West Somerset Railway General Discussion

These will comprise the vintage train when restored.

http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=234
http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=236
http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=145
http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=182
http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=183
http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=184
http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=196
http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=205
http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=215
http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=224

Also this one is been restored.
http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=40

Also these which aren't for the vintage trains for now.

http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=144
http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=188
http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=185

 

I find it disturbing that two vans have been disposed of, who's future will possibly be used for grounded coach bodies.

 

'Spose that fate at least has an authentic railway pedigree.
Hope that, failing undercover storage, they at least get stowed clear of the deck.

 

The WSRA membership voted overwhelmingly to sell them. The good news is that they will be going to a good home where they will be restored. Far better than being left to decay here because of lack of funds.

 

Neither quite right.

They are intended to be 'donor' underframes for IoWSR rescued coach bodies.

Good for the coaches, less good for the vans, I suppose.

Robin

 

Thanks for the heads up, I'm out on her first thing tomorrow from BL so it will either be a short train or a substitute loco.

 

Any idea what kind of condition the bodies are in? Breaking for spares mightn't be first choice, but if there's compatible contemporary passenger stock in the queue elsewhere in need of the parts, it's got to be better than rotting away unloved on the deck somewhere, with zero chance of ever finding gainful employment.

Sooner or later someone's going to have to bite the bullet and knock up some new bogies, underframes, wheels and brake gear for all the kit awaiting restoration here and there. You have to suppose if a few lines and groups were to get together, a decent size batch would keep costs somewhere south of stratospheric.

Just a thought, but have any Mansell wheels been produced in the preservation era?

 

Well, the centres were made of teak and nowadays, to quote the Goon Show, it may be a case of "they can't get the wood you know".

Paul H

 

I would be surprised if any "new" rolling stock wheelsets have been made in the preservation era. We have constructed some new parts for brake systems, for us new mechanical Triple Valves would be quite a challenge, luckily we hold a good healthy stock.

 

Not as far as I know. I believe there some discussion about when a Mansell wheelset was even last retyred; possibly not since the war. Which is leading to some consideration as we have a couple of Mansell-wheeled vehicles where the tyres are getting towards scrapping thickness.

(Off-topic: the reason our SECR Birdcage brake didn't travel to Kings Cross last year when numerous other pre-grouping vehicles did was that the relevant parties drew the line at a Mansell-wheeled vehicle going up the Brighton mainline, round London and back down the ECML ...

Tom

 

Given responses in the previous posts (thanks guys!) Are Mansell wheels doomed to operational extinction?

As they were so much a visible component of 19th and early 20th century stock, would there be some work around, even if it's just cosmetic?

Does this need to go on a more relevant thread?

 

I think that only people like the South Devon Railway and Riley's would be able to make a judgment about retyring a Mansell wheelset, thankfully we do not have any, phew!

Going back to Howards original question I do think that new underframes, bogies, wheelset and brake gear will be newly made all it requires is the will and above all else lots of money!

 

This is the fact of the matter. The IoWSR did not ask for the underframes, they asked for the vehicles. There was no chance of them being restored any time soon and they would have sat on the WSR fulfilling the role normally associated with grounded van bodies until they rotted away. That would have been a terrible waste to the preservation movement. The railway retains an example of this type of van which another member is restoring. It can normally be seen at BL. The key, as Yorkshireman has pointed out, was that the WSRA membership were consulted and the WSRA membership took the decision to go ahead with the sale. The company were also asked for their view.

813 Group continue to sponsor the restoration of their WSR based rolling stock in an agreement they have with the plc and this is happening as and when time permits.

 

Excuse my ignorance, but as a commonly needed piece of kit, do triple valves come in too many flavours to make a batch run a practical option (or are there just sufficient numbers still kicking around)?

 

I also will be very interested in what may be revealed .

 

Is that truly the case ? 7828 is still well within its boiler ticket and should have completed its 10 years without major repairs . Old steam engines can be troublesome , many of them are older than many of the members of this forum . I do believe there are enough steamers to go round but unfortunately not all made in Swindon .

Paul. K

 

Both Robin and myself were at the AGM where those present did vote to dispose of them. The reality has to be faced that, however well intended, not every vehicle sat decaying on heritage railways can be restored. A degree of pragmatism is needed rather than emotion. Using the wagons in the way the IOWR will is an admirable example of this. I applaud the 813 group’s efforts. Like it or not the the linear scrapyard at Dunster does not create a good impression with the uninformed public. Perhaps some “Awaiting Restoration” banners would not come amiss.

 

Why there's a picture of a 9F on box of Taunton edition of Monopoly? Surely would have been better to use a GWR loco to reflect the heritage of the area.

 

Good to see one person has their head screwed on properly. Thank you Robin.
Will not make any comment on WSR posts in future.
Bye

 

The make up of each triple valve is governed by the size of air brake cylinder that it is operating, fortunately we only use two sizes of cylinder, one each for 4-wheelers and bogies. Some parts are interchangeable whilst others have minute variations which allow uniform operation of the different sizes.

We however have over 50 in our spares stock most of which have come from Australia directly or via other users in Wales! We have had to scour the world for spares! Remember this is technology from the 1870/80s