S&DJR Series - Shillingstone station Traditional Cache
Professor Xavier: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.
If you wish to email me please send your email via my profile (click on my name) and quote the cache name and number.
Regards
Ed
Professor Xavier - Volunteer UK Reviewer
www.geocaching.com
UK Geocaching Policies Wiki
Geocaching Help Center
S&DJR Series - Shillingstone station
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Related Web Page
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Shillingstone Station
Shillingstone railway station was a station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR), serving the village of Shillingstone in the English county of Dorset. Opened in 1863, the station was located between Sturminster Newton and Blandford Forum stations, although between 1928 and 1956 the next station south was Stourpaine and Durweston Halt. Shillingstone is the last surviving example of a station built by the Dorset Central Railway (one of the forerunners of the S&DJR.
After a prolonged run-down of services, including the closure of freight and goods services on 5 April 1965, the station was closed, along with the remaining former S&DJR lines, on 7 March 1966, as a result of the Beeching Axe. The station was fully staffed until closure. Track-lifting commenced in 1967, Shillingstone being tackled between March and May. The signal box and platform shelters were demolished at this time, and the last train through the station was the demolition train, hauled by a small diesel shunter.[1]
Dorset County Council purchased the trackbed for a proposed Shillingstone by-pass. Various furniture manufacturing companies were sited in the station yard, over the years, occupying industrial buildings constructed in the late 1970s, some of them making partial use of the station building. By December 2002, the by-pass plan had been shelved and the station was unoccupied. Dorset County Council decided to dispose of the redundant station, and, after protracted negotiations, the North Dorset Railway Trust took over the lease in July 2005, with a view to re-open the station as a heritage railway attraction. Restoration work commenced in 2003 and has continued steadily since then.
A length of trackbed around Shillingstone has been opened as a section of the North Dorset Trailway, providing an easy-access route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. At Shillingstone station the trailway is routed up and along the down platform, providing a clear view of the restored buildings.
The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway – almost always referred to as "the S&D" – was an English railway line connecting Bath in north east Somerset and Bournemouth now in south east Dorset but then in Hampshire. It was never a high speed line: its winter business was carrying freight and local passenger traffic over the Mendips, but in the summer season the S&D came into its own, carrying a heavy service of Saturday holiday trains from northern towns to Bournemouth. It was often referred to as "the Slow and Dirty" or sometimes "the Slow and Doubtful".
It always commanded a considerable loyalty from railway enthusiasts, and when it closed in 1966 it was widely mourned.
*******************************************************
FTF - phillip 3363
*******************************************************
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Zhygv gehax ynetr flpnzber gerr