The
opening of the Somerset and Dorset railway northern
extension to Bath in 1874 allowed through trains to
travel over the Great Western and Midland Railway
between the Midlands, the north of England and
Bournemouth. The forerunner of what became the
"Pines Express" was a Manchester to Bournemouth
restaurant car train started running on weekdays in
October 1910 which was unofficially known as the
“The Dinner”. Like many named expresses it stopped
running during First World War but was reinstated by
1922. The train included through carriages from
Bournemouth West and Swanage to Liverpool and
Manchester. The 248 mile journey from Bournemouth to
Manchester took around 6 hours 25 minutes. Running
via Birmingham New Street, the Lickey
incline, Gloucester Eastgate, Mangotsfield and Bath
Green Park the train was given the name "Pines
Express" in 1927 and it ran until the outbreak of
the Second World War in September 1939. The express
took its name from a number of Pine Trees at the
Bournemouth end of the line. The "Pines" was
restored in 1949 and included a Sheffield portion.
However the journey time of 7 hours and 7 minutes by
1958 hardly meant it was an express - in was
significantly slower than the same journey 36 years
before. The virtual takeover if the Somerset and
Dorset railway by the
Western Region in 1958 spelt the end for through
workings over the line and the last pines over the
route ran on 6 September 1962 appropriately hauled
single-handed by BR Standard class 9F 2-10-0 92220
Evening Star. After that date the train was rerouted
via Oxford and Basingstoke. The last ever Pines
Express ran via this new route was 4 March 1967.
After the Second World War the "Pines" was normally
hauled by "Jubilee" or "Black Five" 4-6-0s between
Manchester and Green Park. These were replaced by BR Sulzer Type 4s in the early 1960s but the route
south of Bath Green Park was always very different.
The steeply graded line over the Mendips
necessitated double heading of the train until the
introduction of BR Standard Class 9F 2-10-0s in the
1960s. Locomotive combinations on summer Saturday
were unique anywhere on BR pairing of ex LMS Class
2P 4-4-0s, S&DJR Class 7F 2-8-0s, Stanier Black 5s,
Southern Region "West Country" and "Battle of Britain" 4-6-2s,
Johnson 3F 0-6-0, Fowler 4F 0-6-0s and BR Standard
Class 5MT 4-6-0s were a common sight between Bath
Green Park and Evercreech Junction. While the Class 9Fs
were the first locomotives able to haul heavy
passenger trains over the Mendips without assistance
their arrival on the scene came too late to save the
line from closure. The Pines Express has a
connection with Redditch. The normal route was via
the Lickey Incline via Bromsgrove but on a number of
occasions the express was diverted via the rail line
through Redditch due to engineering works.
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