West Somerset Railway General Discussion

As you say, we've been round that buoy many times. However, there's a factor that sometimes gets ignored - which is the value to the customer.

When I choose to spend my money on a leisure activity, I am not particularly looking at the cost of providing an attraction, but the value I will get from what I spend. That gives a decidedly non-linear calculation, where I accept a minimum price, and then the price I'll pay rises with the amount of time that the activity occupies, but where the price I'll pay doesn't rise in proportion to the time occupied.

So, for example, I'll compare the WSR and L&B, assuming that a rover is used for a single round trip. The L&B charges £7.95 for a ticket, and occupies me for about an hour; the WSR charges £30 and will consume 4 hours - for less than 4 times the duration.

 

And don't forget cost of getting there is going up all the time, another 30 miles each way probably around another £10 plus now on fuel.

 

Are families really the target market though? I have two young children and if I take the family on a heritage railway we tend to take our own food and drink for the journey and I'm not really allowed time to browse the shop so effectively the only money the railway gets is the ticket income. The W&L has found that couples, in particular retired couples, provide far more secondary spend so they are increasingly targeting their offering at these whilst also providing for the family market with shorter trips. I think it is worth remembering this when looking at pricing.

 

Kids travel for £1 on the Sunday of the forthcoming Spring gala, which will prompt me to make the trip down from Bristol with my children.

 

Good to hear, I hope you will enjoy it!
Our current Gala Planning Team comprises of several under 25s including myself at the grand old age of 23. We all were bitten by the 'railway bug' as a result of attending galas with parents and we hope this will continue to future generations too, hence trying to make attending our event as affordable as possible for cash strapped families, whilst boosting sales for one of the quietest days for passenger numbers. A win win!

Seb Welsh
Gala Planning Team Chairman

 

I don't know if you remember, but back in the days of "Network South East", there were a couple of Saturdays where you could go anywhere in the Network South East area, which IIRC stretched as far west as Exeter, all day, for a pound. Apart from a couple of specials, no additional services were laid on, so the costs were the same as for a normal Saturday, but the trains (at least the ones I travelled on) were packed. It was alleged to have brought in considerably more than the normal takings for a Saturday.

 

Good idea Seb, just make sure your counterparts in Catering have child friendly menus on the day to extract as much money as you can, I'm glad to see someone thinking out of the box, is there a possibility that this kid for a quid offer might be brought in for the quieter days in the season, when numbers are traditionally lower, get local papers involved and have coupons, that offer kid for a quid, and on your web site an offer , if you pre pay and book, again kids go for a quid,

 

Kids for a quid makes sense during school holidays; you are unlikely (hopefully!) to get much take up mid week during term time!

Tom

 

I hadn't realised that. I just need to persuade my son to give rugby a miss that day!

 

An appalling lack of ambition, sir!

Now if you could persuade your son's rugby club to rock up, mob handed ......

 

There's always the weekend.

 

In reality there are at least half a dozen target markets and these vary depending upon the time of the year/month/week/day. Each one has a different expectation and a widely differing level of discretionary spend.

 

There's something to be said for that. As an unreconstructed curmudgeonly old git, anything which lessens the chance of rowdy sprogs being around when I fancy a midweek visit gets my vote.

 

I have two tykes (although they’re not in the ‘rowdy’ category) and I can confirm that the occasional midweek visit somewhere, while they’re at school, is one of life’s little pleasures

 

Not sure if you would want a bunch of Rugby players taking over your carriage singing bawdy rugby songs,

 

They'll be in the buffet and it'd likely be profitable to add a second just for them in any event. Handy chaps (and chapesses) to have around if a spot of impromptu re-railing is called for.

 

Progress with tender T2061 for Odney Manor

With the bulk of the main tank completed the top plates are being welded down to seal the edges. Work has recently concentrated on the decorative front plates and associated support structure, the two side coal fenders, the rear plate of the coal space and all of the supporting brackets. So far only the decorative front plates have been fitted.

We finally managed to source some material for the beading that is attached to the edges of various plates, this had been a problem as during Brexit and COVID it seems that all UK steel stockholders have not replaced stock of such items. The beading we have secured was slightly too wide so we are halfway through milling it down each side to obtain the correct width, all 40 metres of it.

Funding of all the steelwork etc for the tank has been achieved from our own fundraising, the considerable cost of having the tank professionally shot blasted and epoxy coated inside and outside to approved standards was beyond our team resources. Fortunately the West Somerset Railway Association (WSRA) have generously agreed to manage the fundraising for this work to take place for which the team are exceedingly grateful.

The WSRA is covering half the cost from existing resources, the other half to come from donations. this will ensure that the tank will remain in good condition for decades to come. If anyone is able to assist we would be pleased for any donations.

Details of the fundraising along with the link to JustGiving can be found on the WSRA's web site:-
https://wsra.org.uk/a-tender-for-odney-manor/

And here are a few photos of progress as of last Saturday, taken in a very sunny Minehead loco shed.

Andy.

All of the top plates in place.


Driver's side tank front.


Fireman's side tank front.


The decorative tank front plates.


The rear plate of the coal space with beading attached ready for riveting.

 

I suspect this question might have been covered before but I obviously missed it.

On the new signal before the crossing at Minehead, why is there such a large gap between the signal arm and the finial?

 

The S&T Department inform me that the height of the signal could not be conclusively settled before installation, so the best approach was to install it and use it for a spell and when it is certain that it is correct, the excess can be cut off.

Robin