Andrew Goltz and John Sloboda were just 22 years old and eager rail enthusiasts when they made a trip from London to the disused station at Corfe in May 1972. The pair walked the abandoned tracks just weeks before they were removed by contractors under the orders of British Rail.

During the walk, Andrew and John found inspiration looking at the boarded-up Victorian station which sits beneath the atmospheric medieval castle and decided to create the Swanage Railway Society and work towards the reopening of the ten mil branch line from Wareham which had been controversially closed by British Rail just months before in January 1972.

June 1972 saw the Swanage Railway Society formed, however, British rail had moved quickly to lift the tracks for scrap which saw the Society undertake an arduous campaign lasting four years to get the line rebuilt and the tracks relayed starting at the disused Swanage station in order for steam trains to return to the Isle of Purbeck.

Returning to Corfe Castle from his home in Poland, Andrew said: “It’s very moving and gut-wrenching to be back.”

“With the castle ruins rising above, Corfe Castle station had a powerful magic and I remember walking along the rusting tracks on that warm early summer day with John saying the memorable words: ‘This is all too attractive to be allowed to be swept away for a Corfe Castle by-pass. We have to save it.’ ”

John who is now in his early 70s made his way from his home in London for the reunion of the two former students and rail campaign colleague. John and Andrew have remained firm friends throughout their school days in London.

John said: “It has been very emotional to see the difference between what we saw in 1972 and what we admire today which is a vibrant and loved working railway to which many people have given the best part of their lives to make the success that it is today. There is such a lot of care and love for the Swanage Railway which is wonderful.”

Swanage Railway Trust chairman Gavin Johns and Company Chairman Robert Patterson gave the pioneering pair a tour of Corfe Castle station. Andrew and John also enjoyed a steam journey to Harman’s Cross station which is located between Corfe Castle and Swanage where they laid flowers at the memorial stone. Harmon’s Cross station was built by volunteers in the late 1980s and the memorial there is a tribute to the many generations of dedicated Swanage Railway volunteers.

Joining Andrew and John at the memorial was Catherine Shaw who is the granddaughter of one of Swanage Railway Society’s earliest campaigners Dorothy Gosling, who retired in Swanage with her husband during the 1960s.

Swanage Railway Trust chairman Gavin Johns said: “It was very moving to meet Andrew Goltz and John Sloboda because without them – and the other volunteers they recruited to their campaign 50 years ago – there would not be the Swanage Railway that so many people enjoy which contributes £15 million a year to the local economy.”

Swanage Railway Company chairman Robert Patterson said: “What the Swanage Railway Society’s dedicated volunteers achieved, against the odds, shows what the power of the human spirit can achieve. I pay tribute to all those volunteers who gave so much over the years to the Swanage Railway, many of whom are no longer with us.”

Four years of hard battle saw the Swanage Railway provided with a one-year lease for the disused Swanage station by the town council and with a small band of dedicated volunteers saw restoration get underway in February 1976.