Swanage Railway volunteers celebrate 120 years of steam travel in Purbeck with a re-enactment of the Victorian opening ceremony which took place at Swanage on May 20, 1885.

The first steam train ran from Swanage to Wareham and Corfe Castle, replacing the horse, the horse-drawn carriage and the bicycle as the principal methods of transport in the Isle of Purbeck.

Swanage Railway volunteers are celebrating the anniversary over the weekend of Friday, May 20, to Sunday, May 22, with a special visit from the same type of rare steam locomotive that hauled the first train to Corfe Castle and Wareham in 1885.

A Beattie Well Tank class steam locomotive built in London in 1875 will haul special trains between Swanage and Norden park and ride on an intensive train service over the weekend.

There will also be a chance to see the steam and diesel locomotives that worked on the Swanage branch line during the 1940s, '50s, '60s and up until the end of the line in 1972.

Swanage schoolchildren in Victorian costume will take part in the re-enactment of the opening ceremony in front of civic dignitaries, special guests and local people on Friday, May 20, 10.45am.

Railway volunteers are also marking the historic celebrations by selling a limited edition "Swanage 120" ale brewed by the award-winning St Austell brewery in Cornwall.

Railway general manager Nick Brown said: "We will also be running a series of Victorian themed trains - the Travelling Tavern with its bar car on the Friday evening, a special commemorative Wessex Belle luxury Pullman dining train on the Saturday evening and special trips by the Dorsetman lunch train on the Sunday."

There will also be a model railway exhibition in the Catholic Hall, Rempstone Road, and a special meeting of the Purbeck Railway Circle at the same venue.

Special Swanage 120 event tickets offering unlimited travel on the day of issue are £10 for adults, £7 for children, OAPs, family tickets £28. Details on 01929 425800.

First published: May 6