A restored 1950s heritage diesel train is to operate a two-day Winter Explorer train service between Norden, Corfe Castle, Harman’s Cross and Swanage.

The 1950s ex-British Railways three-carriage Class 117 diesel mechanical multiple unit (DMMU for short) will operate on the Swanage Railway on New Year’s Eve (Sunday 31 December) and New Year’s Day (Monday 1 January).

The Winter Explorer will run six times on each day, departing Norden at 10.30am, 11.30am, 12.30pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm and departing Swanage at 11.00am, 12 noon, 1.30pm, 2.30pm, 3.30pm and 4.30pm.

The train is of the same type that ran on Dorset’s last remaining branch line between Maiden Newton and Bridport for a decade.

The heritage diesel train has all-round windows, and the facility for passengers to sit behind the driver and watch the train being driven. Travelling on the train gives passengers a great opportunity to enjoy the stunning landscapes of the Isle of Purbeck, a protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

British Railways diesel mechanical multiple units, including the Class 117s, ran on the Bridport branch in west Dorset from 1965 until the last remaining branch line in the county closed in May 1975.

Class 117 DMMUs also visited the Swanage branch line during summer 1971, its last operating season, hauling promotional day-tripper trains from London and the Thames valley.

On ninety different days between April and September 2023, the three-carriage Class 117 DMMU operated the Swanage Railway’s second year trial train service from Swanage and Corfe Castle to the main line at Wareham.

Steam trains will return to the Swanage Railway for the weekend of Saturday 6 January, and Sunday 7 January 2024, at a special Winter Warm Up event featuring both steam and heritage diesel locomotive trains, similar to the event it ran last year.

The Swanage Railway is encouraging potential new volunteers to contact its volunteer recruitment and retention officer Lisa Gravett on 01929 475212 or email [email protected]. Details about volunteering are also available online here.

Volunteer Swanage Railway Company chairman Gavin Johns said, “The diesel mechanical multiple units represent an important part of this country’s post-war railway history as they were developed as part of the 1955 modernisation plan drawn up by British Railways.

“Replacing steam trains, the diesel mechanical multiple units were used on branch lines and secondary routes for almost 50 years – the last of the now heritage trains being withdrawn in the early to mid-1990s.

“The diesel mechanical multiple units not only worked the west Dorset branch line from Maiden Newton to Bridport for ten years, up to the line’s closure in May, 1975, but also the secondary line from Westbury, Castle Cary and Yeovil Penn Mill down to Dorchester West and Weymouth.

“With windows all the way round the heritage unit, the 1950s heritage diesel mechanical multiple unit gives passengers wonderful views and is the perfect way to explore the Isle of Purbeck whose countryside is a protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and part of the designated Jurassic Coast.

“There is also the chance to sit behind the driver and watch, through a glass window, the driver at the controls of the train as the diesel mechanical multiple unit runs along the tracks,” added Gavin who is a volunteer signalman on the popular Purbeck heritage line.”