West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Run passenger trains in a possession? You have to be joking?

 

Is it not possible to switch boxes out? We can have it so a train can run between Toddington and Cheltenham with only Toddington box open, Winchcombe and Gotherington switched out and Cheltenham acting as a ground frame.

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The bl**dy EU changed the rules so EIS did not cover heritage railway share issues. AIUI - share issues have to be "cross-border" to qualify. Yet another instance of Brussels making the rules rather than Westminster.

 

Duh - yes. Sirry irriot baint I? That's what comes of thinking about Ops when you still have your engineering head on...

 

If I wanted to volunteer on on the WSR then, the WSRA would be completely irrelevant?

 

Yep - weird isn't it!

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My intro to the WSR was exactly opposite. I turned up at an open day at Minehead and was recruited by Allan Scott; there was no mention of the WSRA, and I didn't even know of its existence to several months later.

 

IIRC not on the WSR.
Whilst Arley and Hampton on the SVR be switched out, this is preservation era development.

 

Well I have to agree with Maunsell907 here. I was given a steam engineman course as a present. Along with my certificate I was given at the end of the course a one year "free" WSRA membership. It was this membership that kept me in touch with the railway over many years. (Yes, I did keep renewing it.) Eventually I was in a position to volunteer but feared I may have left it too late particularly for loco. I'm 63 now and just got my 10 year long service award a few weeks ago.

However I'll pose an alternative question if I may.

As an enthusiast of the WSR who wants to see steam kept alive in West Somerset why would you not want to become a WSRA member?

You get 3 journals a year which, if I may be so bold, offer a fascinating insight into the work of departments other than those you choose to volunteer in. It helps to bind us together as a team in my view. BTW you may be interested to know that as a member a huge chunk of the membership cost is taken up in communication with members including, of course, production of the journal. If I can just finish by pointing out the oft forgotten gift aid benefit that donations to the railway made via the WSRA charity can attract. You can put money in a collecting tin of course, you can buy a share but only a donation via the Association becomes worth 25% more than you donate (assuming you are a UK tax payer).

It costs me (and nearly all volunteers) a small fortune every year to volunteer, we've written about these costs before, This does not stop me understanding the enormous cost of running the railway I am luck enough to work on and making a further donation of cash (rather than time and effort) when I renew my membership of the Association. Maybe I'm just odd?

 

Level crossings.

Robin

 

Doesn't it take co-ordinated action from a signalman at each end of a section to release a token? How do you manage with only one?

Tom

 

Ah yes of course, you wouldn't think I watch the blue anchor webcam!

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How do you account for the loss, in past few years, of all the area groups which provided a good contact with far flung members. The only one still in existence is the home counties group. I joined this group in 1974 when we used to meet in the back room of the BRSA(M) behind Euston Station. This has kept going due to the leadership of the group. From there I began volunteering.

Recently, with great vigour, a Taunton group was started up. I attended a few times, at a couple of locations, to hear the news of the great reformation, but I didn't see many leading lights. I don't know the reasons, but this group disappeared within 6 mths. Perhaps somebody could enlighten me. This might be partway to your question of "why not etc....become a WSRA member'

 

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There was no-one to run them, so they gradually folded. Robin White started the Taunton Group after the former trustees were removed, but although there was a large attendance at the first two or three meetings, that fell away and there was no point in arranging meetings for less than six people.

This is not peculiar to the WSRA or heritage railways. People are less and less likely to turn out for meetings in the evenings. They prefer to keep in touch in the way that we are doing now. We in the WSRA need to up our game in online communication and joining, which is something we are working hard at but the back office systems need to be right first.

Paul

 

Don't know how the WSR do it but you can have a remote operator system to allow this with switched out boxes. The footplate crew can then withdraw tokens as required. this used to be the case on the Talyllyn and probably still is. The Esk Valley line is 'No signaller, token remote' (NSTR) and the driver removes the token simply be pressing and holding the plunger. The only input from the signalman at Nunthorpe is a (recorded) verbal authority to remove a token. Only one token can be withdrawn at a time, of course.

 

Here-here, the web-site is very poor with forth-coming information, meetings etc. The only time you get answers is when you ask questions.

DJB.

 

Large attendance at the first three meetings! Sounds fairly enthusiastic to me. I think you had better ask youselves as to why numbers dwindled.

IMHO the reasons you are giving sound a bit lame, with the usual watery answers. If, as you say punters don't want to go out in the evenings to meet fellow enthusiasts and that they would rather play with their computers, I think you might be struggling to get them to get their hands dirty and remain enthused by the association.

I hope the back office is working hard. I can't see anything on your website to stay at home for.

 

Engineering possessions are for just that, engineering possession. You only do that if you can't operate the railway normally. A certain major heritage railway was in the habit of declaring an engineering possession on non-timetabled days purely for convenience and had their knuckles well and truly rapped by HMRI when it came to light.

 

I agree that volunteers should join the WSRA. However, as a principle, I am opposed to compulsion. I simply cannot see the WSRA, or the WSR PLC, gaining anything tangible from such a rule. Just because other heritage lines do so is not IMHO jsutification since they often have different legal structures to that on the WSR.

 

Yup - Understood, Have already eaten a slice of humble pie for the error of my ways. If this goes on I'll have to go and get a new jar of pickle for the rest of the pie...

Not easy with clear(ish) but wet main roads and 3 inches of lying snow elsewhere, minus 10 forecast for tonight

EDIT:- Just by the by; Usually when I enter "Nat Pres" on Google it comes up on the top of the list - can't see it anywhere tonight - Wicky whatsit is the top suggestion with NP nowhere to be seen.
Anyone see the same? Somebody upset Google?