S&D Railway Trust

Perhaps we should be seeking a change in the law. How could we go about this?

 

I'd be careful what you ask for. That request could easily be misinterpreted and used against heritage railways.

The challenge is how to make the induction and briefing processes quick and simple enough to allow a first time volunteer to turn up and help out AND thorough enough that that volunteer can build their knowledge and skill quickly, so feeling useful and valued within the organisation.

 

To be clear, I am not advocating breaking the law but I have read somewhere that the current law is being reconsidered so that younger people can volunteer

 

Painted aluminium sheeting is still worth £1,600 a ton to a scrap merchant. They could simply give it away.

 

Assuming we're talking about the 1921 Factories Act that forbids children from working in an industrial environment, I believe it is slowly trundling its way through the House of Lords at the moment, something happened a few months ago but I forget what, it's gone a bit quiet since.
It would be good to get this sorted out, but in the meantime I seem to recall that the HRA/ORR has officially said that they're not interested in enforcing this; although I can't find the reference now as a lot of publicly available HRA advice has disappeared.

 

Just to clarify, the HRA are not responsible for enforcing anything. They certainly advise etc, but enforcement is for the relevant authorities.
A lot of publicly available HRA documents got moved into the Members Only section, when some members started wondering what they were paying their membership fee for, when so much stuff was available to non-members anyway (a fair point to my way of thinking).

 

It's the Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children Act 1920 which prohibits those under the age of 16 from working on a railway. A bill (The Heritage Railways and Tramways (Voluntary Work) Bill) sponsored by Lord Faulkner passed its second reading in the House of Lords in July and is now in the committee stage.

 

Enforcement isnt really the issue. But if you are acting contrary to a presently effective statute, an insurance company might well not consider the insurance to be effective.

 

The updated HRA advice is that members should check with their insurers. In practice the response from insurers seems to be that technical breach of the law would not invalidate cover or lead to rejection of a claim……..in much the same way as deliberately breaking a speed limit while driving your car would not invalidate your car insurance.

 

I was surprised on Thursday to see the LMS CCT van being loaded onto a transporter at Washford. North Dorset Rly facebook page indicates that it has since arrived at Shillingstone.

The small Ruston diesel is now the only vehicle remaining in Washford yard. The restored S&D coach may still be stored in the shed, but the two unrestored coaches (previously in the yard under tarpaulins) moved to Shillingstone a couple of weeks ago.

 

It is an absolute tragedy that the SDRT has been forced to leave Washford, and move their assets and artifacts to about five(?) different sites.

Shame on the WSR.

 

Yet strangely Shillingstone may one day be a better outcome than the former status quo. Potential for a real S&D line as the volunteer Corp there will have surely increased. Good luck to them all!

 

Faults on both sides. Not as clear cut as you would believe. The times have changed , the SDRT has not.

 

I don't think you'll find anyone outside of the WSR who thinks that the SDRT were fairly treated.

 

Likewise, not that many members of the WSR think that the SDRT were fairly treated. [BJ]

 

That's reassuring, although disappointing that they didn't make those feelings known to those running the WSR and try to reverse what appears to have been one man's revenge.

 

Its best for the members to keep their heads down. Await a reply from certain members denying any such thing. [BJ]

 

It may be that they tried, and were unsuccessful.

 

The Railway Magazine reports it's through its Lords third reading but the government opposes the Bill as unnecessary, which makes its chances of getting through the House of Commons unlikely.


EDIT: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3169 for the Bill’s progress

https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords...ageRailwaysAndTramways(VoluntaryWork)Bill(HL) See penultimate speech for the government’s position to oppose the Bill

 

That's disappointing. Perhaps a co-ordinated campaign of writing to local MPs is required?