As Swanage Railway marked its 50th anniversary, the Railway 200 train arrived at Corfe Castle station to join the party, commemorating 200 years since the first ever passenger train journey.
The double celebration took place over the Swanage Railway Community Weekend from Saturday 14th to Sunday 15th February 2026, with the Railway 200 train called Inspiration arriving on Monday 16th and staying until Wednesday 18th February 2026.
No better place for the Railway 200 train to stop but at beautiful and historic Corfe Castle station
Past, present and future of railways
The focus was on the past, present, and future of railways, with a reunion of some of the founders of the heritage railway who started the restoration in 1976, plus Inspiration whose on board exhibition looked at the history of rail travel and its future.
The Railway 200 train is also aiming to inspire a new generation to work in the rail industry with its careers guidance and interactive displays.
Chair of the Swanage Railway Company Ben Ford said:
“It’s brilliant to have the Railway 200 train visiting Swanage Railway. It’s celebrating 200 years of the modern railway, while we are marking 50 years since the founding of our heritage railway.
“We need to inspire the future generation to be as enthusiastic about working on the railway as our volunteers who saved the Swanage branch line after it was closed by British Rail in the 1970s. If people aren’t interested in working in the rail industry, it will cease to exist.
“It’s so lovely to see Inspiration at Corfe Castle station for the beginning of the half term school holidays, and I’d say, come along and learn more about the past, present, and future of rail, as well as finding out about the Swanage Railway.”
Chair of the Swanage Railway Company Ben Ford with Inspiration
The past, present, and future at Corfe Castle station
“Corfe Castle station is its most southerly stop yet!”
The Railway 200 train, operated by Network Rail and co-curated with the National Railway Museum has been touring Britain since the start of 2025 visiting stations the length and breadth of the country.
Programme manager for Railway 200 Emma Roberts said:
“We’ve been looking forward to bringing Inspiration to the scenic Swanage Railway for some time, and the next few days are shaping up to be really special.
“Inspiration has been to nearly 40 destinations across the country so far. It’s been as far north as the Cairngorms and Corfe Castle station is its most southerly stop yet!”
Inside the exhibition, the amazing train track made out of sand proved fascinating
Building bridges was another interactive exhibit
Founding members of Swanage Railway
It was 50 years ago on Saturday 14th February 1976 that the first Swanage Railway volunteers were handed the keys to a derelict Swanage station.
After the branch line had been closed by British Rail in January 1972, the track was quickly ripped up and sold for scrap. All the buildings along the line were abandoned and left to decay.
However there was a group of passionate people who were determined to restore everything to its former glory and 50 years later the stations are probably in better condition than in the 1960s and 70s.
The reunion 50 years later of some of the original volunteers who founded Swanage Railway
“Most people thought we were a bunch of trainspotting nutters”
Remarkably, many of those original volunteers gathered together at Corfe Castle station on Saturday 14th February 2026, to recount their stories of what it was like at the beginning, fifty years ago.
Peter Frost who lives in Swanage – grew up in Corfe Castle where his parents owned the Greyhound pub.
He regularly rode the trains in the 1960s as a child before watching the line closed and the tracks lifted before helping to rebuild it from the first day. He remembered:
“As a child, I lived in Corfe Castle village and spent many hours with those who worked on, or were associated with the branch line from Wareham to Swanage. Corfe Castle station soon became my playground as a child.
“Climbing up on to the end step of the two chocolate and cream Pullman camping coaches, in a siding opposite the front of the station building at Corfe Castle, I would imagine I was a train driver.
“One day, in 1964, one of the branch drivers gave me a ride on the footplate of a steam locomotive at Swanage and I was hooked. Little did I realise that 15 years later I would start driving steam trains on the Swanage Railway.
“I was approaching the age of fourteen when the branch line to Corfe Castle and Swanage came to a sudden end. My railway life and friends disappeared overnight on Saturday 1st January 1972, when the last train ran from Swanage to Wareham and the line was closed.
“That summer, I watched the track ripped up through Corfe Castle and never thought that the railway could, or would, return. It was a very sad time.
“It was in early 1976 that I heard that a small band of volunteers were hoping to gain access to Swanage station which had been purchased from the town council.
“On the morning of Saturday 14th February 1976, I hopped on my Honda 250 motor cycle and joined the group of people on the platform at Swanage station.
“There were older people there but also teenagers and there was an exciting buzz. We all realised our opportunity had arrived to get involved in resurrecting the beloved Swanage Railway.
“There were no tracks, the platform had been demolished and the station canopy had been stripped of its lead and glass. The station building was boarded up.
