Swanage railway station
| Swanage | |
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Swanage station
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| Location | |
| Place | Swanage |
| Area | Purbeck |
| Coordinates | 50°36′37″N 1°57′41″W / 50.61020°N 1.96145°WCoordinates: 50°36′37″N 1°57′41″W / 50.61020°N 1.96145°W |
| Grid reference | SZ029789 |
| Operations | |
| Original company | Swanage Railway |
| Platforms | 2 |
| History | |
| 1885 | Opened |
| 1972 | Closed by British Rail |
| 1982 | Reopened by Swanage Railway |
| Stations on heritage railways in the United Kingdom | |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | |
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Swanage railway station is a railway station located in Swanage, on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. Originally the terminus of a London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) branch line from Wareham, the line and station were closed by British Rail in 1972. It has since reopened as a station on the Swanage Railway, a heritage railway that currently runs from Norden station just north of Corfe Castle to Swanage station. It now also runs to Wareham on certain services, but not on regular services due to signalling problems.
Swanage lies at the tip of the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula bordered by the English Channel to the south, and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the north and east. Since the 12th century, the area around Swanage has been well known for the Purbeck Marble that was mined locally and shipped out by sea. The presence of this industry, together with the Purbeck Ball Clay works in the area to the north, attracted railway promoters once the L&SWR main line reached Wareham in 1847.Several schemes were promoted and failed, but eventually the Swanage Railway received its Act in 1881 and opened on 20 May 1885.
Swanage station was constructed with two platform tracks, on either side of a single passenger platform. The longer of these tracks had a run round loop, and was flanked by a station building built in the grey Purbeck stone. A single track goods shed provided facilities for general merchandise, and a turntable, coaling stage and single track locomotive shed were provided for use by the steam locomotives that operated the line. In order to handle the anticipated volumes of stone traffic, a four track goods yard was constructed. One of the lines in the goods yard was extended as a tramway running in a narrow alley behind Station Road to a stone store near the waterfront. This tramway should not be confused with the earlier Swanage Pier Tramway that linked nearby stone stores to a pier in Swanage Bay.
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