West Somerset Railway General Discussion

thought most passengers originate at bishops lydeard!

 

To go to Watchet, Dunster or Minehead.

 

The irony (to me at least) is that the Dartmouth line has for years been the epitome of a commercial line with a minimalistic loco fleet whilst the WSR has been more enthusiast oriented with a more varied offering yet now the position is being reversed almost overnight with the transfer of 4110 and the addition of S160 2258 to the P & D fleet. What is left at the WSR really seems like the minimum to maintain the service, and then only by means of at least one long ter hired in visitor.

 

Sorry, but I don't understand? With 60% plus of passengers starting from BL, would you expect them to drive the extra 10 miles to Williton, where there is almost no parking or other facilities. If the purpose of the visit is to go to Watchet or Dunster rather than the ride, then another 10 minutes drive would take them there.

 

Speculation warning:

How much has the sale of the loco, the WSRA finishing the 93xx , has helped in the huge black financial hole the PLC are supposedly in?

Not much from what I have heard on the grapevine.

May be it is time for the Directors of WSR look within to see who ultimately shoulders the responsibility of such poor performance. The role cannot be made redundant so two possibilities: falling on their sword or dismissal.

 

Equally if you are already in your car you can easily get to Williton to start your ride, especially if you were coming from Bristol, South Wales, the Midlands, the North or London.
The northern end of the line has coast, scenery (admittedly it doesn't match the southern end), destinations and attractions including Washford.

 

How much revenue would you lose as a result of having to cut ticket prices? And what do you do about parking in Williton? And if you're only mothballing for a relatively short period of time then how do you deal with the maintenance and upgrade requirements on the mothballed section? What, in the long run, are you saving?

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I see no logic in this idea what's so ever !! .....

 

The Way We Were

For a publication celebrating 40 years of the West Somerset Railway operating to Bishops Lydeard due to be produced later this year I have been asked to write an article on the Manchester - Minehead train on 16 June 1990. The first through passenger train onto the WSR after the line was closed by British Railways in 1971.

I was involved in making the traffic arrangements for the train and was West Somerset Railway Person in Charge at Taunton Cider, Norton Fitzwarren. That does, however, give me a fairly narrow view of events on the day. I would be pleased to hear from local residents, train crew, passengers on the train, in fact anyone who can add a different perspective. Do you have memories or photographs of the day?

The photo by Dr Peter Thompson below shows the then Taunton Cider siding Norton Fitzwarren with the two WSRA locomotives, 6412 and 4561 heading towards the train to couple on. I am out of sight behind the locos but my briefcase can be seen at the far left of the photo!

Please feel free to share this request to anyone who might be able to help. I can be contacted at robin.white@wsra.org.uk

Robin White
WSRA Trustee

 

They do I think....... & a lot of coach parties too.....

 

Passengers could walk to WN?

 

From where? There is nowhere in Williton to park coaches, nowhere suitable to be used as a drop-off point and a very narrow lane that has to be negotiated in reverse either to or from the station itself.

 

That was my point, also rather a long stroll!

 

Assume you've seen this? Might be worth trying to contact the videographer?


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Was sent to me a short while ago. Never seen it before today. I am in the helicopter landing pad hat from 12:00 or so onward.

Robin

 

A working 4110 would have looked right on the WSR, but in all reality she would not have been restored for ages - looking at the dire state of finances of both WSR and WSRA. Sad though this saga has been, 4110 should be working on the Kingswear branch reasonably soon, and will look right there too. And the WSR will have raised some much needed cash - let's hope it doesn't need too much more.

 

Are things that bad? Loss of revenue would mean finances never recoverable. Much of the attraction of the WSR is its length, also its nearness to the M5, and also its serving Minehead.

 

I wouldn't have thought that a sensible plan, especially not in the year that the WSR is planning to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the reopening to Bishops Lydeard. A large percentage of visitors to the line start at BL which has a large car park, the only other stations with a decent amount of car parking space are Watchet and Minehead, and both of those are pay-and-display public car parks that can get quite full at times.
If the BL to WN section was closed it would still have to be maintained otherwise the trackbed would deteriorate and would then require a lot of money spent on it to bring it back up to standard.

 

How bout BL to WN diesel hauled then WN to MD Steam sections

 

Loses most of the benefit. Run half the railway and you can run the same service with half the trains (= half the locomotives and rolling stock) and you only have to concentrate track maintenance on half the railway.