West Somerset Railway General Discussion

The only fiasco is in your over active imagination. Please give it a rest. Thanks.

 

This is getting foolish.

A Chairman needs to be a LEADER, not a secretary.

It is well known that you work closely with one present Board member and it might be unfortunate for your expressed view to be construed as theirs.

You can't really MEAN what you have just said, can you?

Robin

 

No, but its rather more inconvenient. You would, for example, have to have all passengers disembark to propel out. Alternatively, on high days and holidays, you might top and tail to and from NFW, or have a loco 'locked in' to a loop at TN, change locos there, draw forward and 'lock in' the loco left behind before complete departure.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes, with some land / facilities jiggery-pokery.

Robin

 

Once again the myth of fungible funding rears its head. What makes you think that any money spent on the WSR would come out of the budget for schools 'n' hospitals? Why should it not replace some other WIBN in the County Surveyor's department (and don't tell me there aren't stacks of these)? There are really only two types of public expenditure: things that are politically essential, on which the minimum possible is spent and WIBNs on which the remainder is spent.

 

A point which has not been brought up is the additional facility which a dedicated track to Taunton brings over an interchange station at NF, i.e just how many extra passengers would use the link changing at Taunton compared to those who would use it changing at a reopened Norton Fitzwarren station. It seems very unlikely that this would ever justify the additional cost of the dedicated track. The extra cost of the dedicated track can never be considered part of the costs of linking Minehead with the national network, because this could be achieved with an interchange station.

 

Interesting photos as usual Robin, thanks. In the first one [unloading Evening Star] that does look like a very impressive 'wobble' in the track just beyond the turnout- or is it just fore-shortening of the photo?

 

An interchsngrvstation at NFW?

Compliant disabled access to platforms on both sides of the main lines and the branch.

Hmm.

Any change out of £2M?

Robin

 

That is nonsensical. The County Council's finances are already at breaking point. The transport subsidies are are already being cut and it is very unlikely that SCC will be willing, or able, to fund extra expenditure on a scheme such as has been suggested. They already need to increase expenditure present services not to cut them.

 

I think you may have misunderstood the point. The idea is that the council will not take money away from essential services for *any* WIBN scheme. So if the council does fund it there's no chance it'll be to the detriment of hospitals etc. as money will come out of a separate fund *only* for all WIBN schemes (which is probably empty by the sounds of things, so no fear).

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Au contraire! I have understood the point. Both the SCC and West Somerset District Council have virtually exhausted their reserves. If WSDC does not fully merge with Taunton Deane Borough Council then they will face financial collapse. None of the Councils have much money for WIBN schemes, and even if they did the WSR link would be a long way down the prority list. MCOC and their chums imagine their is some magical source of cash that will fund their fantasy. IMHO it simply will not happen. Even the Hinkley Point C slush fund will not be big enough to be able to fund it.

 

Well there's nothing to worry about then, if the rail group aren't listening then rather than going advancing shades of blue on here just sit it out...

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The problem is that MCOC and their chums may just convince the authorities to squander taxpayer's money on a feasibilty study. There are far more deserving causes that it could be sepent on.

 

No, it was like that for years. The geometry of the turnout components were mismatched.

Robin

 

As the late David Lange said : " I can smell the uranium on your breath as you lean toward me!"

 

It is somewhat ironic that the designers of Hinkley C did not include a rail link. Planning permission is currently being sought to increase the number of lorries visiting the site from 500 per day to 750 per day whilst the jetty on the Bristol Channel is built. Meanwhile nuclear waste flasks will still have to travel to Bridgwater by road. I hope other aspects of the site have been given more forethought.

 

Please do not interpret my remarks as conveying a position for or against nuclear power.

However, having been priviledged to have toured the project, the scale of the works and the meticulous approach to what they are doing, cannot be appreciated from afar.

When I was Traffic Manager at Bristol in the 80’s, I was responsible for the Rail movements associated with Hinkley. The construction of the A and B stations mean that there is a very fine road from Cannington out to the power station. Especially given that, the engineering required to take a rail line out there makes no particular economic sense.

Robin

 

Noted. However, it seems to me that had the construction of the jetty had been started earlier, or a rail spur built a huge amount of road traffic could have been saved. As anyone who has driven through Bridgwater recently will know it is already jammed with traffic associated with the construction of Hinkley C. I am not opposed to the project just mindful of these kind of consequences that I believe are the result of poor planning at the design phase.

 

There is indeed a very fine road from Cannington to the Hinkley power stations, I've driven along part of it.

 

Who says the finances are at breaking point? The Council? Our County Council down here have been pleading poverty for years but still can find the odd million or two to waste on senior officers and their pet schemes.

That was just my point. There may be far more deserving causes, but there is absolutely no guarantee that the money, if not spent on a feasibility study, would be spent on them. All the evidence is that it would be spent on another WIBN.

 

As for the finances I can.only refer you to their own websites and accounts. If you study their accounts you will see that money has never been tighter. SCC have already rejected calls do studies about opening new stations at Wellington and Langport on cost grounds. As for a new station at NF this beggars belief. The is precious little money to spend on existing services let alone additional one.