RAIL fans are in for a treat as a heritage railway announces a weekend of steam and diesel specials.

The evocative ‘Winter Warm Up’ weekend at Swanage Railway will include a newly-restored Victorian steam locomotive as well as the nostalgic recreation of freight trains.

Heritage trains will be running between Swanage and Norden this weekend - Saturday, January 6 and Sunday, January 7.

At Corfe Castle station, it is planned to have the goods shed museum open, along with the station’s ‘have a go’ signal box museum.

Steam locos operating include Victorian London and South Western Railway T3 No. 563 built in 1893 which was donated to the Swanage Railway Trust by the National Railway Museum in 2017, plus ex-Southern Railway 1940s rebuilt West Country class Bulleid Pacific No. 34028 ‘Eddystone’.

There will also be two heritage diesel engines - 1960 ex-British Railways Class 33 diesel-electric No. D6515 ‘Lt Jenny Lewis RN’ renumbered No. 33012, and 1960 ex-British Railways Class 33 diesel-electric No. 33111.

There will be a recreation of a nostalgic freight train of wagons and box vans of the type that ran across the south of England – including the Swanage branch – in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

Gavin Johns, volunteer chairman of the Swanage Railway Company which runs the trains for the Swanage Railway Trust, said: “The ‘Winter Warm Up’ will be wonderful and nostalgic weekend celebrating the best of steam and diesel trains with the star being the Swanage Railway Trust’s unique and newly restored Victorian T3 class London and South Western Railway steam locomotive No. 563 built in 1893.

“Freight trains, like the one we will be recreating used to run across the south of England for decades delivering goods and farm produce.”

He added: “British Railways stopped running freight trains to Swanage in 1965, a year before steam trains were replaced by diesel trains on the branch and six years before the line was controversially closed and demolished.”