the class 33 locos in the early 80s on that route thank-you for the video
Habedank ich finde eure Filme immer wieder atemberaubend und hört ja nicht auf damit jeder ist seines angucken Schwert und ich finde euch phänomenal ich bin ein leidenschaftlicher Fan von RUclips Filme und gucke alle Richtungen ich kann gar nicht hin so viel gucken wie ich gucken möchte schönes Fest und schöne Feiertage wünscht ein leidenschaftlicher RUclips Zuschauer
I did this line on a mid-90s railtour, and took my mother along as she loved Weymouth. She wasn't a rail enthusiast by any means, but considered the trip down the tramway as one of the best experiences of her life.
Really fascinating video...even for someone on the other side of the world. It's hard to imagine the activity that would have been going on around the line in it's heyday.
How the "powers that be" can't see the potential in operating the line occasionally as a tourist attraction beats me.
Such a shame, it's part of our railway history. I can remember in the summer of '81 taking photos of the train making it's way down to the harbour.
Great video , I enjoyed it ! ....Thanks for sharing ! 🧐🇬🇧🤔👍🏻❤️💪🏻🤓🤓🤓🤝🤝🤝
It’s a great experience, going through the streets of Weymouth on a train. I took a train from Waterloo to Weymouth and discovered that it was going to the harbour, decided I was not going to miss this one; stayed on the train at Weymouth and when the police escort for the train arrived we were off to the harbour. Lovely journey.
I remember as a youngster travelling on this line a few times, my parents often went to the Channel islands on holiday and would take this train to the harbour station to catch one of the two British Rail ferries "Sarnia" and "Caesarea" to the islands.I also remember holidaying in Weymouth and seeing the trains snaking through the back streets.
How about they actually put trams on that line and use overhead power lines
Don't need overhead wires - battery powered with underground recharge points at each end-of-line.
There's no real reason to do so as the line doesn't really go anywhere interesting apart from the quayside and if this vid was done at a slow walk in 17 mins how long would the tram ride last? Ten max? Not worth it.
Well just a guess
I would have thought the Weymouth Harbour Tramway would have been an
asset to Weymouth, as a possible tourist attraction…?
Yeah. Surprised they didn't try using it as a vintage historical preservation line, kind of similar to other branch lines, junctions and mining routes in the country.
I've been thinking the same for a while, ever since seeing the video of a train coming down it. In my head I see a small saddle tank loco pulling a few carriages down the line.
That would be great running on wooden sleeper that are 160 years old and have been kept nice and damp underground (I bet they are like sponge), those lines have had more cyclists face planting than any other menace in the WORLD
That doesn't mean that they won't try to fix any tracks or sleepers that've deteriorated over time, you know.
I doubt that they'd be THAT careless.
@@davidstorton910 And that's one of the reasons they have refused to let trains run down it. The tracks have been there since the 1860's so you would have thought that cyclists should have got used to them being there by now really, kind of like the tramlines in Nottingham and Sheffield etc.
Very interesting film. Thanks for taking the time to do this and post it.
Thanks for this. I knew it in the ,1960s, but I'd forgotten how long it was! Great to be reminded of a fascinating bit of railway.
I was a bit anxious before but this video has really chilled me out. Thanks for doing the journey and uploading it.
I think that you will find that this branch line (not a tramway) is listed as a "strategic asset by the MOD and it is not the only one. You are not supposed to know this of course !
That would make sense, having a rail line that heads directly to a harbor is quite useful for military operations. The MOD could consider this as a backup plan for if a harbor must be closed or is damaged. As long as Network Rail keeps the tracks in operable condition, you have a fully functional possible military installation.
Interesting video, thanks for sharing.
This line should be part of a heritage line, most of the track is in reasonable condition and it could be an asset to Weymouth once more. They could even organise heritage boat trips to France from the end of the line where the ferry used to run from.
Thank you for this excellent video. My partner Susan Jeffrey and I have happy memories of working in a Summer Repertory Theatre Season at the Weymouth & South Dorset Arts Centre in Commercial Road - sadly, now demolished - the site is now a car park, visible at the left of frame behind the black railings at 6'45'' approx. We remember the trains passing frequently during our stay.
I remember the boat train going through Weymouth to the harbour.
