after the line had closed. Freight in the 1960s was largely in the hands of Fowler 4Fs, Stanier 8Fs, Standard Class 5 4-6-0s, and the S&DJR 7F 2-8-0s, assisted by Fowler 3F "Jinty" 0-6-0Ts and Great Western Railway Pannier Tanks; freight trains were assisted in rear by these locomotives over the Combe Down summit and over Masbury. The Highbridge branch trains were latterly worked by GWR 2251 Class 0-6-0s, and LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0.s Geography The S&D main line ran south from Bath Queen Square (later renamed Green Park) to Radstock, at one time the centre of the Somerset coalfield, and then over Masbury Summit, at 811 feet (274 m) above sea level, crossing the Mendip Hills, via Shepton Mallet and entering the catchment area of the River Stour to Wincanton and Blandford, joining the LSWR South West Main Line at Poole, the S&D trains continuing to the LSWR station at Bournemouth West. The branch line from Highbridge to Evercreech Junction had been the original main line, when attracting steamer traffic across the Bristol Channel had been an objective. It traversed a sparsely populated area, and when the marine connection ceased, only Glastonbury and Street in the centre of the route contributed any worthwhile income. There had been other, shorter branches, but these too generated very little traffic and they had all closed by the early 1950s. Serving only a string of medium-sized market towns between its extremities, the S&D generated a modest internal traffic, and had daunting operational costs, due to the difficulty of its main line. Its strategic significance was as part of a through route between the Midlands and the South Coast, by connecting with the Midland Railway at Bath. The Midland Railway linked Bath to Bristol and via Gloucester to Birmingham and the north. Heavy summer holiday passenger traffic and healthy through freight business was the result, but the long and difficult main line was always very expensive to run. There was only one intermediate connection on the route, at Templecombe where the West of England line was crossed. There was an awkward layout there, requiring through trains to reverse along a spur between the S&D main line and the east-west LSWR main line. The full journey time for ordinary passenger trains was typically four hours, although the limited stop holiday expresses managed it in two hours. Much of the S&D was single track, but