Weymouth - day trip from Melksham, 4th July 2026.  I went along quietly to see how we are doing 15 years after the first "modern times" (= last 20 years) through service - the experimental service with local sponsorship, with the first Sunday morning Heart of Wessex train starting back from Swindon rather than from Westbury for seven Sundays.  At that time, we had been asked to jump five hurdles for us to be taken seriously with our requests for an improved service at Melksham which had just 2 trains each way per day, running at times that a train wasn't needed for use elsewhere and, frankly, was equally super-off-peak on our line too. Southbound at 06:35 and 19:19, northbound at 07:20 and 19:50 as I recall.

The request was to prove we had the community "ear" and could get people to use trains in Melksham.  Hard one to prove with the weekday trains at near-useless hours, the Saturday service weird (08:00 and 15:30 northbound, 15:00 and 21:30 southbound) and two Sunday service northbound at around 18:00 and 20:00 and nothing southbound as FGW had been told to run two trains from Westbury to Swindon and no requirement in the other direction.  By sponsoring the early southbound Sunday service, we (Melksham Railway Development Group, Wiltshire Association of Chambers of Commerce) provided the option of  a day trip from Melksham to Weymouth and back.  Fares were such that it was a good price, and in those days some free car parking at Melksham Station was available.

Local press helped us no end, as did early social media, BBC local radio, and other networks.  People wanted to enquire by phone and we had fabulous help from a couple of ladies based with the Chambers of Commerce for the purpose (thank you Ann Marie and Vicki) in answering those and assuring people of the way it worked and joined up.  And even in those early days, we appreciated the importance of other traffic too - it's not just about Melksham.   Our train offered a seamless day out in Weymouth from Swindon and Chippenham too, and the "empty" train from Westbury to Swindon to form the service was not run empty - it took passengers, allowing residents of Westbury and Trowbridge to "escape" early on a Sunday morning as the train ran well before any other trains from those station too.

Outcome?  Huge success - we chose to promote different Sundays "hard" in Melksham, in Chippenham and in Swindon, to some extent based on people going for a one-off promotion and also based on our promotional resources. Lots of users, lots of people hearing about the line and our requests for an all day, every day, useful service.  Lots of people having a wonderful day out. I can recall standing at Weymouth station as people came back from all the things they had been doing there directing people to the train; it was five carriages, dividing in those days at Westbury with part going on to Bristol and the other part providing that weird Sunday service I have mentioned above via Melksham to Swindon.  Short platform as various stations - including Melksham in those days - meant that there were no fewer than five different sets of instructions as to which carriage to travel in.

We learned a lot about people and travel that summer. We learned how weather-dependent people's days out were. We learned just how much people wanted, needed and would use train services and connections - side-spray from the main journey if you like.  We had two problems during the season.  On one Sunday, so many people came along that the 3 car train in the morning worked, but the 2 car back from Westbury in the evening was overfull and there was a need to use "Plan B" of asking Chippenham / Swindon passengers to change at Bath and to use taxis for a final few who still could not fit from Westbury.  And we got complaints and criticism after the event for "poor promotion" from people who only heard about the trains after the season had finished; I didn't see it that way - as I explained multiple times, we could have done more but that would have been irresponsible as we would have brought out and then disappointed far more people than we could manage.

So - 15 years later - how was yesterday?

The now-summer-Saturdays "Weymouth Wizard" from Melksham picked up 27 passenger (and 9 people got off) with 119 on the train on its journey on via Trowbridge. There are 262 passenger seats on that train, so everyone was comfortably seated. As we headed south, we picked up more people along the way, with some standing from Yeovil though there were also a handful of seats not taken. My estimate would be between 300 and 320 on the train.    The train left Melksham on time at 09:09 and was on time at Dorchester, where we waited for a late-running train from London which was allowed to go first.  We the stopped at the site of Upwey Wishing Well Halt for a couple of minutes while that London train did its business at the current Upwey station and we followed it in (we did not stop at Upwey) some ten minutes late - arriving at 11:18 rather than the scheduled 11:08. No-one seemed to mind the 10 minute delay.

There is so much to DO in Weymouth!  I have shared some pictures here and leave each of them to paint 1000 words.

The direct return train does not leave until 19:38 and after exhausting myself walking around some old favourites and some new sites, and refreshing my photo-library, I stopped for a meal and for a recharge of my, my laptop's and my phone's batteries before heading back to the station.

The train had sat in the Jersey Sidings all day (that name coming from the days of boat trains for the Channel Islands) and as it was a sunny day, it was rather hot when we got on; AC soon sorted that. I estimate that there were around 200 people on board - lower than on arrival, as there are other return options for most stations, and setting of home at 19:38 is rather late for many.  There were still 72 people on the train when we left Trowbridge.  We rolled into Melksham some 15 minutes late, having waited until later than we should at Yeovil for a train from London coming off the single line to Castle Cary, and then a further wait before we went onto the single line from Trowbridge through Melksham that runs on to Chippenham. 25 people got off in Melksham, and 3 more got on.  Three cars picking up people off the train after their day out; no-one had parked their own car for the day.  No taxis called.  Everyone else was walking home or in the case of one adult group to The Bear.

That's my "journey report" and as is my habit, I ask what I learned from the day.

* I learned that our level of promotion still needs to be tailored to meet the capacity of the train.  Ideally, an extra 2 carriage unit should be attached on the way down at Westbury and that would allow us to market the service properly from Swindon / Chippenham / Melksham rather than being muted.  We really must be responsible and not cause problems south of Yeovil!

* I learned that we are very much a network - more perhaps than we have been - with people using our trains and all the trains to get around.  I met four people I know 'from Melksham while walking around Weymouth. All of them used the train to get to Weymouth - but different trains; some were on holiday for a few days, some parked at Westbury.   And so many other making different / shorter journeys on those trains.  Both run through Melksham on Saturdays all year, though not onwards to/from Weymouth come the Autumn.

* I confirmed the importance - and failures at times - of customer information at *any* station.  Weymouth station building is locked shut long before the train sets off to return, and is accessed through the rear gates. Signage does not tell you this but fortunately there are enough people around to tell you.  And the in-train display saying "next station Chippenham" as we left Trowbridge caused - err - a degree of concern.

So this is 15 years on from that first run - what would I like to see 15 more years on?

* Trains long (and reliable) enough for us and the community to be able to encourage people to use them without us having to hold back for so much of the time.

* Trains calling at Melksham at least once an hour in each direction.  Quite apart from "through train" issues that would allow other sensible connections every day without long waits / changes at Westbury

* Trains from Swindon to routinely carry on to Weymouth beyond Westbury every 2 hours, with the second train from Swindon I have mentioned just above carrying on to Southampton.  At Westbury, cross-platform 2-way connections with Bristol to Salisbury and beyond, and Bristol to Weymouth services running on the other hour so giving Swindon / Chippenham / Melksham passengers hourly good-connection links to Weymouth and to Salisbury and beyond.

* A bus connection from Melksham Station into and out of the Weymouth and all other trains to serve those residential and growing parts of Melksham that are not close to the station.