Thank you! I well recall the sense of awe when, en route to guernsey in 1976 the train just seemed to break out of the station and go down the road - as in fact it did!
I have a whole bunch of photos of a train running along the harbour from the early 1990s. It was actually a big thing at the time, brought loads of tourists out. I'm sorry to see that it is currently disused; I had wondered if that was now the case. Thanks for the video.
Very interesting after watching Fred Ivey's film of 1994 showing the line in use - the sad passing of time. Liked the the written commentary, nicely paced and informative. Thank-you.
Seeing a train going along there used to be a highlight of a visit to Weymouth.
Ahh Weymouth, the land of fish & chips :) how i miss living there. I remember as a kid watching the train very slowly roll by flanked by railway workers, forcefully 'bouncing' cars out of the way that were parked too close to the tracks, the path of the train was often slowed by these idiot drivers...
An ideal subject for a drone video too.
Nice video morthren - Known about this line but nice to see a video in its current state with your brilliant information-filled documentary 😊
Very said! Brilliant video Morthern.
Thank you for this interesting video. I am only slightly familiar with this line as I was a passenger on the first train after the services was discontinued. It was a rail tour in the early 90s I'm not sure which year. I remember the crowds watching the train coming down the street and the crew having to bump cars out of the way where they had been parked on or too close to the line despite all the warning signs and the fact that notices had been sent warning residents the the train would be coming. It was all very exciting and a great day out in a sunny Weymouth. I remember my family spent most of the day on the beach near the harbour and excellent fish and chips on the seafront. What a great way to spend a day.
I seem to recall that we were in old southern railway green carriages pulled by a diesel but I might be wrong.
Magnificent, hurrah! Thank-you. This is very close to my heart.
Surely it is a case for a Heritage Trust restoration project.
Very interesting...Nice work
Thanks for posting this very interesting video of one of my favourite places! 👍🙂
I distinctly remember traveling through the streets of Weymouth on the train having come down from Leicester to go on holiday in Guernsey in 1968.
How come rails can prevent a town from developing. Also how are they a hazard. People are becoming H&S obsessed. The Blackpool tramway has 2 tracks and actually runs trams on it and that's open with no issues
Cyclist grumble that they get stuck in them. They wouldn't if they looked where they were going!
@@marty8535 I'm always cycling along them. As long as you don't go parallel to them you'd be fine.
I had often wondered how I should imagine this line. Thank you for taking the trouble to film it.
Another well made and interesting video.
Thank you.
Best video so far in my opinion....
i would love to see that line back in action, with steam
Very imformative and interesting video. I lasted visited Weymouth Harbour when travelling to Jersey in the 90's. It's a real shame the train and ferry services have stopped.
I was wondering when somebody would do the Weymouth Quay line, same the station was closed off, I'm sure there would be interesting things to see.
Great video! Was there a couple of weeks ago - station building now gone but still some remnants of track and point work on approach to station.
Awesome Video Morthren!
It reall is a shame this line is no longer used and facing permanent abandonement.
Excellent and atmospheric. 🙂👍
a great piece of history that will will just disappear in sections of lines left uneffected over the coming years. great vid but so sad. as we know all good things go in the end no matter what...
Ooh not sure why this appeared in my feed but l love a disused railway line story. Always saddens me too.
went to Jersey in 1970 used this line, can remember the the BR guys moving cars off the tracks, another brilliant production ..
R
I lived in Weymouth 1977/1978 and this brought back so many wonderful memories, thank you. 😌
Based on the sattelite view one may just walk around that building to the left of that massive blue "Restricted area" gate and see the remaining couple meters of the tracks
The track at the end of the line has been removed. Probably won’t be long until the rest is ripped up.
another Interesting Fact: Just at the end of the loading quay 13:33, there used to be a siding going off to the end of the raised part of the quay (you can still see the tracks), and there was another siding constructed during the war going off to a linkspan for a train ferry alongside the cargo stage. It was never used as such though I think. The track alongside the cargo stage was for loading trains of vans with potatoes and things straight off the boats.
14:38 that's now been extended until about February,. like nearly everything
Would be interesting to see what potential there is for a battery electric tram. Quiet, clean, and possibly narrower than a standard train to make access easier. Recharge at each end of the branch. No need for running round. Seaton tramway does a good trade.
