Back on track for London
British Rail closed the Purbeck branch line from Wareham, Dorset, in January 1972 and lifted seven miles of track south of Furzebrook to Corfe Castle and Swanage that summer.
The railway was built at Swanage in 1885 after being delayed for years by residents of Wareham.
Three years later, a group of steam railway enthusiasts moved into what was then a disused station at Swanage and started work to restore the line – at first to Herston and then to Harman's Cross three miles away.
The present line was extended to Norden, near Corfe Castle, in 1995 and has grown mile by mile over the years.
The heritage campaigners are now rejoicing as the first train since 1972, called the Purbeck Pioneer, is due to take passengers from London to Swanage tomorrow.
A second Purbeck Pioneer charter train, a 12-coach with a large Class 66 diesel-electric locomotive, will run the same route the following day.
Moyra Cross was one of the original campaigners and has spent the past 40 years volunteering on Swanage Railway, working in the station shop at Swanage to help raise funds.
The 87-year-old from Swanage said: "These first two trains running from London down to Swanage are absolutely fantastic and the achievement of a treasured and very long-held dream.
"When work started on rebuilding the railway from nothing at a desolate Swanage station, we never thought that it would take this long for the first through train to run in from Wareham – a gap of 37 years."
The railway has launched a commemorative T-shirt and mug to mark the occasion.
Peter Sills, 51, and his 86-year-old father Frederick, a retired engineer, were among the last 500 passengers to travel from Wareham to Swanage on New Year's Day in 1972. The pair, from Wareham, will be on the first train from Wareham to Swanage and back tomorrow.
The Purbeck Pioneer charter train is run by UK Railtours and departs London's Victoria station in the morning and returns to the capital's Waterloo station that evening.
Peter, a Swanage Railway director and volunteer signalman, said they will be carrying their last tickets from 1972 which cost 25p for a child and 50p for an adult.
Prices have rocketed since then and it now costs £160 for a first-class dining train seat.
He said: "Riding on that last train from Wareham to Swanage as a 15-year-old was a very sad occasion because everyone thought the railway was gone for good but there was also an air of celebration – it was almost like the first train from 1885 because people packed the train and watched from the lineside.
"After watching the seven miles of track from Furzebrook to Corfe Castle and Swanage torn up for scrap in just seven weeks during the summer of 1972, everyone was sure the railway would never come back.
"It seemed such a massive job against all the odds – financial, practical and political."
He added: "What a contrast from the sadness of 37 years ago because I'm sure this first train from London to Swanage will be the first of many.
"The rebuilding of the Swanage Railway across 30 years shows just what determination and the power of the human spirit can achieve against all the odds."
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