West Somerset Railway General Discussion

It would be cheaper on Friday!
Robin F.

 

I shall buy an extra ice cream with the saving.

John

 

The times of the train shuttle between Bishops Lydeard and the Rally are now available. It is free to travel on this special shuttle service. The shuttle train stops at the platform adjacent to the Rally at Norton Fitzwarren. A three coach diesel mulitple unit (DMU) is used with plenty of room for passengers and pushchairs. The journey takes ten minutes.

The DMU leaves Bishops Lydeard Station for the platform at Norton Fitzwarren at 9.45am, 10.20am, 11am, 11.40am, 12.15pm, 1.50pm, 2.30pm, 3.05pm, 3.52pm and 4.45pm.

The DMU leaves the platform at Norton Fitzwarren for Bishops Lydeard at 10am, 10.40am, 11.15am, 11.55am, 1.25pm, 2.10pm, 2.45pm, 3.20pm, 4.10pm and 5.00pm.

Full details of the 2015 Steam Fayre & Vintage Vehicle Rally

Steve

 

Hello,
People might be pleased to know that an eye sore,not my words, has been removed from Dunster WSR.
The wooden container,GWR Container, has gone to the SVR where it will be rebuilt.
One less piece of the linear scrap yard.


Nick
GWR 813 Fund

 

On Tuesday 14 July, an incoming Steam Dreams mainline charter is due to run from Gravesend to Minehead via Guildford and Newbury. I believe that it will be topped and tailed by a pair of West Coast diesels on the mainline. At Bishops Lydeard (12:40-13:10), a WSR steam loco will be added at the front. The train with 3 locos will then run to Minehead - one of the advantages of the long platform at Minehead. The steam loco will be turned at Minehead and will then head the train back to Bishops Lydeard (18:25-18:35) where it will be detached. The last time a similar train ran the diesels where a Class 37 and a 47. The steam loco will probably be one of 3850, 4936 or 6960.

David

 

At the time of writing, the rostered WSR loco is 3850.

 

Well the charter seemed to go off well.
It was too long for the platform at Crowcombe Heathfield and had to stop fouling the track circuit and the point work at the southern end of the station. I was on the up service as we crossed it there so we consequently took a small delay. 3850 looked lovely, can't remember the last time I saw it quite that clean! Express lamp code and a headboard too!
Anyway it was nice to chat to the few diners and staff we saw from the footplate and I hope you all had a grand time in Minehead.

 

See this video.

Steve

 

I hope when they make the loop longer at Williton they make it suitable for 12 coach trains so if long trains come in it doesn't cause a problem.

 

Long trains are not usually a problem, so long as the crossing train gets into the loop first allowing the long train a through road

Simon (WSR signalman)

 

With so much to read for such a long time in another place on NP. I have been catching up on my newspaper reading (note date) and came across this news item. Any chance of this appearing on the Wizzer?

 

What? Two hours and five minutes to travel from Bristol to Weymouth in 1936.
My service train tomorrow will take 2 hours and 19 minutes.
That's progress for you. <BJ>

 

My copy of Platform 5's Preserved Locomotives book shows that there are 3 preserved GWR diesel railcars. W4W is at Steam in Swindon - so no chance of that running - W20W at the Kent & East Sussex and W22W at Didcot. I know that W22W has worked in the past - I've ridden in it - but does anyone know the current status of these latter 2?

 

W22W at Didcot is operational.
W20W at the K&ESR is undergoing long-term restoration - I haven't seen any recent reports.

Edit: W22W at Didcot is scheduled to be running on the last two weekends in September.

 

Sorry Geoff, for a nasty moment I thought that the main headline of your cutting referred to the discussions "in another place"!

As I understand it the only earlier streamlined version (as shown in the press cutting) preserved is W4W at Swindon. The other two are of the later more angular version.

Frank

 

Well, will we, won't we?

Be having the WSRA AGM next Saturday?

That is the question?

and if we do will we be celebrating a new beginning or will we all be looking to take our support elsewhere?

Interesting times, but one thing that interests me is the coach that is being refurbished at Williton by Restorations, is it 4419? How long has it been there and perhaps Flying Scotsman can tell how many coaches the Gloucester Warwicks have processed in the same period?

 

When I lived in Warwickshire, some 60 years or so ago, I used to see a set of two of these railcars - often with another intermediate coach - running at good speed along the North Warwickshire line heading towards Birmingham Moor Street. I believe the train started at Cardiff. It superseded at 51XX class with some coaches for a while. I was sad when the 51XX combination returned at I liked to see the railcars rush past my home. These trains were always on time it seemed and was my signal to leave for school.

 

According to the latest journal (so I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not it's true) 4419 is just waiting for the reupholstered seats to return and be fitted, and it will then be ready to enter service - I've heard it should be this summer sometime.

 

On the Vintage Carriage website it is listed as under restoration 05/2013, so has taken more than 2 years sense the work started.

 

I would think that the time scale would depend on the condition of the coach when it entered the shops, after all MK'1s can be right rot boxes dispite being a newer design than any GWR coach, 2-3 years isn’t that unusual ,the NBO recently out shopped at Tenterden must have taken 4-5 years, but that was not worked on for long periods, and of course we had to fit in running repairs and exams on the running fleet in between.
We could turn round a localised repair and full repaint in 4-6 weeks if the vehicle didnt need major front end rebuilding with only a very small team working on it 3 or 4 days a week including bogie lift and exam