Date: 05/03/2016

The 50th anniversary of the closing of the Somerset and Dorset Railway is being marked over the weekend. On 5 March 1966 a coffin with the words 'S&D died today' was loaded on to the very last train in a mock funeral to mark the service's demise. At its height, the line linked places like Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea, Wells, Bath and Glastonbury. But Michael Eavis, Glastonbury founder, said it would be 'impossible' to have a 'train coming through the site now'. The S&D, as it was known, was created in 1862 when two railways - Somerset Central Railway and Dorset Central Railway - merged to create a coast-to-coast line from Burnham-on-Sea to Poole.

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Mock funeral marked end of the line

BBC News

The 50th anniversary of the closing of the Somerset and Dorset Railway is to be marked at the weekend.

Related images

Midford on the Somerset and Dorset Railway in 1962. This view looks towards Bath. [See image 35581]
Location: Midford
Company: Bath Branch (Somerset and Dorset Railway)
//1962 John Thorn

An old box camera photograph taken at Banbury in July 1965 showing a Brush Type 4 locomotive with the northbound Pines Express on its journey from Bournemouth to Manchester.
Location: Banbury
Company: Birmingham and Oxford Railway
/07/1965 Colin Miller

West Country Pacific no 34103 Calstock stands on the centre road at Oxford in the summer of 1964. The locomotive is awaiting the arrival of the southbound Pines Express ex-Manchester which it will take over for the final leg to Bournemouth.
Location: Oxford
Company: Birmingham and Oxford Railway
27/08/1964 John Robin