West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Someone mention Spam?

 

None of those strange Southern pacific loving types come into the WSR thread do they? I wouldn't want to start any trouble!

 

Thank goodness for that - I thought it was yet another word that I'd not met before!

 

The bridge is OK I think, but the garden shed in place of the water tower and the wooden fence which is a bit more "road" than railway I like less. In the flesh they're not so bad, and actually I think I thought they were not railway property. If they are then some wooden pickets would help the fence, and painting the shed in GW colours would make it blend in too.

 

Yes, some years ago, but a tour a few months ago terminated at Bishops Lydeard because of gauging issues. However, the work done to ensure Flying Scotsman could run must have cleared the way for HSTs as well.

 

Is 7822 in freight train today if it's on steam engine course. It's not at minehead or bl webcams currently. If anyone knows it's whereabouts please say. Dream of seeing a manor on freight so will go out and track it down

 

A very interesting couple of photos, I didn't know Williton had had such a large water tower.

 

I was interested in the high level access door in the base of the tower. Does a similar tower still exist somewhere else? (I presume they were all built to a standard pattern?). Does anyone have any insight into what was inside the base?

 

Ah, the Myth of Fungible Funding appears again. (The Myth of Fungible Funding is the belief that money not spent on A will automatically be spent on B, A usually being anathema to the proponent of the argument and B being something dear to their heart. The Myth usually only appears when talking about spending other people's money.)

 

The access door appears to only be three steps up from ground level

I was more puzzled by that cupboard or locker above the door.

I presume there would have been pumping equipment within the base.

 

Yes , it was the small higher door above I was wondering about not the one at the top of the three steps. If there was pumping equipment below I would be interested in the requirements for that ie. how fast would the tank be filled? A large tank would seem to me to indicate a only modest rate of filling was possible, so large volume was required for peak use periods then slowly refilled during non usage. (???)

 

There was a discussion on the water tower & speculation on its associated gubbins back in November 2015:—

http://www.national-preservation.co...ailway-operations.508987/page-49#post-1310329

It starts on page 49 Posts 976/977 & meanders through to page 51 or so.

 

Excellent! Thanks for the heads up @K14 . I had a good read and it answered many questions.

There was some discussion in the above linked thread about the power source of the pump to fill the water tank. So there was a stream fed sump behind the tower and water pumped up to the tank presumably by electrical means latterly but before that a Stirling engine (a new one for me).

I did notice on the 1862 Watchet station diagram (@Robin White 's post #6771) there is a 'horse pump' shown. I lifted the pic from Robin's post (please don't sue me!) and cropped it to show the horse pump located behind the original loco shed and also a tank too:




I assume back in days of yore the horse pump was used for the loco shed water supply at Watchet.

 

West Somerset Railway - Then and Now #74

Williton 1934 / 2017

Back up onto the road bridge at the southern end of the station. This was before the loop was lengthened at this end. Note that the water tank is of an earlier type than that in yesterday's photo although the brick base remains the same. This photo also gives us our first view of Williton's second footbridge - of lattice construction.

In the 'now' shot the principal impression is how much the greenery has grown up. The loop was re-extended by the present company two winters ago.

1934


2017

 

No danger of litigation, although a little moral blackmail might be applied to seek pledges towards the Minehead Box Plate mentioned a while ago. An update on that follows.

Oz dollars also accepted.....!

Robin

 

An Update from the WSSRT:
(In fact we are now up to £675)

An opportunity to 'bring home' a significant West Somerset Railway Artefact


Minehead Signal Box closed in 1966. Since then the original cast iron signal box name plate has been in private hands. The owner has now offered the West Somerset Railway the chance to acquire this relic, which is in original condition, just as it was removed from the signal box. If the funds can be raised, the plate will pass into the ownership of the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust, who will ensure that it is kept available for posterity.


£1,400 needs to be raised as a matter of urgency to secure this item. If all donations were to benefit from Gift Aid, donations of £1,100 would be sufficient. £640 has already been pledged. If you can help, please don't send any money now, but e-mail Robin White, who is co-ordinating this effort at robin215white@btinternet.com with your pledge and an indication of your eligibility for Gift Aid.


Minehead's 3td signal box, closed in 1966

 

Crickey Robin! You can only take so much blood from a stone....

 

No reason to suppose this item is anything other than genuine. However, because neither you nor I have the wish or knowledge to "distress" an item does not mean there aren't knowledgeable people prepared to.

Odd things are being faked. Railway clocks for example, where the real things have extensive records available for reference.

As prices increase, temptation will also increase.

Paul H

 

Hmmm. I had thought it was where water could be pumped up into a trough for horses to drink. I suppose given the dotted circle around it, it may well mean "horse driven" rather than my assumption of "for horses."

 

I'm a lawyer - what do you expect?

(Oz dollars gratefully accepted...)

Robin