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West Somerset Railway General Discussion

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

  1. Steve Edge

    Steve Edge Member

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    So are you saying I should stop the loco roster too?

    Steve
    wsr.org.uk
     
  2. Steve Edge

    Steve Edge Member

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    Let me do a Monkey and turn the question round. Have you any idea(s)? Preferably ideas that will find favour with all WSR folks?

    Steve
    wsr.org.uk
     
  3. Paulthehitch

    Paulthehitch Well-Known Member

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    Nothing about "stopping" anything. Simply that if there is a genuinely confidential aspect to a message it should be transmitted privately.
     
  4. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    If I had a bright idea, be sure I would be offering it.

    The most promising ideas that I have seen from any quarter were the Bailey proposals and the invitation, around this time last year, for those who favoured those proposals to join the (then) West Somerset Steam Railway Trust in the hope of getting that body to exercise its voting rights to push the PLC in the right direction. We all know how that turned out. I did join the WSSRT, and likewise the WSRA in the hope of encouraging that body's inclination to move in a similar direction.

    I am right now wondering whether to renew my subscriptions to either of them.
     
  5. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    I think you are sadly missing a point

    the letter specifically addresses staff and volunteers . that is the audience . it , I presume was not marked private and confidential so you chose to share it with a wider audience through your site

    in essence I think as an argument posters on here are frankly picking an unnecessary fight over this as , unless it was P&C, there is no reason why you should not share it.

    couple of things that do intrigue me are that as you run an "unofficial" website , I presume you own the domain as opposed to the WSR and secondly as the leading point for sharing WSR news it almost creates deniability for the railway and a useful person to blame if needed
     
  6. Steve Edge

    Steve Edge Member

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    Thanks for the clarification this time round.

    Within agreed terns I am permitted to release some details of loco rosters, which are also "genuinely confidential". So I was right first time anyway.

    There are good reasons why certain internal information should be shared widely (with prior permission of course).

    Negative responses have only come from a few NP people, whereas all I have heard from elsewhere has been positive.

    Steve
    wsr.org.uk
     
  7. Steve Edge

    Steve Edge Member

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    Thanks. As a Trust member, you are still empowered to work towards 'change'. You will need sympathetic folks on the trustee board. And perhaps a sizeable number of like-minded members. Don't give up on the idea. Have you discussed your wish with the trustees?

    Steve
    wsr.org.uk
     
  8. Steve Edge

    Steve Edge Member

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    Thanks. I don't think I am missing a point. I saw the letter and thought it'd be nice for others to see this too. Lots of people support the WSR but they may not be 'staff and volunteers'. Everything on the internal system is 'confidential' so permission had to be sought. The Plc agreed with my view and allowed me to publish the letter. Yes, the letter remains addressed to 'staff and volunteers' but there's clearly nothing confidential in it and everything to gain by sharing such a letter. I think the critics on here (only here I might add) are missing the point, and I wish they'd just drop it.

    Yes I own the domain. And I am always grateful for any information/contributions that comes my way from any of the WSR organisations or groups or individuals, or indeed from anywhere. That does not mean I will publish anything - as some will know. If that makes me a scapegoat then so be it, but after 22+ years of doing this website, I have no concerns in that quarter, and I cannot recall being blamed by the main WSR organisations for things published or a refusal to publish.

    Steve
    wsr.org.uk
     
  9. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    The trustees were very clear what they thought about the proposed merger with the WSRA. They claimed that it would be to the detriment of their own charitable objectives, so they were bitterly opposed. That was despite their having previously apparently supported the Bailey proposals in principle, and regardless of the details of the merger, which would have been subject to further negotiation, and despite comments on the better prospects for their own rolling stock in an enlarged charity.

    Is there any reason to think they might begin to have a change of heart? If not, any discussion with them would seem futile.
     
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  10. 1472

    1472 Well-Known Member

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    Please just keep doing what you are so good at Steve!

    Leave those who simply want to dance on a pin head over whether this or that should/should not be whatever to their various crusades.
     
  11. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

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    It was on wsr.org.uk, amongst other places.
    Agreed, but we are not here talking about any right of the "audience" to know, we are talking about a need for the "speaker" to make sure that the "audience" know. If the wider audience does not know that which the original recipients know and when the original script was written on the understanding that the original recipients had that knowledge, then it is incumbent upon those who decide to share the information more widely to add that knowledge, otherwise the "wider audience" might get a totally wrong impression from the information. When your "wider audience" may include people minded to donate to the railway and the wrong impression might make them less likely to do so, then it is important that they don't get it.
     
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  12. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

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    No, I understand it quite clearly, but I have been involved with the WSR for about 40 years. However, a member of the public, who has just had a great day out on the WSR, has heard that they have an appeal running and has come to your website seeking more information before they donate, won't have a scooby-doo what the significance is that the news item is marked as being to "staff and volunteers" and may think "oh, they made a profit in June, that's good, so they are not in as much trouble as I thought they were" and make any donation accordingly.
     
  13. 1472

    1472 Well-Known Member

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    Did you write scripts for "Yes Minister" in a former life??
     
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  14. nanstallon

    nanstallon Part of the furniture

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    Yes. As a retired lawyer, this ping-pong reminds me of clients with more money than sense wanting to litigate over three inches of boundary!
     
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  15. jnc

    jnc Well-Known Member

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    Oh, please leave Steve alone, everyone. He's in an impossible situation: he cares deeply about the WWSR, but...

    Noel
     
  16. Steve Edge

    Steve Edge Member

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    I know only too well what the Trust's trustees think about 'Bailey'. Their view remains as it was before pre-Bailey. I'm not surprised they take that view - they are there to ensure the charity meets its stated objectives. And I admire them for that. But things never stay the same. There's always the opportunity to fill a trustee vacancy, or for members to have chats with trustees. More so, it will also need the majority of Trust members to bring about change - and that is where I'd hope folks like you, Trust members. can do much to force the issue up the agenda and onward towards a general meeting resolution. I am not a Trust member (never have been) and no longer a Trust volunteer, but that will not stop me from lobbying the Trust on the question of change.

    Steve
    wsr.org.uk
     
  17. echap

    echap New Member

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    Actually, the letter to staff and volunteers, on its own, was a good letter and took the trouble to praise them for their efforts.

    Perhaps next time when a similar letter is addressed to the staff and volunteers, a public press release could be issued at the same time with a subtly different message to the general public and railway enthusiasts alike still pushing the appeal regardless of how successful an individual month has been.

    For example, for June, a press release could have said something like: "the feared loss of £110k for the month was averted with much greater than expected numbers of passengers and the hard work of our staff and volunteers. Regardless of this, we still need to raise more to save the WSR and would ask everyone reading this to make a donation to our Appeal. Every donation, however small or large, will make a difference and ensure the long term survival of our beautiful railway"

    Two letters aimed at different audiences but covering the same news in two slightly different ways. The suggested quote above did not lie but said enough to offer some good news but still needing donations from everyone.

    That is my take on the past few pages!!!

    Ed Chap
     
  18. Downline

    Downline New Member

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    That sounds just like a statement a pre-September 2018 WSR Plc board might have produced!
     
  19. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    There may of course be a case for the WSSRT remaining a separate organisation but were it to do so, in the spirit if Bailey it may be possible for it to review its role and what it does and of course to use its shareholding to help bring other aspects of Bailey about
     
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  20. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

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    No, but I m pleased you think that I might have done.
     
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