West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Thank you Paul42 and everyone who donated we have succeeded. Brilliant job well done. Ken D

 

As the person organising the Military Train/Event as a part of the Spring Gala in March and the 1940’s Weekend on the 15/16th September (along with many external partners) I would like to add my thanks to Ken’s post. From all over the WSR in the past couple of weeks many people have got firmly behind these two events and in a very short time some great stuff has happened, all of it driven by peoples shear enthusiasm. Sadly much of their effort will never be seen as it goes on behind the scenes. However I would like to name drop a bit: The WSR Mechanical Engineering Team lead by Dave Horton have gone above and beyond, as have the Gala Planning Team who have totally re-arranged the Gala Timetable to accommodate the running of the Military train, plus the WSR Marketing Team including Sam and Mark who have reacted in impossible time frames. Additionally please see below a posting I have just placed on the Facebook ‘WSR Forties Weekend 2018’ page, this is where many of the events participants are getting involved from the 1940’s ‘non-railway’ side of things (please feel free to join the page):

The WSR has a volunteer team who restore the many wagons on the line (around 30) , having heard about the military train they decided to put two War Department 5 plank Open Wagons ‘through works’ ready for the 22-25th March Spring Gala and the first running of the Military train this year.

These wagons are very rare being genuine WD ones, they have been in use on the WSR previously but are in need of some work so they are being repaired and repainted meaning their first ‘fresh from works’ appearance will be during the Gala in March. In addition they will both have new authentic tarpaulins made from canvas to replace the previous ones that were modern and looked a bit too ‘shiny’ for the 1940’s. The £400 needed to buy the tarpaulins was raised in a little over a week via a crowd funding appeal online organised by the West Somerset Railway Association, the larger of two charitable fund raising support organisations on the WSR.

Thanks go to amongst others: Pete Chilcott, Ken Davidge, Mike Wightman, John Stenner, Dave Horton and the WSRA Team for this amazing effort in a very short time period. The WSR is always looking for new volunteers for the hundreds of tasks that go on around the WSR. No previous experience is needed, so if you would like to help with this project or one of many others we would love you to join us, just drop me a line. The picture below is of the goods train in last year’s Spring Gala, the two wagons in question are at the front behind the first brake van. To the rear of them is one of the two War Department Flat wagons we will be using for the military vehicles this year, we also have a third which needs rebuilding, but maybe that’s for next year. Again these are very rare and it’s believed that nobody else has three available together. (Photo courtesy of wsr.org.uk & Tom Courtney)

 

Bodmin 108 DMU for Sale

https://www.facebook.com/bodmingeneral/posts/1982094018486852

Might be useful for WSR ?

 

Great stuff on the wagon front - I had no idea you had a volunteer wagon group! Is there a blog/facebook page/whatever with regular updates? As you've got 1 certain subscriber here.

 

There is no specific Facebook group for wagons but they get a mention from time to time on this Facebook group. WSR Mechanical Engineering Dept News. The Wagon Restoration Group on the WSR is relatively new.

 

Thanks Ken, something to consider if one of you has the time, not only is it very informative but it can be quite useful for you as well, it forms a good record of work done, other folk who might know can chip in with info and it encourages folk to donate money to specific things, like that wagon tarp. Not "demanding" you should, it can be an extra chore, but just thought I'd mention it.

 

It’s moot now anyway, but while some crowdfunding platforms act as you say (i.e. funding is all or nothing) this isn’t really crowdfunding in that sense: much better just to call it a means for collecting online donations. In that regard, not functionally different from someone providing a cheque as a donation.

The point about fees is worth someone keeping an eye on: there are different providers of online charitable donation platforms (JustGiving, Big Give, Virgin, MyDonate etc) that have different fee structures (balance of monthly standing charge: a fixed fee per transaction and a variable fee per transaction). An advantage of online providers (apart from accessibility) is that generally they will pay Gift Aid up front, whereas if someone donates by cheque with appropriate Gift Aid declaration, you then have to reclaim from the HMRC which can take longer before you get the Gift Aid money. You do have to pay the fees though: as so often, you pays yer money and you takes yer choice. We have recently moved away from JustGiving as the fees were more expensive than other providers; these days we use BT MyDonate for preference.

Tom

 

It's not a case of the trustee's being in regular daily contact, it's the fact that the web-site is extremely poor at giving news updates or any other info that members need to maintain interest in the WSRA. I will admit that since 31st Dec 17 I am no longer a member & have joined another organisation on the line.

DJB.

 

Exactly what information do you expect that is not happening? Have you made the WSRA mangement aware of your complaints? No organisation is perfect but it is hugely improved.

 

Yes I have on more than one occasion, only today I was discussing it with other parties who reckon it is regressing back to the old 6 as far as info is concerned. Monthly meetings now every six weeks.

DJB.

 

That is a very serious allegation that is hard to believe. A synopsis of the board meeting held on 22nd January has just been published. Perhaps the WSRA Chairman will respond.

 

Peter, I (as others) put time & money into recovering the WSRA from the grips of the previous incumbents, but no-one wants to be part of an organisation wearing blindfolds & ear-muffs. You appear to have moles in most parts of the railway which gives you a great advantage as to what's happening.

DJB.

 

I to put time and money into evicting the ex 6+1. AFAIK communication to and from the membership has improved hugely. I have lots of contacts across the railway but have heard no complaints about the WSRA recently except yours. If you have bot already done so write the WSRA Chairman who I have always found him very forthcoming and prompt in answering questions.

 

It's also worth pointing out that there can only be so much WSRA specific news. I hardly ever get news from the GWRT about railway progress, but bucket loads from the railway as a whole, because the GWRT is part of (that lovely phrase coming up again) one railway!

 

Peter, as I am now no longer a member, I have shaken the tree (which I started when I was) which should make people think, I will retire to a similar armchair as yours & concentrate directly on the railway alone.

DJB.

 

And this is where I venture the problem still is. I don't think it's anyone's fault any more, I know trustees and directors are working together much better now and that's absolutely great, but there's still this "culture" of the WSRA not being *essential* to the railway as a whole or supporting it. Very difficult to do something about, I wish those who are at the forefront of more change on that the very best of luck.

 

A simple way of dealing with drones is to practice clay pigeon shooting.
Robin L

 

Today I had a very enjoyable lunch with Paul Whitehouse, made even better because he paid! How we work together better was a main part of our chat. The WSRA is essential to the running of the railway, one reason why we spent so much effort to save it. The PLC cannot do everything and must rely on the support bodies to carry some of the workload. Changing culture is difficult, all I can say is that we need the WSRA to help deliver that.
Ian Coleby

 

You will always have idiots making comments. It is not helpful to say "terrible" when the reason was you arrived 2 minutes after the train departed, or could not find a seat on the last departure from MH in August.

My wife advertised a high quality sofa on a local website available FREE, including delivery.... and one woman emailed to ask if it was available in a different colour!
Robin L

 

I'm somewhat puzzled. WSRA has a turnover probably of a million pounds. It claims to be the principal supporter of the WSR, and yet it cannot find £400 to pay for some tarps? I haven't seen the accounts for a few years, but the last set did not tell me anything at all, apart from a deficit of several hundred thousand pounds in a year, and legal and other costs in six figures.
Spending several hundred thousand pounds on "charitable activities" is not what I want to know. What I do want is an itemised list of what was spent on these charitable activities - on what was it spent, including ALL items as low as £400? Maybe not in the accounts, but available as a separate document. Smoke and mirrors do not interest me, and unless I see some contributions to projects which benefit the railway, I will not renew next year..
Robin L