West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Without meaning to stand on toes here, are there two different groups operating on the same railway, with the same interests, but who conflict with one another?

 

Fair question.

The WSR Plc run the railway and is a commercial company. Thus the Plc is responsible to its shareholders and to the rail regulators and to its landlord (Somerset County Council) and by its sub-lets, to its tenants (eg WSRA, Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust, Diesel & Electric Group). Ultimately the success of the railway depends on the success of the Plc. But the Plc does not stand alone.

The WSR Association (since 1994(?) a charity) formed in 1971 just before the Plc was incorporated and provides money to the Plc, and any number of smaller groups working on the line,for projects. The WSRA also provides business for the (via charter trains such as the Quantock Belle); it provides some locomotives and some coaching stock, and has shares in other locomotives. It is also a major (but by no means the majority) shareholder in the Plc; and it owns land at Norton Fitzwarren (the Triangle) and has leased several areas of land too. The purpose of the WSRA is to support the railway and it receives many requests for cash from the Plc which the WSRA often respond favourably (providing it is within the terms of its charity status). The commercial wings of the WSRA (the Norton ballast recycling, West Somerset Restoration at Williton, the Quantock Belle dining train and its retail outlet at Bishops Lydeard Station) are important fundraisers for the WSRA (along with the important revenue from membership fees) and by way of grants important too for the various groups on the WSR including the Plc. None of these operations duplicate those run by the Plc so are not in competition. They are either complimentary or completely different.

The WSR Plc are short of cash, following a poor(er) season. The Plc continues to make almost regular requests to the WSRA for funds/cash. The WSRA's initiative and offer to purchase the land at Station Farm would not only provide for smoother and quicker grant applications (via the charity) to develop the land (possibly for the planned museum and carriage shed) and at a stroke provide the Plc with most of the cash it is looking for. Many of us now wait for a statement from the Plc as to why the offer was turned down.

From an arrangement where each party in the loose partnership did their bit, efficiently and successfully, we seem to have moved to a situation where the Plc wishes to be utterly dominant and finds the WSRA - its long standing and natural major partner - rather unwilling, whether through the legal requirements of its charitable status, or through plain common sense on commercial grounds, or through trying to maintain an arrangement, a formula, that has brought huge improvements to the fortunes of the railway, to simply lie down and obey.

Hope this helps. Happy for folks to PM me on this subject.

Steve
WSR volunteer since 1977
WSR Plc shareholder
WSRA honorary life member

 

Thanks for the info Steve! It certainly does make things a bit clearer. Could it be that situations such as this are sometimes caused by breakdowns in communication between the two groups?

 

Glad my waffling helped. And yes situations can and do arise through breakdowns in communications. But remember if one party wishes to continue to have regular and postive dialogue, but the other does not wish to...there's not much the first party can do about it. If you see what I'm getting at.

Steve

 

There does seem to be a general pattern emerging from both the WSR and SVR share issue threads. I'd also say that there is an uneasy relationship between the Trust and Plc Boards at the NYMR. In all cases it would appear that the PLCs seem to think that the raoilway in question is theirs to run as they see fit, ignoring the massive contribution that the volunteers make. Whilst it is true that the volunteer agenda may be different to that of the PLCs, who seem to concerned solely with making money (a necessary evil, but it's not what heritage railways are about) it is also true that either group would find it hard to exist without the other, so one hopes that commonsense will prevail before more drastic steps are taken.

 

Interesting thoughts, 61624. However, in West Somerset the importance of volunteers is fully acknowledged by the WSR Plc (the current WSR Plc/WSRA problems lie elsewhere). Perhaps the WSR setup is different from most other "heritage" railways and I feel it is important to point out there is no requirement for WSR volunteers to belong to the WSR Association. And the WSR Assocation does not directly/formally provide the WSR Plc with volunteers (although many will be WSRA members of course). WSR volunteers are recruited, trained and managed by the WSR Plc who see volunteers as "staff". As I said earlier, the current problems lie more in the working relationship between the two parties.

