mjr wrote:Unfortunately, the railway onwards through Wells and Shepton Mallet back to the Frome line is currently still derelict except for a short preserved section
The section from Witham Friary junction with the main line to Merehead Quarry is heavily used by freight trains from the quarry. There is then a section about a mile long from there to the East Somerset Railway's preserved line which is technically open but due to lack of maintenance often does not look it (the weedkiller spray trains do not go there). Last time I was there it loooked like this just West of East Cranmore Station:
The loco. visible under the bridge was on a charter which had arrived a couple of hours earlier, over the track seen, and came back that way later.
The East Somerset line runs from there for two miles until the track ends just outside Wells.