If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by gwr4090, Nov 15, 2007.

  1. jnc

    jnc Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2012
    Messages:
    1,511
    Likes Received:
    2,706
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Western Atlantic
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Assuming, of course that there is a good explanation - we've yet to find out why evicting the SDRT was a good move. And no, please let's not re-hash that for the 173rd time.

    But I shouldn't rise to the bait, and hopefully this thread can go quiet again - if the WSR backers can learn to restrain themselves from so aggressively defending the WSR anytime anything is said. Some fires just go out if one doesn't feed them. (I know, I know, I should take my own advice...)

    Noel
     
    MellishR and Monkey Magic like this.
  2. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

    Joined:
    May 30, 2009
    Messages:
    21,064
    Likes Received:
    20,773
    Location:
    1016
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I agree completely but given what has gone before don't we know that the WSR struggles with its communication strategy? So speaking for myself, I accept that and move on which is not to say that I think that what they do is good for the WSR community. But I can't change that and so I support those who do make the effort.
     
    jnc likes this.
  3. Lenny

    Lenny New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2014
    Messages:
    57
    Likes Received:
    72
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Finance Manager
    Location:
    Croydon
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Division 3???
    As you say......its the little things that are indicators of bigger things.
     
  4. JBTEvans

    JBTEvans Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2008
    Messages:
    2,344
    Likes Received:
    673
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Casnewydd, De Cymru
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Oh just shut up. It's a level crossing.
     
  5. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2017
    Messages:
    12,172
    Likes Received:
    11,493
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Brighton&Hove
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Have you considered popping along to the next RVR planning meeting? :D
     
  6. JBTEvans

    JBTEvans Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2008
    Messages:
    2,344
    Likes Received:
    673
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Casnewydd, De Cymru
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Preservation (1965), not NP.
     
  7. Andy Williams

    Andy Williams Member

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2010
    Messages:
    851
    Likes Received:
    908
    Occupation:
    Design Engineer
    Location:
    Shropshire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    What on earth are you on about?
     
    69530, Monkey Magic, 35B and 4 others like this.
  8. The Dainton Banker

    The Dainton Banker Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2014
    Messages:
    1,720
    Likes Received:
    3,186
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Over the hills and far away
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Interesting response to a civil question.
     
  9. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2018
    Messages:
    3,498
    Likes Received:
    6,845
    Location:
    Here, there, everywhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    And considering that this minor level crossing that is just a molehill is also the reason why the WSR can't run to Minehead and couldn't have run into Minehead for the last year or so. I can't think why anyone would be so interested in what is happening with it.
     
    MellishR, Macko, johnofwessex and 2 others like this.
  10. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

    Joined:
    May 30, 2009
    Messages:
    21,064
    Likes Received:
    20,773
    Location:
    1016
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I expect people are interested and recently they were told. It's being fixed and work is in progress. As an operator up north may say "It'll be ready when it's ready."
     
  11. Miff

    Miff Part of the furniture Friend

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2008
    Messages:
    2,857
    Likes Received:
    2,793
    Did the WSR say they couldn’t have run into Minehead last year? Everyone knows the old crossing equipment is life expired and needs replacing but old equipment can often be kept working safely for a while longer with additional inspections, maintenance and repairs if required- albeit at additional expense. Without lockdown can anyone say that wouldn’t have been possible?
    With lockdown, the condition of the crossing and the difficulty of maintaining it may well have been a factor in the decision not to run; but perhaps not the only one.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2021
    jnc likes this.
  12. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2011
    Messages:
    25,484
    Likes Received:
    23,713
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Grantham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I believe it was cited as why the WSR couldn’t reopen last year. Which is why I and others have always been confused about how the railway could have hoped to operate last year had Covid not happened.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
    MellishR and flying scotsman123 like this.
  13. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2018
    Messages:
    3,498
    Likes Received:
    6,845
    Location:
    Here, there, everywhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Well, this goes back to the poor communication and engagement by the WSR PLC. The official position was that they did not have suitable carriages. It took their own volunteers 5 minutes to demonstrate that this wasn't true. In the absence of engagement two explanation emerged, the first that it was not financially viable and too difficult (too late to start) but this was undermined by the success of other lines and the attempt to run things later in the year. The other put forward by posters not known for being critical of railway management is that the line had deficient SMS and the crossing was one of the sticking points. The notes of the ORR visit pointed to this was well.

