Purbeck Miniature Railway is a gauge
miniature railway, located at
The Purbeck School
The Purbeck School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Wareham in the central southern area of Dorset, England, on the Isle of Purbeck.
The organisation of schools in the Purbeck area is based on a comprehensive two- ...
near
Wareham, Dorset, England. Construction started in the late 1980s in co-operation with the Weymouth & District Society of Model Engineers
and has closed due to building works on
The Purbeck School
The Purbeck School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Wareham in the central southern area of Dorset, England, on the Isle of Purbeck.
The organisation of schools in the Purbeck area is based on a comprehensive two- ...
.
The line runs from a passenger station at Monument, around the main playground, before crossing a bridge and passing through a tunnel to reach the second station where the main sheds are located. The line is approximately long.
Rolling stock
The line built its own rolling stock over the years, inspired by
Heywood designs. There was a range of wagons for maintenance purposes including a ballast hopper, weedkiller tank, guards vans and open wagons. The passenger stock also varied from enclosed 4 wheel coaches to open sit astride trolleys.
Petrol and electric locomotives
Steam locomotives
Signalling
There was a
signal box
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
at Purbeck South which controlled the points and
semaphore signals, allowing more than one train to operate at once. At Monument there was a simple arrangement of two platforms and a turntable, which was operated by the guard, shunter or driver.
Public operating
The line used to give rides to the public at
car boot events, which were normally held on the first Sunday of each month. The railway has now been dismantled and is no longer in operation.
Junior Members Club
The line runs its own club for young people run by Noel Donnely, a former Purbeck school teacher. Public are welcome to come along and look and ride on the railway at the meetings or on special occasions and open days.
References
{{coord, 50.68331, N, 2.12281, W, type:landmark_region:GB_dim:100, display=title
7¼ in gauge railways in England
Miniature railways in the United Kingdom
Rail transport in Dorset
Railway lines closed in 2013
Wareham, Dorset