Station horn marks 140 years since first departure

A brass horn, believed to have marked the departure of a station's first passenger train 140 years ago, has been sounded to mark the anniversary.

The handheld horn is said to have been blown at Swanage Station in Dorset when the first service left for Corfe Castle and Wareham in May 1885.

Blowing the horn was Swanage Railway volunteer Peter Sills who, as a teenager, travelled on the line's last British Rail passenger train on 1 January 1972.

Dignitaries and railway volunteers attended a special event to mark the station's 140th anniversary on Saturday.

Event organiser Clive Hardy described the opening of the line in 1885 as a "seismic shift" for the Isle of Purbeck, turning the small fishing town of Swanage into a "day-trip destination".

He said: "The new 25-minute train journey from Swanage to Wareham cost 11 pence, compared with a traditional horse and carriage journey taking one-and-a-half hours at a ticket price of two shillings and sixpence."

Most of the 10-mile branch line was ripped up following its closure in 1972 but has been reinstated as a heritage railway after years of work by enthusiasts.

Swanage Railway Trust chair Frank Roberts said: "The afternoon was not just a commemoration of 140 years of history but also a celebration of almost five decades of devoted volunteer efforts by several generations of determined men and women who have battled and campaigned to rebuild the Swanage Railway."

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