" (Nevard, 2002) All trains by 1965 were rerouted via Oxford avoiding the Somerset & Dorset line completely. In 1966 the lines closed for ever but the Broadstone Junction to Blandford Forum lines were kept open for goods traffic likewise from Highbridge to Bason Bridge was kept open upto 1972 for milk traffic. The last section to work and continue was the Radstock to Writhlington Colliery section for coal traffic. The entire section thus was closed in 1976. (Nevard, 2002) Later records kept by rail enthusiasts and photographers reveal that by the year 1960 steam was replaced by diesel and other type of locomotives, and in 1966 the Somerset and Dorset line with a whole 72 miles from Bath to Bournemouth was stopped, and torn up. The end of the steam locomotives also closed the line. (Holland, 2010)

Now let us have an understanding of the present situation. Railway enthusiasts and the people living in the former rail route have come together to recreate the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway system and this is done by many enthusiasts participating in the venture. The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway is proposed to be reconstructed to link Bournemouth to the Midlands and north. At Templecombe there was an interchange to London and the far south west. Earlier the stations covered...

The closing of the line has isolated "Blandford, Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Shepton Mallet off the rail network." (New Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, 2012)
It has been proposed that the new S&D will accommodate passengers and freight. It will connect the towns and villages of Somerset and Dorset and many organizations have gone on with land purchase and rebuilding sections of the route and it is expected to be recreated in modern lines in the near future.

References

Great Britain Parliament. 1864. "House of Commons Accounts and papers of the House of Commons" Great Britain Parliament Publications.

Holland, Julian. (2010) "Amazing & Extraordinary Railway Facts"

David & Charles.

Nevard, Chris. (2002) "Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway History" Somerset & Dorset Joint

Railway Trust publication. Retrieved 10 November, 2012 from http://www.sdrt.org.uk/trust/resources/resource.php?resource=SDJRHistory

New Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. (2012) "About the S&D -- Britain's Loveliest

Railway" Retrieved 10 November, 2012 from http://www.somersetanddorsetrailway.co.uk/the-railway/about-the-s&d/default.asp