So can one presume that, if the tramway is a 'danger' then the one in Manchester has in someway, been made 'safe'? Not that having one dangerous thing is a reason to have two.
Nice to seeing it cling on in there, I suspect Brexit is possibly the reason as an emergency port of need as the government does have a duty to maintain such in dire times. Chatham docks lingered on for yonks before final severing, before it was clipped and padlocked entry and I would hazard a guess the Quay is similarly clipped and padlocked to prevent accidental ingress meaning a signalman has to go down with the key and literally unlock the point arm and motor rather than rely on a lock out box at the panel. Strange setup with the quay block exit signal to mainline, you would have thought someone would have put it before the level crossing not immediately after it lol The council and police both have always been resolute enemies of this line, the police because it is their lawful duty to ensure the line is clear and often bouncing errant cars out the way of the encroaching 33 loco, the council are interested in snapping up that parcel of land between mainline and quay road trackwork, to them its worth quite a lot of money and cannot see the actual potential of it other than lining their venal pockets. Ideally, the line needs to be shifted over in that car park to come in on the Island platform, the council would get their bit o' land, the town retains a money making tourist attraction and revenues on the line go up too.
Been it when on holiday this yaer, every intresting and all by the Harbour all the rails are still in place to
Rumour was it was going to reopen to help travel to the Olympic sailing venue at Weymouth in 2012 as we now know it never happened
Stumbled across your lovely video by accident but thoroughly enjoyed it! Visit the area a few times a year. Am known to be an occasional train spotter too ;) and have an interest in old railways. People find that quite odd for a woman in her 30s. It would be lovely to see a tram going from the station/large car park area along to the harbour, would be a lovely tourist attraction. Can't see it happening, too much effort and money. Thanks again :)
Good interesting video update. Well done. I guess removal would be expensive causing hazard and traffic congestion . It will have to be done one day as it corrodes - i;e. tarmac and metal. It's a flipping hazard for cyclists and pedestrians - as I know personally very well myself as a daily cyclist. Motorists don't help as they skim past oblivious, probably as non (never) cyclists.
sad to see it like that how it cope years ago with the traffic was there none then hope it does reopen again it reminds me of folkestone harbour station shame that didn't reopen and used by heritage railway part of that line between the crossing at the top of the line and harbour crossing by the signal box looks like it's going to be left to overgrow with weeds
We used to visit Weymouth in the 1970's. I well remember this line in use. The "end of the line" shown here was not quite, there were points for the locomotive to 'run around' to make return trip. I also remember tanker trucks in a siding to the left of the station. Once we used the ferry from here, and on deck waited until the boat train had arrived to drop of passengers. No ferry terminal so no need of the station I guess.
I lived weymouth and vividly remember the trains going to the sea link terminal. Thank you for sharing
I lived in Weymouth when the line was active, always wonderful to see, and great fun watching them bump the obstructing cars out of the way. Thank you!
Not being funny but the railway has been there for over 150 years, you’d think people would have got used to the rails being there, if the track isn’t strong enough why not reinforce it and use it as a tourist attraction, I know I would travel down from Wigan to here to ride this awesome line, there is very few other places that could say they have this
SO THAT IS WHERE MY SUBURB IN MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA IS NAMED AFTER *waves from upwey australia
Thank you SO much for walking the line - have watched the older "tour" vids and mapped the route - good to follow you at a sensible pace! I'll put it out @4RailTrail immediately 🙂
It would be perfect for a single light rail line.
No, we don't like the term "light"
@@carailphotography Indeed we do not. Perhaps local service?
Whilst the line was indeed fascinating, the howls of outrage over the closure and removal of it are a bit ridiculous.
It's been disused for decades. The ferry terminal it served closed years ago. The rails make maintaining the roads more expensive and difficult. Suggestions for making it a heritage tramway are completely unrealistic as it doesn't go anywhere useful for tourism.
It's gone, get over it.
Sadly, all the nostalgia and wishful thinking won't make 'them' reinstate the line - just to get to a disused ferry port? Condor Ferries stopped sailing from Weymouth in 2015, which saved most rail passengers an hour (Poole to Weymouth) plus heaven-knows-how-long at walking pace to the quay, stopping each time a car was overhanging the line. Fun to watch but not really appropriate for the 21st century.
