About Us

Items in the Museum collection are on display in the Goods Shed. The displays include photographs, equipment, and signage as well as personal effects of people who worked on the railways in the southern region.

New for 2024 are audio handsets with recollections of those who worked in and around the museum.

Admission is free but donations are most welcome. Museum attractions are accessible to all with a hoist to the second level of the museum for those with mobility issues. For the children we have a mouse hunt, dressing up, jigsaws and books and you can stamp your own ticket! Dogs on a lead are allowed in the museum.

Swanage Railway Museum
Second Floor
Fun for all the family
Story of the railway 1885 to the present day
Story of the rebuild
Museum Upstairs
Ticket Printing Machine 2
Ticket Printing Machine
Ticket Printing Machine 4
Ticket Printing Machine

The Story

The museum tells the story of the branch line from the beginning in 1885 to its closure in 1972 and the important role the railways played in the first and second world wars.

Signal Box

The 1950s Signal Box sited on the station platform adjoining station house, offers the public a ‘hands on’ opportunity to pull the levers to operate signals.

The Book Wagon

The Book Wagon sells a wide range of railway second-hand books.

All the books have been donated with proceeds supporting the museum.