West Somerset Railway General Discussion

That "update" is from Feb 2018. Things seem to have moved on a bit since then.
Is there anything newer ?

 

No-one ignored anything. I'm sure all commentators here will clearly recall the huge investment by WSR which allowed the axle weight to be increased. Just do a bit of research, folks

Steve

 

There was a lot of chattering last year about the bridge between Blue Anchor and Washford not being 100% with a 5MPH restriction going on it the money MAY be needed to do something effective to that

 

Now 20 mph.

 

Black Monkey Bridge, at milepost 183 +.

Stef.

 

Here is an interesting quote from it:

The board discussed communications around the railway and between the board, management team and staff. We are clear that we need to improve our communications and Bill Knell has agreed to look at this.

 

Has 7822 left WSR?

 

7822 is due to go to Tyseley for some work on the bottom end, before returning and spending the rest of the year at the WSR.

 

Its at Tyseley now.

 

Ah that’s what went up the M5 yesterday, was too dark to see nameplate. Thxs

 

The Minehead Branch was, in GWR terms, a ‘blue’ route.

The exception to that is the stretch between the main line and Bishops Lydeard. The absence of significant underline structures on this section made it a ‘red’ route.

Robin

 

Don't forget Chicken Curve and Gotherington at the GWRly, also the flood damage at the SVR ? Thankfully the public and communities pulled together for those causes. <BJ>

 

Yes, I remember that several other Heritage lines either had collections or organised special events to raise funds to help the GWSR.

 

Can anybody associated with the Railway tell me if the Minehead Buffer Stop shop
and Turntable Cafe will be opening at all during the line closure?

I spoke to the shop staff just before Christmas and they didn't know and I can't find
any reference on the official website.

Thanks, in anticipation.

Stef.

 

Not sure about the shop at Minehead but the cafe folks recently said on FB: "[we are now] shut for our winter close down period. We will re-open in February (dates to be confirmed)".

Steve

 

Minehead Branch.

British Railways Western Operating Area
WTT of Passenger Trains Exeter District
11th June to 18th September 1955

"Norton Fitzwarren Bishops Lydeard
Route colour: blue.
Engines to work over:
All uncoloured and yellow types.
All blue types except 28xx and 2-8-0 Austerity..
Red types: 49xx, 59xx, 69xx and 68x
Blue 78xx and all red types are restricted to 25mph.

Bishops Lydeard Minehead
Route colour : blue
All uncoloured and yellow types.
All blue types except 28xx, 2-8-0 Austerity and 78xx" end of quote

There has also been some discussion recently on this site wrt 'engine loads'

"Taunton Minehead
Class of engine
BR Standar Class 4 (4-6-0)
78xx
43xx, 53xx, 63xx, 73xx, 93xx
31xx, 41xx, 51xx, 61xx, 81xx,
56xx, 66xx,
Taunton Minehead 360 tons.
Minehead Taunton 310 tons" ( there is a note "Load 310 tons Minehead to Washford,
360 tons Washford Taunton")

"Locos 45xx, 55xx, 36xx, 37xx, 46xx, 57xx, 77xx, 87xx, 96xx, 97xx, 84xx, 94xx and
BR Standard Class 3 (2-6-2)
260 tons Taunton Minehead Taunton"

I have always found some aspects of this WTT confusing.:
The 56xx and 66xx tanks were route red classification.
There is ambivalence wrt the Manors ie only allowed to BL but given an engine load to
Minehead, similarly the 56xx and 66xx.
In practice AFAIK neither 'Manors' or 'Valley tanks' ran over the Minehead branch
under BR auspices.

The BR Class 3 2-6-2 tanks ( which carried a slightly modified Swindon No.2 boiler,
as per the large Prairies ) were only allowed 260 tons. Was this because the Class 4
rating for a large Prairie probably flattered them?

The engine loads do not differentiate between those 2-6-2 tanks with standard Swindon No.4.
boilers from those with No.2.

Finally these figures all relate to a Railway operating with an overall 55mph line speed.

Michael Rowe

 

Very comprehensive.

My understanding is that Black Monkey Bridge on the Washford to Blue Anchor stretch has long been the source of the weight restriction beyond Washford.

It would, no doubt, be a matter of engineering judgment, requiring a combination of civil engineering, permanent way engineering and mechanical engineering knowledge to understand how those restrictions are affected by running at 25mph or less, in terms of loco ‘hammerblow’ structural damage, and track damage. A question for professional engineers, of which I am certainly not one.

It will be seen that the weight-speed trade-off was applied to allow ‘red’ locos to reach Bishops Lydeard.

When I dealt with exceptional load movements for British Railways the relevant engineers would sit around a table with we Operators at a planning meeting and discuss how exceptional loads could be accommodated and with what mitigation to protect the integrity of the engineered environment.

Robin

 

Another complication for the railway is the bridge is a Grade II listed structure, making any strengthening more complicated.

 

Firstly thank you very much for this

Secondly given how interesting it is in its own right and that it may be relevant to future discussions- probably for as long as the WSR runs could it be 'pinned' somewhere - rather like the Gradient Profile thread there seems to be the case for some sort of 'repository of potentially useful stuff'