by Lorraine Gibson.

My recent article about the controversial Beeching Report, the subsequent decimation of our railways and the famous Pines Express train resulted in these fascinating and poignant insights from readers, Diana Shiner from Bearwood, Susan Jones from Broadstone and Ian and June Orbell from Upton.

Diane on her wedding day in 1952

Diana fondly recalls journeys on the Pines Express in its heyday: “In 1951/2, my husband was doing his National Service at RAF Credenhill, Hereford; we were married in 1952 and I joined him there. At Easter and in the summer we picked up the Pines Express en route from Manchester to Bournemouth.
“It was packed with holidaymakers and I had to stand in the corridor or sit on the suitcase.
“We left the train at Broadstone, then an important junction, where two lines crossed the private golf course of Lord Wimborne of Canford Manor, now the school.
“One line was the Somerset & Dorset railway, taken by the Pines Express, the other, a branch line through to Wimborne and beyond. Happy memories.”
Susan recalls her school days: “My husband and I attended Lockyer’s School, Corfe Mullen and around 1951, we walked in crocodile style to Corfe Mullen Halt to catch the train to Cheddar for the day.
“It was a thrill to be able to stretch out your arm to stop the express. My son still does the same today!
“My husband lived at the Violet Farm (no longer there) and at 11.57, could hear the chuff-chuff of the Somerset & Dorset as it made its way through the cutting.”
For Ian, remembering the train invokes wonderful childhood memories but also comes with a very sad tale: “The Pines Express first came to my attention as a young sprog of about eight, just after the war ended. As most kids were doing, armed with notebook and pencil, I would cycle to Poole railway station from my home in Oakdale for a spot of train watching. “Having paid my penny for a platform ticket I could spend all day there if I wished.
“At this time, my grandparents lived near Branksome railway station so I’d cycle to see them. Their neighbours were a lovely couple, Mr and Mrs Flynn. Mr Flynn was a Southern Railway engine driver, his main route being with the Pines Express. “Hanging around Poole station, I often met him for a quick ‘hello’ on one of his through stops.
“On a visit to nan’s I was talking trains with Mr Flynn in his garden when he suggested I be at Poole station the next afternoon as he was returning through and back to Bournemouth West station.

Ian and June Orbell’s wedding day, 1961,

“I did and sure enough his train arrived, right on time. He said, ‘throw your bike in the guards’ van and come on up onto the footplate’. I didn’t have to be asked twice.”
Ian’s boyhood dream moment had arrived.
“He sat me on his driver’s seat and I kept my hand on the throttle lever, up over Parkstone bank with stops at Parkstone and Branksome stations, ending at West station.”
Joking, he adds: “Now that I considered myself a fully-ledged engine driver, I drove the Pines Express several times and, of course, was the envy of my mates.”
Aged 10, on a trip to Blackpool for a holiday with his parents, he ‘educated them fully on the pros and cons of steam engines and the Pines in particular.
“My wife June’s first trip on the Pines was with her friend when she was about 15 and going to Westbury. They made it to Templecombe to make the change to the West/East line to London but, were distracted by a bunch of sailors heading home from Plymouth.
“When asked where they were heading, they replied Westbury – just as they were entering Hungerford. They were advised to leave the train.
“The happiest part of this tale was that about a year later we met and made it to the alter. That was 61 wonderful years ago.
“The unhappy part was that in the early Sixties Mr Flynn, who loved his job so much but was approaching retirement, died… on the tracks near Branksome Station.”
The Pines Express story is being brought to life through the Wimborne Railex Model Railway Exhibition, an award-winning scale model of the terminus station with the Pines Express train in action.
April 15 and 16, Allendale Centre, Wimborne.