Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

It's completely impractical even if you had the space, you'd spend the rest of your life chasing carriages around the countryside. Trust me it's inconvenient enough when mere tools migrate down the farm, let alone entire carriages. As Stuart says there is no way that underframe work could be done at the farm, it would be far to risky from a H&S standpoint. By the time you've done all the work (which now has a specific unchangeable slot in the maintenance schedule) you'd at most have a few weeks of a maximum of two carriages being down the farm. At that point you have to ask if it's worth it? All that effort, all that disruption and money spent on constantly hiring lorries? We are running around like headless chickens trying to keep everything going as it is let alone whilst having to play musical chairs with carriages.

 

I can completely see where you are coming from Thomas, we are after all only throwing some ideas about, which once analysed more closely will no doubt see problems appear
I for one will not tell Stu how to operate and organise Woody Bay in any shape or form, but he knows I will perhaps at times throw an idea across which many be of use or not as the case may be due to the circumstances at Woody. That is team work though, keeping positive, friendly and non-accusing.

 

Exactly, and I don't mean any offense to any of you in Essex. Discussing matters like this internally and coming to arrangements based on it (like your conversations with Stuart) is exactly how this problem will get solved.

 

As we often do chat and chew the days issue over.
Agree discussion and working together is the way to success!
Even know a local pub such ideas could be discussed!!

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

 

Dave now we have Blackmoor can't they rustle up some breakfast that much earlier?

 

As long as said pub has a bottle or two of Cornwalls Pride or Castle Gold by Tintagel Brewery tucked away somewhere then all is well hehe

 

I lived in Marazion near Penzance for a short while on a farm, at 7am on the doorstep was the eggs, bacon, creamy milk and fresh bread rolls to do breakfast, and by the gods was that proper food, so tasty lol

Last time in Boscastle, up to make bacon sandwiches at 8am, only to find the bakers across the road didn't open til 10am

 

I agree about the breakfast times, a problems which I've encountered for some years now when staying in the vicinity of the WSR in the past. Just because it's a 'tourist area' the B&Bs seem to think we all want to stay in bed for a-g-e-s - why? when there is (supposedly) so much to 'see and do'? I've been up, out, driven to Minehead, watch the morning goods and first passenger train of a Gala day, and then back to the B&B before they've even started to make the toast. Damn inconvenient...

Mind you, I've also driven over Exmoor and arrived at WB before the cafe was opened too :-(

 

I suggest you stop and read what i have said before going off on one, ive said nothing about doing bogie/chassis work at the farm, in fact i said do that at WB, the whole point of the exercise was to be able to work on carriages as and when at Rowley was for more space for a paint shop, work shop for body work, carriages could be kept under cover between there and WB during the closed season, the idea of having a custom built trailer was so that a tractor could be called in at any time to move carriages about rather than hiring dedicated lorries

 

I think you have hit the nail on the head there, they are now tourist/leisure areas. Where as before they were still working rural areas, fishing fleets still existed, farms had more workers on them before technology came along, less Airbnb/cottage holiday type homes which render nearly whole villages practically holiday camps and less retired residences.

 

Shame on you, there are plenty of good Devon or Exmoor beers available to choose from first

 

Ahh but but, I will try those too, but... Cornish blood and all that hehe

 

You are correct, carriage 9 for now, making component parts from church pews where safety allows.

So far from those pews we have been able to make, the seats, all the wall panelling, the floor, the roof boards, the arched bulkheads... I estimate somewhere around 60-70% of this carriage will be made from reclaimed timber, timber that was in a church nearly 50 years longer than the age of the L&B. Good old fashioned Caribbean Pitch pine of the like not obtainable today.

We are soon to be ordering the Iroko (originally teak) frame work, being as that is the structure this must be sound quality timber for structural and safety reasons. So that will be the main frames, corner posts, cant rails, sole bars, along with external beads and gutter work.

We do have Van 23 stored away under the bench, literally, but whenever the underframe is finished we can get on with that too.

At the moment we have flexibility in being able to complete either as needed, obviously there will come point with the carriage where due to its length it would have to be finished before we could return to Van 23 being as the unit is 62' long, and a carriage takes 40' of that. It doesn't leave enough for Van 23 as well. At the moment though we can work on one, or both as required.

The next one is possibly No 1, but as always an analysis would be needed to make sure it's what is required by the railway commercially, with 15 1st class seats it could tip balance of 1st to 3rds too far. With the high season tourist industry, and to continue to bring that Victorian travel experience to the average high season visitor, then more 3rds may be needed still.

Will cross that bridge when we come to it hehe

 

Yes many issues to be resolved about the carriage stock, I agree we need something at Woody Bay for the current fleet but we also need something for the others yet to be build, I know Dave and I disagree on this point but I would still like to see a set of carriages in 1935 Southern Green livery.

 

Ok my bad. But then again that raises another question about how long they'd be there for. If your having to do underframe work at WB and then take them to Roley for paint to be done, again you'd be constantly chasing round carriages inbetween actually doing the work?

 

I think at the moment it's maybe more problematic, but eventually once all the carriages are at a certain standard, and especially with no9 there you could cycle the carriages somewhat easier. This would allow one carriage to be in the shed at Rowley for long term body work. This would be phased in with the seasonal twice yearly shift.

So let's say end of season comes, the next on the list for a complete bodywork repaint, which realistically at the moment is probably once every 5 or 6 years per carriage, goes to Rowley, along with perhaps two others for winter storage leaving three at Woody for Christmas specials and underframe overhauls needing pit access. The problem with underframes I suspect will be the ones which don't have the greasing points on the bogie rubbing plates, which we hopefully resolved with the introduction of the grease nipples on I think it was 5 and 11. 9 will have the same so that will be half the fleet with accessible greasing points.

We should, if not already done, be able to retrofit greasing points to the older frames too.

If... If we can get cover in the cutting successfully, with two in the cutting and one in the paint shop, all stock is under cover during winter, the worst period.

The paint shop at Woody is good enough if timing with weather is picked carefully to get a coat of varnish on those carriages there during winter.

In the Spring you bring the other two back, or one plus the repainted one for over pit inspection and greasing ready for the season... And then carefully cycle.

So throughout the year you would only have two carriage movement days of perhaps only two carriages, one in the morning, one in the afternoon.

This does free up space at Woody in the winter so that track maintenance stock can move more freely.

Would need a good sit down and think it through to make sure it's scheduled in an achievable way, not just for Woody Bay operations, but the paint shop boys as well.

But for now, yes, it's a chase the tail job, we do the best we can

 

I will just add to my post above that it all does very much depend on whether there would be enough people to make it successful. Also, I have no doubt there are some complexities that I will have missed and as such it is merely a suggestion which may or may not work.

At the end of the day, Stu is the boss, and I'm pretty sure he knows I won't be offended if he does things differently

 

I'll give Stuart praise , not that he needs it

He's a very understanding bloke , has done a lot for the railway in the relatively short time of being here and He's always of the opinion that every suggestion needs listening to as your never know when your find the gold mine of ideas .

 

Latest newsletter, voting papers for the AGM, reports and accounts, plus a report on the extension options consultation arrived in the post yesterday. Very interesting reading, including more detail on the S73 withdrawal and answers to some of the questions posed on this forum about the way forward.

I'll leave it until all L&B members have received it (and had a chance to read and digest it), before discussing the contents.

 

Not received mine yet but is Anne's name on the voting papers just out of curiosity please