West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Fair point, but there seems to be a Vickers Machine Gun with a belt feed going all the way from Minehead to Barrow in Furness and it seems in no danger of going click click click just yet.

 

(Heavily snipping Tom's post to focus on just this one point)

Aye, there's the rub (as they say). It remains unclear to what extent the WSRA trustees agree or disagree with the PLC's current strategy, but concerned individuals have had to launch a petition to try to get the PLC and the two charities to change direction, and hundreds (presumably including many WSRA members and volunteers as well as interested outsiders) have signed it.

 

I don’t want the railway to fail but I think it might . I have not sent them any money as I simply cannot support an organisation in such a mess. This despite my many visits in the past .

 

If the railway fails, it will be the fault of those people who put personal ambition over the railway , not just recently, but over the years, the Coombes report showed the way, but was not implemented anywhere near as the proposer intended, people who , for what ever reason, viewed each other with suspicion, and inward thinking, and perhaps an amount of I know best, are the reason the railway struggles from crisis to crisis, much of it, self inflicted.

The fact that loyal members are being pressured to support the official line, is another factor, a well run railway will have changes of opinion and dissenting voices when mistakes are made, but very seldom do they result in removal of id cards, and the loss of that persons hobby, in some cases a person who has given years of loyalty to the railway, loyalty should be two ways, a mature management style allows changes of opinion, it discusses privately problems, and then deals with them, without in many cases any more action needing to be taken, and agreement to look into concerns, the GWSR ,Is a clear contrast, in styles, they had concern's raised against plans for the Broadway canopy, but they listened, they discussed, and the end result was a far better plan, that everyone got behind and funded.

 

Absolutely. All very sad and I think it may be the end of a superb line.

 

Very well summed up.

 

I for one am not going to start digging its grave just yet!

 

Sure as hell hope not. Given the almighty kerfuffle resulting in the guard being changed a few years back, I do wonder if there's something obvious to board members which can't, for whatever reason, be shared with the wider membership, or organisations historically linked to the line.

 

Mirrors tend to reflect reality .... perhaps they don't use them.

 

I've no dog in this fight, but all aphorisms aside, from an outside perspective do wonder why, after so much effort was expended ousting a previous board, everyone seems to be back in full-on bunker mentality. Assuming lobotomisation isn't a prerequisite for serving on the WSR board, it seems fair to wonder whether something else might be going on, behind the scenes.

 

Dare one ask a question about WSR operations? If, as seems likely, travel restrictions are eased to the point where some main line operations are going to restart, and given that, presumably, all revenue-raising operations would be looked at and grabbed if possible, is there any likelihood of the RTC tours scheduled to run through to Minehead later this year actually going ahead? I see that RTC are still advertising them, so one can only hope...

 

According to WSR press releases the line is unlikely to re-open before Easter 2021. Easter 2021 is at the very beginning of April that year.

 

And then only between Minehead and Blue Anchor?

Or was that before the warning of redundancy notices, of which we have heard of no more, and at least to my addled brain seemed to be part of an appeal for funds by the WSR PLC board - despite this subsequent £300,000 or so profit in March (!!!) - 'we urgently need money donated to us', not the WSRA or the WSSRT - as it will be 'ring fenced' if to the WSRA or WSSRT.

I read all the posts this morning and am sad that this has been deleted /hidden. I considered it pertinent and relevant as to how the WSR operates, or fails to do so currently. You must have a proper set up to operate/pursue 'operations'; and the WSR management/structure clearly requires 'operations'/surgery to survive.

Cheers,

Julian

 

I think the issue is more likely to be how mainline tour operators can guarantee social distancing on their services and still create a profit. The cost of track access between the WSR and RTC would have been agreed some time ago and as a result may not now be suitable if you have to do a stack load of work to get the line ready for the use of one train. I can't see it myself to be honest.

 

The on line newsletter 'Platform' is a good move - keeping well-wishers informed is vital if the Railway is to retain and increase supporters.

Just need to get the Somerset and Dorset folk back on board - I have a lot of respect for a guy who admits to having made a mistake!

John

 

When I read reports like this, it does make me wonder, what is the PLC's game, they say they want peoples money, but at the same time say we made a bumper profit last year, yet don't seem to be that interested in their shareholders, because not all of them appear to be getting news letters, or is it only the active on the railway, known to them, shareholder's they target, and if so why, can they be pressurized easier than someone who supports financially, but does not physically ? it does not make sence, either that or are the board, and officers are totally inept, out of their depth ? you would think the Secretary would have a mailing list of all traceable shareholders, aren't, they actually required to have a register of who owns what shares, and what voting rights those shares hold?

 

Sign up for the new WSR newsletter 'The Platform' here:

https://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/sign-up-to-our-newsletter

 

It might just be me, but the site will not accept my sign up

 

used to be>

what a strange edit.

I was going to ask, are you getting the Annual Reports & AGM notices