West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Usual problem. A reporter sent to cover something they know very little about and a publication deadline that probably didn't give them time to do any proper research.

 

Thanks. It was that gantry which I didn't recognise, but having now looked at some gala photos from previous years, it has been there all the time! I think the telephoto shot helped to confuse too!
Happy to be corrected.
Robin L.

 

To be fair, the WSRplc itself very much presented the situation as it was 'closing in January for 3 months'. Whilst members and enthusiasts know that much (but not all) of that closure was normal, the WSRplc were very clear that this was exceptional and the 'we are closing from January' tag was in effect their's, as I recall, to stress this fact.

Indeed, there is amazing candidness in the implications of the 'before' situation in what the General Manager has said has been achieved! (I perhaps should add 'assuming accurate quoting' before I am pounced on!)

Generally, to this 'outsider', this seems a very fair piece from the BBC and the criticism seems a little unwarranted.

Steven

 

I remember installing that signal gantry in the mid 1990s with the Smith Rodley 5 ton diesel electric crane! Can anyone in here give me the exact date, and more to the point, as unlikely as it is , has anyone got any pictures of the operation, I was the main operator of said crane while it was based at Minehead and even I don't have any pictures of it !

 

Earlier than you think. I fitted the handrails to the platform during the icy start to 1991, working away from the access ladder. So late 90 / early 91. (It wasn’t up in November 90.). The HMRI inspection was 1.3.91, so it must have been in place then.

Here’s the first picture of it in the WSRA Journal. No mobile phone cameras in those days so pictures fewer and farther between.

Robin

 

Not only Minehead but I suspect it is an image of the 1015 from BL arriving yesterday which carried that headboard I noticed when watching it leave on the BL webcam. The Mk1's are clearly Chocolate and Cream and the assembled stock in the background aligns with the attached image my father sent me who was a passenger on that train.

 

On a lighter note. Looking at all these strange looking locomotives from some little village called Swindon. I keep hearing this low voice from the back of the shed saying:..... "Never trust a dome-less engine.......!"

Don't worry I've my hat and coat handy.

 

Is the plan to have 3 carriage liveries simply to give variety and, presumably, give options for TV and film work?
The trains all used to be very uniform in their chocolate and cream and everything matched. Then the red and cream set was repainted and looked very smart but these vehicles very rarely operate as a single rake and so the effect is a mis-match of liveries on a single train. The addition of all-over crimson exacerbates that mis-match and it seems a curious move, especially when there are apparently more important things to deal with at the moment.


Sent from my SM-A300FU using Tapatalk

 

However hard I stare, I cannot see "clearly Chocolate and Cream". Must get my eyes checked for colour blindness!

 

Even in a crisis, you can’t assume one bit of maintenance is more important than another; otherwise you just shift crises around. So the fact that the track needs work doesn’t mean you can assume carriage maintenance is suddenly unimportant - otherwise you start to get on top of the track only to find you are struggling to put out sufficient carriages every day.

For a railway like the WSR with a need of 30+ operational carriages, no under cover storage and working in a coastal environment, I suspect they probably need to be repainting 2-3 carriages per year just to stand still. At that rate you could potentially change the colour of a complete rake within a small number of years, if desired.

Tom

 

Just a few words on carriage livery. Several years ago I visited the Buckfastleigh line and was on the platform when a considerable number of passengers were reluctant to join the train. When I enquired why the general feeling was they wanted to catch the next train that had a different type of carriage. The different type turned out to be a Mk1 that had been overhauled and repainted crimson and cream! Us so called experts need to see things through visitors eyes. Grandfathers these days remember blood and custard, maroon and chocolate and cream and occasionally green in Taunton. They relive earlier days. If I had £1 for every time I heard the words, "and that was what trains were like when I was your age", I would be a very wealthy man. Do voice opinions but remember of the 170,000 plus passengers on the WSR some 130,000 would not know anything about liveries.

 

Which as I've mentioned more than once in other threads, the need for covered accommodation for all stock not just the engines. Speaking of "my" railway, the NYMR as part of their Lottery bid they have a plan for a carriage shed at Pickering. Which in turn highlights one of the few areas that the likes of the Lottery [there are other grant givers] will pay for "new build", as in this case it will protect the carriages when not in use.. The Moors also need a comparable number of carriages for their high season operations, especially as these days they operate over the six miles Grosmont - Whitby, as well as the eighteen the other way Grosmont - Pickering. Giving them a comparable mileage to the West Somerset.

 

I'm sure almost all of our valued and paying passengers are very happy indeed to travel in a nicely finished light airy spacious freshly painted carriage regardless of its particular heritage livery. Personally I'd like them all to be SDJR blue

Looking at the pics on wsr.org.uk I am reminded just how wonderful is the WSR.

Steve

 

I support Robin in this. Both of us, at different railways, have Social Media Policies which could if rigidly enforced preclude posting of any information. One has to be very careful what one posts

 

The maroon buffet car looks very smart and it will be a pleasure to have a whole maroon rake running in due course. It does though dent my oft-expressed wish to see the QB revert to this livery at next repaint. Years ago we used to tell our passengers to look for the maroon coaches when they returned to the train after their Minehead break, the QB being the only maroon carriages on the WSR for many years. The dining cars could also be readily identified during galas for the same reason.

Guess I will have to change my preference for the QB to Southern Region green then. The last green Mk1 we had was the ex-Bahamas support coach that was intended to run with a green main line rake to be paired with Braunton. Sadly for this native of Bournemouth, that plan didn't come to fruition.

Great day out on the Wizzer yesterday. This year's buffet car mug is particularly smart and well worth a purchase.

 

'MFI buffet' W9380 used to be painted in a fair approximation of Prussian Blue, from its days as the Berwyn Belle bar car. Can't remember if it arrived here in that livery, but I think it did.

 

With trains using wrong road at BA, does this mean you can’t change trains and go back to MD

 

Yes you can get off an Up train - but you'll probably have a long wait for the next Down train

Steve

 

Could one of those with more loco knowledge than I possess, please explain how GWR locos manage without a steam dome?

Robin