West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Bring back the white wash car.

 

Track defects don't fix themselves.

Robin

 

Really?

Does that include:

(1) The greatest number and worst condition of dropped joints and other track defects I have ever known the Railway to have in 38 years of volunteering?

(2) The worlds largest collection of tie bars?

(3) The strange decision to smear the rail HEAD with grease after changing rails which was IMHO the principal cause of Flying Scotsman's adhesion problems?

Let's not talk nonsense about the state of the WSR track.

The WSRA Trustees were refreshingly honest about the problems with 4561 at the AGM last week.

Similar honesty across the Railway will generate respect.

Smoke blown up the world's **** will not.

Robin[/QUOTE]

That suggests a dire state of affairs and is very critical of WSR management. Have you offered your expertise to help get the mess sorted out? A candid resaponse from the WSR is needed without delay. Vincit omnia veritas!

 

Electrics over the Alps?

 

From the front or back seat in a DMU is probably one of the best ways of finding any problem joints.
Dipped joints can be visible from trackside but many are not and they need a load on the rail to find them.
I used to do a similar thing on BR back in early 90's. I was given a notebook, a cab pass and told find all the problem areas on our patch.
That patch was Regional Rail NE so anything North of Doncaster, East of Stalybridge and the Settle and Carlisle, South of the Tyne Valley.
The various Track Recorder trains were also made use of.
Can't think of many tasks that bettered that couple of months.

 

I’m not particularly a fan of big engines on a light railway either but I do know the restoration of the K&ESR involved substantial Civil Engineering and, in many places, total trackbed reconstruction and several new bridges. This wasn’t done out of a particular desire to increase the axle loading but because the old infrastructure was worn out. Col. Stephens, it seems, did not build things to last. To be fair he probably wasn’t given the budget to do so.

 

The K&ESR Hawthorns certainly fitted the "not built to last" category, compared with some of the other choicer kit. Pity, rather a dinky design. On the axle load front, both "Hecate" and "Walton Park" (both bought new by Col.Stephens) take some explaining!

 

One should remember when considering track and locomotives that modern network standards can't be directly applied to a heritage railway. Modern traction has fully compensated bogies not long solid frames. As an example I'm reliably informed that the track felt fine and very smooth from the cab of the125 that visited recently. Not so from the footplate of a Steam Loco. That said some locos seem to be more affected than others. The 4F in particular bumps about a lot more than most in response to track variations.

 

Deleted

 

Paul , from what I remember from the late 50s and early 60s were 0-6-0 pannier tank engines with 4 non corridor carriages Sunday to Fridays . On Saturdays with trains of 6 carriages for the Butlin's change overs they tended to use what I know now to be Prairies or a small tender engine . I have no knowledge of Hall's being allowed on the WSR but I did hear on good authority that the line had been upgraded .

Paul . K

 

The 1949 Working timetable shows Taunton to Minehead as a Blue route. Halls were Red, therefore would have been prohibited.

For those interested, there is a PDF copy of the timetable on Michael Clemens website. The Minehead branch is in the third attachment 'EXETER DIVISION SEP1949 C (MOD).pdf'.

http://www.michaelclemensrailways.co.uk/?atk=603

 

West Somerset Railway - Then and Now #85

Williton 1960 / 2017

It's a whitewash! From the down end of the up platform, watching a Down train leave as the porter whitens the platform edge.

We see a white line down the platform as very 'Railway' but in most places it was only adopted during WW2, so at Willitonnit had only been a 'tradition' for 20 year in 1960 while the station had been open for 98 years. The down end water column is a prominent feature.

The 'Now' shot clearly shows the ex-Pwllheli water column which has now lurked in the ballast at Williton for over 35 years waiting to be loved. The D&EG are also a 'Now' feature.

1960


2017

 

Simon

At least one of the locomotives now in use is category "red" whilst the route was in the lesser category of "blue" Unless the line has actually been upgraded as opposed merely to being re-categorised, problems could well develop over a period.

Paul H

 

Up to a point, but you are forgetting the impact of speed on route availability - it is more than just painted dots on the cab side. Hammer blow in particular is a function of speed, so the same locomotive will be considerably more damaging at, say, 50mph than 25mph.

A large loco is likely to put more stress on structures than a small one, but you can't automatically assume that a prohibition on a particular class based on running at BR-era speeds should automatically translate to an equivalent ban for using the same locomotive at low speed.

Tom

 

The line was upgraded in the 1990s and all approved by the railway inspector. Plenty of written evidence of this work if folks care to bother to check. BTW I'm not aware the WSR is in the habit of just "re-categorising" things. It's never been a game or a hobby.

Steve

 

Surely, it must be a bit more complicated than that. Periodicity would be involved as well as static weight. These sort of problems can actually be less severe if rotative speed is increased (or reduced) somewhat as with that notorious "shaker about" of passengers, the 56xx o-6-2t.

PH

 

So it had a complete formation upwards upgrade then. Good to know. Seems it might be time for this work to be re-visited which will be expensive.

PH

 

Many heritage lines have been upgraded above their BR axle load classification in the heritage era. Whilst on all lines some sections are better than others my own observations suggest that the WSR compares well with most though there is room for improvement.