The railway after 1945

After the Second World War rail transport was vitally important. Brockenhurst was an important hub, not least as it served both the current Lymington and Bournemouth lines to the west, but also a branch line to Ringwood, Wimborne and Hamworthy (which is fact was the original route to Dorchester from 1846). 

The Southern Railway had become British Railways (Southern Region), on 1 January 1948 and was no longer private but a        Government owned corporation. Post-war railway traffic was increasing and brought changes to the running of trains at Brockenhurst station and goods yard. 

The 1943 constructed freight sidings, to handle D-Day traffic for Southampton, became an important asset in managing the Dorset and West Hants area’s goods traffic. Increasing number of trains arriving in the Bournemouth area from London, Wales and West of England via Salisbury and West Moors, and from the Midlands and North via the Somerset and Dorset line caused considerable         congestion. To ease this, all main line goods trains for destinations West of Brockenhurst were re-marshalled here. 

Carriages were split, shunted and re-joined in the yards where the car park is now. Wagons for Bournemouth went on via Sway; those for West Bournemouth and Weymouth travelled via Ringwood. ‘Up’ trains (towards Southampton and London) used similar routes for re-marshalling here. In 1950, a new record was reached when 90,056 good carriages were handled.

Brockenhurst was also the distribution centre for goods in the area and two additional loading bays were build at the 1870 goods shed, now the Italian restaurant. 

Saturday holiday trains for the resorts of Swanage and Weymouth were also diverted via Ringwood to Hamworthy Junction. Summer Saturdays saw additional services to the Midlands and the North and some local Waterloo to Lymington Pier trains. 

 These were of ten coaches brought in by a small main-line locomotive, that could be turned on the Brockenhurst engine turntable (near where Cycle Experience and the rail maintenance yard is now) in preparation for the return journey. 

The local weekday timetable consisted of ten through trains to Waterloo, the first and fastest being the 8.04am (1hour 56 minutes), with additional local services including an hourly service on the Lymington Pier and Wimborne lines. 

Other services included two to Reading, one each to Brighton, Newcastle and Birkenhead and one train that must have had the record of stopping at the most Hampshire stations. This was the afternoon service from Weymouth with its first county stop at    Bournemouth Central (then in Hampshire) and onwards stopping at  every station, including  Brockenhurst at 4.31pm, and thence to Andover Junction via  Southampton, Eastleigh, Romsey, and Stockbridge.

Off-peak travel was encouraged. The 1950’s day return ticket to Waterloo of 13/6 (68p) was the same as charged in January 1922. 

The all-Pullman Bournemouth Belle ran daily but only stopped in Brockenhurst on special occasions. One such occasion, in February 1950, was for the guests of Lady Caroline Montague’s marriage to a member of the American Garfield Weston family at the Abbey; and on 14 September 1951 special trains of dining cars brought the ESSO company’s guests to be conveyed on by coach to Fawley, for the opening of the Oil Refinery by Prime Minister, Clement Atlee. 

Passenger trains were more frequent but a 1955 railmen’s strike caused a reduction of local goods traffic from which it never          recovered. This resulted in 1964 of the closure of the original line to Dorchester, via Ringwood and Wimborne, as part of the Beeching cuts, designed to stop loss-making at British Rail.