As part of the Swanage Railway‘s 140th Birthday celebrations, a brass horn believed to have been blown in May 1885 to signal the departure of the first passenger train from Swanage to Corfe Castle and Wareham is to be blown again at Swanage station on Saturday, 17th May.

The ceremony starts at 1 pm, with the Swanage Town Band replicating the performance of its predecessors in May 1885 to welcome dignitaries and others, including the Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset, Michael Dooley, the Mayor of Swanage, Tina Foster, and Swanage Railway Trust patron Sir Philip Williams.

Following speeches from Swanage Railway Trust chair Frank Roberts and dignitaries, the horn will be blown at 2 pm to mark the departure of a special train from Swanage to Herston Halt, Harman’s Cross, Corfe Castle, and Norden.

The special train will be hauled by the Swanage Railway Trust’s T3 class steam locomotive No. 563, which was built in 1893 and is typical of the locomotives that hauled trains from London to Corfe Castle and Swanage from the 1890s to the 1930s.

Dignitaries and other guests will travel in the railway’s 1940s Devon Belle Pullman observation carriage.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the 140th anniversary ceremony at Swanage station, where admission will be free, but they will need to purchase travel tickets if they wish to travel on the special train.

A special commemorative badge has been designed by Swanage Railway Trust director and volunteer Clive Hardy for presentation to volunteers attending the commemorative ceremony and those working elsewhere on the line on the day. Clive is also organising the day’s special events.

Another historic event took place last New Year’s Day when the driver of one of the Swanage Railway’s trains was the same man who drove trains to Swanage in the years before British Rail withdrew services to the town.

Ahead of the anniversary celebrations, the railway’s Spring Steam Gala is being held next weekend from Friday, 25th to Sunday, 27th April.

“The event marking the 140th anniversary of the Swanage Railway’s opening will reflect the celebrations that accompanied the arrival in Swanage of a special train that brought the Swanage Railway Company’s directors from London to the seaside town on Saturday, 16 May, 1885, as well as the departure of the first public passenger train from Swanage to Corfe Castle and the main line at Wareham on Wednesday, 20 May, 1885. In 1885, the new 25-minute train journey from Swanage to Wareham cost eleven pence compared with a traditional horse and carriage journey taking one and a half hours at a ticket price of two shillings and sixpence. It’s apt the 140th anniversary of the Swanage branch line’s opening in May, 1885, falls in the year of the national Rail 200 celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the UK’s railways – celebrating the UK’s railways past, present and future.”

Swanage Railway Trust director and volunteer Clive Hardy