'This Railway went through hell ten years ago', reflected Bill Trite, Swanage Railway Chairman. 'Looking back, it is interesting to recall that we debated as to whether it would take 10, 15 or 20 years to get rid of the debts. Nobody believed it could be done so quickly!' The story of how the revived Railway faced closure at Easter 1991, but fought back to open the extension to Norden on 12 August 1995, was well-told by the late Handel Kardas in the October 1995 issue of Railway World. Just a few years later, the Swanage Railway opened the the 2000 season's operations clear of debt for the first time in a decade - but the fund-raising has been going on as hard as ever.
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