West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Re flushing in stations, at least the staff benefit from some lovely tomato plants

 

I did see one in the 4 foot at Blue Anchor

Just make sure though that the passengers only eat dwarf varieties as the tops of full size plants get knocked off

 

A 4-footer must have taken some flushing

Jon

 

Once discharge toilets are eliminated from the main line I would imagine that the ORR will turn their attention to the voluntary sector and we'll be forced to remove them from our rolling stock. I guess we'll either have to fit retention toilets or introduce toilet stops.

 

Strange how conversations on NP can jog the memory.

As 9 year old Wolf Cub I remember going on a Pack Holiday by train from Birmingham New Street. This would have been 1960, and we had a reserved carriage, changing en-route at Bristol and Taunton for a weeks stay in the BR camping coaches at Blue Anchor (it felt like we were going to the other side of the world!).
When we were on the Minehead branch train, one little urchin discovered that if you flushed the toilet, the metal flap in the bowl opened to reveal the sleepers flashing by below. This prompted a procession to view it - we must have emptied the water tank well before arrival a Blue Anchor!

I well remember us all sitting up in the bunk beds every night to watch the last train go through from Minehead. It was a one coach mail train hauled by a large Prairie. After it went past, the locks would "clang" on the crossing gates and the signal box lights were turned off. Happy days!

 

Surely the signal box couldn't be closed until the train had given up the token further along the line?

 

Well it might have been a while after the train passed - as a 9 year old I didn't observe the compexities of single line working!
All I can remember is on one occasion the pack leader came walking along the grass bank next to the running line and shouted at us to get to bed!

 

Something all heritage lines should definitely be moving toward with some haste. I was most impressed that three of the four Mk1 First Opens in the consist of today's Saphos Trains Braunton-hauled charter to Kingswear were fitted with retention tanks. In conversation with their fleet manager he stated that they had been a great success.

 

Here's a good operational question then. Due to the lack of anything interesting on the box I spent Saturday evening following the working of the Quantock Belle dining train service via the webcams. How many signallers are required to operate the line for this service? I was intrigued when the driver was given the token and then authorised to pass a signal at danger at Blue Anchor and then the same signaller appeared at Minehead to collect the token from the arriving train! Is there some means by which one signaller operates the entire line?

 

No doubt Robin can fill in the details as she was the signaller in question.

 

In Radstock , Somerset, there were two level crossings , one S&D crossing and a GWR within a few yards . Could be very frustrating for those trying to get to work in Bath , especially if unluckily caught on both .

 

... as SHE was the signaller...

 

There have been posts in the past suggesting judicious use of a car to achieve this.

 

Or Robin has a twin.... You have to consider all options!

 

Thanks for remembering what happened to me. I wasn’t going to comment but I have just heard that another positive, forward thinking person who tried to get more involved and help turn the WSR around and as a long standing Volunteer Fireman has also like me been removed from service.

Again as with me he has been removed from “Safety Critical roles with immediate effect and for the foreseeable future” a “senior management decision” made due to remarks on Facebook. Again no HR policy applied (despite it being in place), no warning, no process and no appeal (I’m not even sure how posting on Facebook is safety critical?). Just a letter in the post saying in effect please don’t ever come back to the WSR again.

It seems that whilst #Aldfort can go in to uncouple and get sh*t poured on him from above the number of other Firemen who can have that pleasure is reducing further still. Not a nice post for me to have to make as I thought I’d said my piece previously on here and finished with it, however here we are again.

So the question is at what point is the WSRA/WSSRT going to start supporting Volunteers on the WSR who are ‘taken out’ with no due process being applied (I’m not talking about whether comments made by Volunteers on Social Media are right or acceptable I’m talking about a fair process being applied which is already in place and agreed by all). Clearly the WSRA has recently on here stated that it holds the Volunteer support remit and the Coombes Review which was accepted by all also clearly stated this remit sits with the WSRA. So when will they reverse the stance taken with me that they will not support Volunteers having their hobby removed from them, is it with this current example, the next one or another 20 or 30 down the line ? Is sitting idly by whilst it happens morally acceptable for them ?

As they have previously failed to support people (others as well as me) it means that as I care about the future of the WSR the only thing I can do is comment here and pull the WSR Whistle Blowing Policy out again to protect myself.

Please WSR Leadership start talking and acting to encourage more Volunteers, stop removing yet more people because they have an opinion which doesn’t always align with yours. It will take many opinions and much debate to turn the WSR around not more fear and less involvement. Many people here have given some great opinions as to the future direction/structure, plus there are many positive people willing to help turn around the WSR on the ground, but no one can get involved if you continue not to let them.

 

I was the one signalman rostered as ‘travelling signalman’ for the Quantock Belle on Saturday evening.

This special form of working is authorised by the regulator and subject to special rules covered in a section of the WSR rule book. It can only be operated when there is only one train on the railway. For passenger working the signalman travels by road and if the train gets there first, it waits at the home signal until the box is open.

The signalman is specially authorised to carry out these duties and for a train along the whole line, has to be one of the (fairly small) group of signalmen passed on all boxes, which tends to select for and ‘old hand’.

Happy to explain, but, you will understand, not inclined to get into a detailed discussion of rules on a public forum.

It makes for more efficient use of volunteer resources and I enjoy an evening out in this role - always ‘on the go’. How else would you get to work 7 GWR signal boxes in an evening!

It is always fun to wave to the train passengers at each passing place and see how long it takes them to cotton on to the apparent cloning of signalmen.

Now there’s a thought to increase the number of volunteers...

Finally, a snap from Saturday evening for my webcam fans!

Regards

Robin (WSR signalman since 1986)

 

That is not quite correct. The video concerned showed the locomotive whistling and then starting off past a signal at danger only to be derailed on the catch point. The sequence of events was quite clear but the cause was not and this was where any unwarranted assumptions lay.

In the present case, a picture has been published showing a damaged cylinder without any speculation (by anybody so far) as to how the damage was sustained.

 

That all makes perfect sense except that it does raise one question. If this form of working is conditional on there being only one train on the railway, why can't it be "one engine in steam", with the whole line treated as a long siding and all signals deemed out of use, except at one or both ends with someone in the box to change the points for running round? (N.B. I am not saying that's what should be done but making an honest enquiry as to why it isn't.)

 

I'm guessing, but Blue Anchor level crossing may be a partial answer.

 

My "if they see fit" was to cover the possibility that an individual might be personally to blame, in which case at least that person's identity might be better kept confidential.