Steve

 

News item on WSR :: West Somerset Railway :: Pictures and News
Now that the Station Farm site has been transferred to the WSR plc, consultation and planning work has started in earnest. Ric Auger, WSR Plc Director reports, "A development team has been set up including members from the plc, WSRA and WSSRT, led by Ric Auger, David Williams and Chris Austin. While the Steam Trust and the Association start to think about how best to use the area adjacent to the station building and goods shed, the plc has submitted a planning application for the southern (Taunton) end of the site to change its designation to operational railway land.
More on WSR :: West Somerset Railway :: Pictures and News news page.

For those wondering, "Station Farm" was the working farm immediately adjacent to Bishops Lydead Station on the down side (ie to the west) and which was bought for housing development, mainly, some of it now built or being built. The planning permission also allowed for purchase of the land next to the railway for railway heritage use and at the time the idea was to build a museum for the heritage carriages project. That may still happen. Meantime, the WSR Plc have now completed the purchase and plans are being formulated for the immediate and long term development of the site.

Steve

 

I've often wondered just what the relationship between the two 'partners' was, now I know and I'm not impressed. In owning the lease to the land the PLC has too much power!

Regards

 

The arrangement goes right back to the beginning of the "new" era when the county council bought the line and leased it to the WSR Company (now Plc). The Company was set up to operate the daily train service, using DMUs, between Taunton and Minehead, supplemented by a summer steam service at the seaside end. The WSR Association never intended to own, lease or operate the railway - its purpose was always to provide support the Company. The WSR was never set up on the lines of most "heritage" railways. Of course, history reveals those early aspirations were not realised in full due to various factors and the legacy of those early arrangements remains in place today.

With appropriate mutual respect between the two parties the arrangements have worked well for many years, albeit with a few skirmishes (not to be unexpected) along the way. The representation of the WSRA on the Plc board - up to three WSRA trustees at one time - has helped the relationship (as has the reciprocal arrangement) but sadly in recent years no WSRA trustee has been permitted to sit on the Plc board which has a notable number of ex-WSRA trustees amongst its numbers. Which kind of tells a story...

Steve

 

Doesn't it just! Cronyism aka going native. Still, as I'm no longer a member - I just turn up for the steam galas - I suppose it's non of my business, but it is a shame to see the WSR at odds with itself like this.

Regards

 

Question -- did West Somerset get any grants for seaside places like Swanage & Whitby Nymr .... just wondering

 

No - apart from Swanage and Whitby, the other railway that got money was the Lynton and Barnstaple, which got £150k for rolling stock. Amongst railways that put in bids but weren't successful was Volk's Electric Railway in Brighton, which I think made a bid to generate its power using solar cells.

The complete list of projects being funded with brief descriptions is here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/job-boosting-fund-for-20-seaside-towns

Tom

 

As far as I know the WSR did not put in a bid. Maybe they will for the 2014 round.

Steve

 

WSR Plc seeks planning permission for sidings at Bishops Lydeard. See latest news page on WSR :: West Somerset Railway :: Pictures and News for brief details and links to plans.

Steve

 

Thanks Jamessquared for the reply & extra info - appreciated

 

Every time I read of one of the (seemingly common, alas, sigh) dustups in the preservation community, the irony of this site's motto ("Bringing the Heritage Community Together") strikes me anew...

Noel

 

The West Somerset Railway Plc has made the following public financial statement (as noted on Facebook). "Subject to audit, the West Somerset Railway PLC can announce that it has made a before tax profit of £20,000 for the year to 31 December 2012,"

See WSR :: West Somerset Railway :: Latest News for more details.

Steve

 

Three salaried job vacancies have been announced by the West Somerset Railway. The Railway is recruiting an Assistant to the General Manager, a Deputy Operating Superintendent and a Head of Infrastructure Engineering. Closing date for applications is 8 March 2013 for the first two vacancies, and 29 March 2013 for the last mentioned. Further details can be found at:
WSR Job Vacancies announced: Assistant to the General Manager, Deputy Operating Superintendent and Head of Infrastructure Engineering. « West Somerset Railway

Steve

 

OK but the PLC only made £20k profit last year!

Reqards

 

That just means they have a very good accountant.