West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I think the point @ikcdab is making - correct me if I am wrong - is that if you take on an unpaid committee role for an organisation, by definition you are volunteering, probably significant hours per month. In the case of the WSRA chairman, they are also - as I think is widely known - a volunteer in the Locomotive Department.

Tom

 

We're in so many levels of hypothetical I got lost...

 

I seem to recall that the QB was in "fake Pullman livery" for many years with named carriages and that the correct livery is a bit of a recent innovation.

 

I am happy to confirm I an the chairman of the WSRA and I volunteer in the locomotive department of the WSR.
All of my work for and on behalf of the WSR is undertaken on a fully voluntary basis.
In order to volunteer on the footplate I must hold a WSR plc ID card as, I think I am right in saying, the SMS demands this. I must also be medically certified and maintain competence in my grade by regular practical and written examination.
On the subject of shares, people gift the WSRA shares all the time, usually as a legacy. Any gift or donation is always very welcome.
You'll all be pleased to know that I do still read this thread quite regularly.
If contributors to NP wish to influence Association policy then joining the Association is the first logical step. Considering Trusteeship (after careful study of the rules and regulations) or simply by writing to the chairman of the Association to express your view as a member is the next logical step.
I will now retire to concentrate on raising much needed funds for the projects around the railway. WSRA projects are described here https://wsra.org.uk/projects/

If I am allowed to have a pet project then you can find out more about what it is here, I think you can even see my ugly mug on a video . https://wsra.org.uk/locomotive-restoration/

 

That's the Pilkington K set of mainline coaches used for charter trains all over the national network. The train was (the first ever?) through charter from the mainline to the WSR (I stand to be corrected on that claim!)

 

Think they went to Riviera Trains and ended up in Chocolate and Cream.

 

If any organisation was to do this, it would best it not be the WSRA.

 

Who else has sufficient share holding already? No way would it be a safe move giving your shares to WSRHT because of the closeness with certain senior trustees and the PLC, You would in effect be gifting shares to the PLC chair to do as they saw fit,

 

I've just read the following on the WSR Facebook page about the resumption of services.

Is this different to the original plan? I've not followed things closely enough to know if this is an improvement to what was planned or a curtailment for some reason.

Update from the PLC regarding the new season.
We have listened to feedback from our passengers and have introduced an enhanced experience for the start of our season. We will now be going from Bishops Lydeard to Watchet, from 29th May onwards, This will give our passengers a great day out, giving you time in the town to explore before you return. Any passengers who hold tickets to Williton already, on dates which will be affected will receive an email from us with the changes and options in the next 24 hours. Ticket functionality on our website has been temporarily disabled on dates which are affected. We envisage this issue to be resolved by lunch time tomorrow Friday 7th May. Please bear with us whilst these changes are made and communicated to all. We thank you for your patience. A full explanation on what is on offer will be released shortly.

 

I think that previously the round trip only went as far as Williton.

I know I bang on about trivialities such as this all the time, but why does it have to be an update from "the Plc"? Why not just an update from "the railway" or similar. To my mind it doesn't do much to help end factionalism, but there we go, I know it's tiny in the grand scheme of things.

 

Given that the proposed service has not yet started, and there have been almost no trains for the past 12 months, I'm wondering how they managed to get feedback from passengers? And if the reference is to feedback from previous services, then why was that not taken into account before planning the original BL - WN only service?

Now, had they said something on the lines of "owing to excellent progress by our staff and volunteers in bringing more of the line back into use more quickly than expected", I would have understood the change.

 

What I dont understand though is that Watchet is on the coast, people want to go to the seaside, now I am sure that Williton is perfectly nice but there is a much more inviting destination a very short distance away so why oh why did they not go there in the first place? I understated the operational implications but it seems indicative of the way the railway is being run.

 

Because of the extensive track relay work around Donniford and Helwell.

Images posted by @malcolm imps seem to show that good progress has been made, thus permitting a return to Watchet sooner than originally expected.

 

Yes, that's correct.

The "feedback from passengers" refers to comments made by people making telephone bookings for tickets, which is - in the current circumstances - a large part of the potential clientele. Bear in mind also, that the cost of operating to Watchet is significantly more because trains have to be "topped and tailed" to and from Watchet because there is no run round loop. Because of social distancing our trains are going to be by no means full and our income will continue to be less than usual. No railway can afford to run trains that actually make a loss. A final consideration was the views of the residents of Watchet who would be receiving a significant influx of visitors into the narrow streets. We consulted with them before making the decision.

At the present time no decision is straightforward.

Frank

 

So why not say that?
This reminds me of a company I worked for who were bought out by one of their customers when on the brink of insolvency. Instead of putting out a press release saying "They liked the product so much, they bought the company", the remaining director, who had been against the idea from the start, put out a grumpy piece complaining about poor trading conditions and implying that the buyout was forced upon them, but assuring customers that they still still expect the same high standards of service etc etc.