“Each person found a job they could tackle under the buoyant leadership of Swanage Railway Society chairman Andrew Goltz in which we all had full confidence that he was able to lead us to reopen the Swanage Railway.
“My first job was to clean up the parcels office. Along with a number of others, we swept out all the rubbish and cleaned the walls with sand paper and washed them down before applying a liberal coat of white wash – it was an amazing transformation.
“The feeling among everyone present was of excitement – there was no doubt, no going back and a commitment to put right the wrong of the closure and demolition of the Swanage branch which I loved.
“It has been a 50 year journey for me and a cast of thousands to put right a great wrong. We were successful because the Isle of Purbeck community supported us.
“Most people thought we were a bunch of trainspotting nutters and that we would never rebuild the railway. Even railwaymen who worked on the Swanage branch line thought that to rebuild it was impossible.
“The strength and spirit of the pioneers has won through against all the odds.
“There are so many people who worked so hard to rebuild the Swanage Railway over so many years who should be remembered. Without their vision, determination and strong spirit – against the odds – there would be no Swanage Railway.”
Peter Frost was just a teenager when he turned up to help with the restoration of Swanage station
This historic picture captures Peter on the platform at Swanage station with Station Road in the background
“What an experience and an achievement”
Jeremy Weller who lived in Swanage and became involved on the first day of restoration in 1976 said:
“I was a pupil at Swanage Grammar School and found out about the first working party from a member of staff at the school. It must have been break time as I was in the playground at the time.
“My memory of the first day was completing some envelopes for a newsletter in the derelict parcels office – where the shop is now – and sweeping the platform.
“Our motivation was ‘we’re on our way’ and expectations were high, possibly naively. I don’t think any of us thought it would take so long.
“Looking back, I sometimes can’t believe that we, a bunch of keen enthusiasts – you could say amateurs – managed to rebuild a railway! What an experience and an achievement.
“It certainly gives me a sense of pride when I see an engine and carriages pulling out of a station. Then there are all the friendships that have been made along the way, amazingly some of these have lasted 50 years – it’s also sad that so many people from the early days are no longer with us.
“I enjoy doing practical things and it gives me a huge sense of achievement when I finish a project – like a carriage or wagon – and see it outside in the open. I haven’t found that with anything else I’ve been involved in.
“It’s important that people realise the amount of effort and resource that has gone into rebuilding the Swanage Railway.
“It also might help those volunteers that come after us, to realise that not everything can be achieved overnight, that nothing is insurmountable but beware of the pitfalls and learn from the mistakes that have been made in the past.
“In the early years of rebuilding and restoration, there was a lack of support from local councils and even a group of Swanage residents who all took a lot of convincing. The lack of money and keeping an eye on expenditure has also been an obstacle.
“Teamwork and a common goal has been – and still is – vital to overcome problems. It’s also important that we keep the public ‘on our side’ as there are an awful lot of people out there who aren’t members but think that the railway is, on the whole, a good thing.”
Laurence Sprigg (left) and Jeremy Weller (right) were set to work clearing up Swanage station on the very first day on Saturday 14th February 1976
Laurence was cleaning windows while Jeremy wielded a broom
“I remember scraping mouldy wallpaper from the walls”
Pete Duncalfe, who lives in Swanage, remembered:
“I have clear memories of that first day of restoration at Swanage station in February 1976. I lived in Wareham and my dad dropped me at the station mid-morning with sandwiches, a drink and enough money for the bus fare home.
“I clearly remember that, for the morning session, I was put to work in a bedroom in the station house that would become an office for the railway. I remember scraping mouldy wallpaper from the walls and the flaking paint off the ceiling.
“After lunch, we set about trying to get the rusty Aga stove in the station house kitchen working.
“I remember grabbing a wheelbarrow, pickaxe and a shovel before walking up to the disused engine shed, with a couple of other lads, to see if we could find any coal that had been left behind by British Railways when steam trains stopped in 1966.
“Bringing the few lumps that we found back to the house, we attempted to light the stove but to no avail.
“It was my 13th birthday that day and I was told to return when I had reached the ripe old age of 16. However, towards the end of 1977 – when we were allowed to lay track at Swanage station – I began to return to the railway on a regular basis, and it’s at that point I feel I started my ‘proper’ volunteering at Swanage Railway, even though I was still only 15.”
Cake to celebrate 50 years of Swanage Railway
Tickets for the Railway 200 train are free with a valid Swanage Railway train ticket, which start from £3 for a journey from Purbeck Park at Norden to Corfe Castle
Further information
- More about Railway 200 train and where it is visiting next
- More about Swanage Railway