    The PLC left a void of information although I seem to recall that there were some posters who claimed to 'know the truth' but would only communicate this in private.
     
    MellishR and jnc like this.
  14. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2014
    Messages:
    17,609
    Likes Received:
    11,222
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    St Leonards
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I'm under the impression its 99% down to a lack of someone who is good at public information , etc, Much of what has damaged the WSR, is self inflicted, and IMHO, could, and should have been avoided , What should have been done is for the railway to have put out a press release, just saying, why the line can not open fully, ongoing work to improve the state of the line, Level crossing renewals etc, no one likes bad news, but what they dislike even more is no explanation, as to why All the time the WSR continues to shoot its self in the foot, it deserves the negative replies .
     
    MellishR and Monkey Magic like this.
  15. Miff

    Miff Part of the furniture Friend

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2008
    Messages:
    2,857
    Likes Received:
    2,793
    I agree the WSR’s official communication has been pretty poor but, without confirmation from an impeccable source, the assertion that the crossing could not have been used last year seems to be based only on what “somebody said”.
     
    malcolm imps and Steve Edge like this.
  16. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2011
    Messages:
    25,484
    Likes Received:
    23,713
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Grantham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    It is. But nor, despite opportunities, has anyone tried to refute the suggestion that the crossing was unusable in normal service last year. It’s not conclusive, but given the rapidity of the rebuttals frequently issued on this thread, is at least suggestive.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
  17. pgbffest

    pgbffest New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2018
    Messages:
    191
    Likes Received:
    370
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Somewhere with a lot of letters!
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    As somebody who has had to spend a good couple of hours getting evidence from various people after somebody reported a SPAD via the webcam, I can well understand why they may want to have the webcam switched off (especially if they are using external contractors). Turns out in the situation I had to investigate - the person concerned hadn't managed to notice the long whistle from the locomotive as it went past (or potentially didn't know what it was). Then of course you have to calm the forum down where it appeared! All time where you could be doing something more constructive

    People do need to remember that a webcam only shows a direct image - you can't see what is happening out of shot for example which may give the answer away! There's a website where the webmaster obviously spends most of their day watching the webcam, if they see something, they report the fact it has happened and what it is doing....the fact that what the locomotive is doing is completely different to what the webmaster has dreamt up...doesn't seem to matter.
     
    burnettsj, Fish Plate, Miff and 3 others like this.
  18. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    10,438
    Likes Received:
    17,937
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    We have covered all this several times now, admittedly it has since been buried by a whole load of posts going over *other* things for the umpteenth time!

    The crossing was known to have been near life expired and needing replacement for a few years, and plans have been put back for various reasons, potentially WSR Shenanigans according to an S&T manager in Facebook. Some time in April, just after the lockdown commenced, the crossing changed from "nearly life-expired" to "life expired". Since then, all movements have had to be flagged. Which is OK for occasional stock movements, but not for regular passenger trains.

    All this is second hand, but it fits what we know to be true and no one any more in the know has refuted it.
     
  19. City of truro fan

    City of truro fan Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2015
    Messages:
    783
    Likes Received:
    84
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Honiton
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I think the people that look after the town will not be fussed that the level crossing is stopping all the trains at the moment as it will help them with social distances in the town. The trains will get to many people into the town at the moment. The town managers might even be paying the railway managers to drag it out a bit as lots of railways have had money for not being open.
     
  20. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    May 29, 2006
    Messages:
    3,967
    Likes Received:
    5,064
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    N.Ireland
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    That is such a ridiculous statement that it does not deserve a detailed response. Please keep such conspiracy theories to yourself!
     
    flyingcow, MattA, Matt37401 and 4 others like this.

Share This Page