West Somerset Railway General Discussion

The relief is not too far away, I understand.

Steve

 

Huochemi:

You may have missed this post. Not quite going alone, I guess, but separate from the others waiting in the wings.

 

Good news IMHO , the only thing I like about that loco is it's chime whistle , big ugly brute that it is . If it was down to me , we would only be seeing GWR locos but then it's not my decision and there are many who would disagree . At least 6046 is a steam engine with a current boiler ticket and it is working after a fashion . Roll on 9351 and 7028 coming back to life .

 

What exactly is the plan for 6046?

 

Yes, so would I, that would be sweet.

 

I can rebuff that idea immediately. There is a core group discussing how best to proceed and the WSRA are very well represented. For obvious reasons, I can't give any details but I assure everyone that a mix of people are involved who between them have a wide range of skill sets. You don't have to be a genius to work out that a charity is a great idea when raising funds for a project so you can reach your own conclusions on the level of WSRA involvement.

I must point out that pulling together a proper plan is complex and time consuming. It will take months to do this so please don't think no news means bad news.

 

Hear hear!

 

10/10

 

Thank you . Lays the position out very clearly. I was always pleased to be able to access a 'Source and Application
of Funds' when I worked in the 'States'. As you state, bearing in mind the lack of fund raising, other than the
splendid efforts by the Stations Friends groups, and comparing what appears to be the norm on other
Heritage Railways, the PLC has done rather well.

However the inevitable lack of investment in track and rolling stock I believe is beginning to show. Similarly the run
down in cash at the Bank. Traditionally the PLC took c £1 million into the non passenger service period post
January 2. This has now been 'eaten into'; (whilst I appreciate the argument that it might have been
better in the past to use said cash for winter capital works, and borrow through the non revenue
period this option is no longer available.) Winter borrowing now appears inevitable.

A comment on your figures. The 2017 figures are of course effected by the one off extraordinarily
successful Flying Scotsman event. The challenge for future years is how to repeat such successes.

As you say the Board has a challenge. Simplistically grow the revenue ie more pax probably and
a greater return per passenger whilst reducing overheads. Not easy, many organisations have
found that whilst striving for a greater return per individual sale they have actually ended up with
a reducing sales volume.

The disappointment compared with other Railways is fund raising. To be candid the
WSRA performance over the last two years has been poor. There were two key items,
ie grow Membership, raise funds. The first has not happened, the second has been slow.
The loco appeal started well but seems to have lost emphasis.

There is much to be done to preserve our precious Railway.

Michael Rowe.

 

Omg Dinmore Manor is coming back for summer. Totally love black manors.. is Foxcote still going to be on the line?

Hopefully 34052(46) is still coming .

 

Sorry , my mistake Odney Manor , apologies .

 

Apologies , my mistake . Odney Manor.

 

Michael,

I'm sorry you think the Association is not doing well enough. For the last two years we've been pulling back on the control column as hard as we can. It now looks like we can avoid the crash landing we were otherwise heading for and can start to think about the future. I agree that a more skilled crew may have recovered the situation faster. However we have the team we have and that team are doing their best. Let us hope that the potential strengthening of the trustee board post the AGM this Saturday see us powering ahead.
Where we agree is that there is indeed much work to be done to preserve our railway for the future. As I've posted many times before this will not happen from the comfort of the armchair.

 

Or even 'Hear Hear'? (exits stage left, at a run)

 

The WSR diesel service tomorrow (Sat) with D7017 has been CANCELLED.
The trains will not be replaced by steam hauled services apart from the 17:15 ex Minehead.
https://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/timetables/view/51
This means that there are no departures from Minehead between 14:15 and 17:15.
Not good. <BJ>

 

Lack of guard according to a post on WNXX forum.

 

Damn! Hangs head in shame.

 

Even that might not prove to be the case. Many active volunteers have posted on social media already about the "queue" of locomotives awaiting overhaul on the WSR. There is a feeling from many of them that concentrating on one at a time makes sense. If (a) a lot more qualified volunteers stepped forward and (b) we could fundraise faster then maybe 2 at a time could be contemplated. We currently have plans to meet and discuss these ideas. What the plc have asked for is a credible plan that convinces them its a good idea not to sell 4110 and to hold on to it until such time as it can be restored to traffic. That, in itself is a large piece of work that then needs to be fitted into the larger picture of a coherent locomotive strategy for the WSR.