News arrives from the town of Weymouth on the south coast of England: the old railway track that ran through the centre of town is being lifted. The line was originally built in 1865 as an extension from the station to the harbour. It was initially used for freight and in its heyday it was used to transport fresh fruit and vegetable unloaded at the dockside to the rest of the country.
Later passenger services were introduced to serve the ferries to the Channel Islands and France. I can recall watching huge diesel locomotives pulling carriages full of excited holidaymakers at a walking pace through the town to the ferry port.
Nothing has run on the line since 1999 and now (September 2020) large parts of the track are being lifted. Since its decline the track had become controversial between those who wanted to see it kept as a heritage railway and others who thought it a traffic hazard and should be removed.
Now it is going.
In 2017 I walked the route of the old railway (it’s about a mile or so) and photographed what remained at that point. I had a small exhibition in the library in Weymouth not far from the track. You can read a bit more about the exhibition here.
To commemorate the moment of its removal I have put together a short video of the photographs I took, showing the line in all its faded glory