I'm greatly saddened to say that (as of October 2020) the thumb-suckers and arm-flailers have got their evil way. Weymouth's 155 years-old street railway is being ripped up and soon this unique piece of line will be history. 😠
nicely done. great filming and info.
Looks like a tartsy-fartsy upscale area. No doubt the residents and shops complained about having trains running down the same street where they park their BMWs and Mercedes.
I remember travelling down there in the late 1960's behind a steam locomotive if I remember correctly. The train was preceeded by a number of P-Way staff who were bumping parked cars out of the way and trying to get them tightly into the gaps between the lamp posts so they would have difficulty getting out - some sort of measure to disuade them from parking obstructing the tracks in future. A very slow journey to the ship and it was very rough on the ferry. We got stuck in Guernsey for the night as it was too rough for the ferry to Sark to run.
John Murrell I was told of cars (and other vehicles) literally being shoved/crashed out of the way by trains on this line. A class 33 loco is a good bit heavier than an average car and wouldn’t take any crap!
@@nigelkthomas9501 The only car I have ever seen in person hit by a train was a black BMW 300 series that was parked in the railway depot where I used to work. It was hit by the corner of a flat wagon at low speed. The wagon survived without damage but the entire top right corner of the BMW was demolished - the headlamp ended up by the windscreen ! The top of the front right suspension was ripped off as well though the engine survived. I beleive the car was a write off - London Underground refused to pay as the owner did not have permission to park in the depot & he had left it infringing the tracks. In a depot of course a bit like the Weymouth Tramway there are no sleepers to give an indication of the swept area.
They should at least clear the flange gaps and check the gauge of the track & then run a locomotive or a 2-car DMU through there a few times to see if there is any change.
I assume the complete passage would not be that fast: 10mph or less.
Do that on a monthly basis and it keeps the idea that it is still an active railway in people's minds.
Do you really wanna find a buffer-shaped imprint in your GTI s***box? So park it elsewhere!
So the council regards the railway a danger, and it ran everyday for 122 years..yet in many cities now,we have trams running through the streets,same principle,railway in the streets.The danger here is the general public,and car-owners,and complete ignorance of something that was once an everyday occurrence, with complete safety.two people walking in front of the train, at walking pace..and if you grow up with the scenario,you are more aware of it..some people really do live in a closed, molly-coddling world..and unfortunately a lot of those people, end up on local Councils,afraid of being sued by the present culture we have..I travelled along this in the late 70s, and was fascinated by the experience, but I guess back then, we were all taught to look after ourselves, and made aware of any dangers..unlike the present culrure,where they have to be told do everything, the previous generation did without hesitation.by using common sense.
I remember being on a railtour which came down the branch and the crew having to hand bump cars out of the way and squeeze past others by the thickness of the shine! I have several pictures I took at the time including the loco stopped behind a green double decker bus at the terminal platform. All would give the HSE bods heeby jeebys these days.
Always nice to see a gentle, calm and informative morthren video in my subs. Keep up the good work.
Thanks!
General public safety is one thing. Unfortunately public stupidity is much more common and increasingly on the rise. All these people will get a nice surprise when that big blue locomotive engine decides to start moving again! Certainly the ones with their cars parked right over the railway line tracks!
Brilliant video of modern history which should be a good reference for history lessons in the future. 10 out of 10
This line should be reopened as a single car diesel line running on waste cooking oils and having 2 new stations on the line.... All they would need to build are some short DDA compliant platforms made of steel....
On that note, wasn't a Parry People Mover prototype tested out here, only for it to struggle because it was too light to deal with the debris in the tracks?
@@fetchstixRHD I don't know about any PPM running on this line although a PPM isn't what a single car diesel train would be like I've suggested....
@@wclifton968gameplaystutorials: Well, if you want a single car diesel train but don't want a 139 derivative (or a light locomotive), you're down to only 153s and the 121 Bubble Cars, and I don't think the 121s are disability regulation compliant. Of course for the 153s you may get away with locking the toilets out of use, but overall I don't see the line being used as anything more than a heritage tourist ride (or at all for that matter, considering the need for police escorts)
@@fetchstixRHD yea I suppose or theres always turning it into light rail instead.... although saying that the route is very short...