Steam Railway meets up with Gavin Collins, Chairman of the North Dorset Railway, and Phil Jacques, the line’s Operations Manager, to talk about what this S&D anniversary year (and beyond) holds for the expanding heritage line.

Sixty years ago this month, on March 6 1966, the Western Region achieved two major goals with the end of both steam power and the Somerset & Dorset route – bringing a mighty era to a rather grubby end.

Let me say straight away, from an early age I loved watching trains go by at my local station and soon became just as interested in the surrounding infrastructure. I loved how the whole system worked,

Visiting Ivatt ‘2MT’ 2-6-2T No. 41312 at Midsomer ...

GET IN TOUCH Steam Railway, Media House, Lynchwood, ...

In the first 15 years of its life as a heritage line, steam on the West Somerset Railway underwent a remarkable transformation, from humble industrials to stars from the National Collection.