West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Does anyone know where the August Loco roster is available? The WSR PLC site only list them up until June.

 

This question crops up every 2 or 3 pages, so I'll mention it again, Look back to my message #549 page 28 which will give you a better link for loco allocations,

 

Many thanks. Bookmarked. I would like to see the roster for Tuesday 4th. Specifically the 1435 service from BL if anyone could assist please. I wanted to confirm it was 3850. TIA

 

Presume we are talking about Dunster PWay Yard opposite the station platform and including the goods shed. For a working PWay Yard this one appears to me to be tidier than many BR ones I visited in the 1970s/1980s. Such yards are never going to appear tidy but as long as they are kept clear of too much totally redundant material and scrap they are an example of what the real railway was like.

If we are talking about the siding parallel with the line beyond the crossing towards Minehead then I am more in agreement with Dennis. It would appear that some of the 'GWR 813 Fund' vehicles from these sidings have migrated into the PWay Yard and are presumably likely to be departing shortly. Nick813 I am sure can clarify.

The contents of this siding is typical of those on many heritage railways. Vehicles which are to be restored one day but with no realistic plan as to when that will be and how it will be achieved. More immediately their is no realistic care and storage plan in place. Unfortunately, I know I will be criticised for saying so. decisions have to be taken as whether it would be better to let them go now or if they are to be retained they need to be moved out of public view.

 

" It would appear that some of the 'GWR 813 Fund' vehicles from these sidings have migrated into the PWay Yard and are presumably likely to be departing shortly"


I am not aware of this action.
Without sounding critical of any one, often the fund is last to know what is going on with our vehicles on the WSR.
The leaning container of Dunster has gone.
Other stock is being 'agreed' to . Can not say any more at present.

Great pity that there is no storage shed/restoration/paint bay along all twenty one miles of rail.
All these Friends of, associations, station groups and Uncle Tom Cobley and all seem unable or unwilling to lift this railway to great heights.


Off my hobby horse before I write something that....wellll!

Nick

 

Well I had a visit today and, as a painter, I did notice a lot of stuff I'd like to do! For a start, the headshunt at Minehead that pokes right out onto the front ought to be an advertisement to the railway. But the wagon and maroon CCT that reside there are in a dreadful state, crying out for a lick of paint. I appreciate 4110 hasn't been there for very long; it looks like it has some newish paint on the boiler - is this WSR work? Given that it has a couple of locos in front of it in the queue for overhaul, it would be nice to cheer it up a bit, as again it's right at the front. Otherwise the first impression is that of worn out stock.

Unfortunately the impression is true, as virtually all the coaches are faded and looking a bit tired on the outside. Most just need a quick repaint, and especially with the WSR simplified livery you could do a coach a month I reckon.

What are the carriage workshops like? I originally assumed work was also done at Williton, but I don't think that's the case. So where is work done, just that small workshop at Minehead?

This seems like an urgent need for more comprehensive facilities. Now of only there was a support charity that could
help pay for such a thing...


I couldn't help but notice that 3850 looked like it could do with a clean (spotted a green tinge in places) and 4160 needs new BR crests.

Oh, and the DMU had awful paint runs. Other than that...

Seriously though, the WSR is a great railway, and its stations I reckon are some of the best turned ourt in the country, perhaps as a result of the volunteer friends groups. Is the carriage department volunteer run at all out of interest. I note it is the only department not listed on the volunteers poster in the gents at Minehead. If I lived a bit nearer I'd love to spend a few days at Minehead painting the couple of vehicles in the headshunt in the sun; I've just been doing the same thing at Winchcombe with the wagons that are on display.

(I didn't just write this to highlight the failings of the WSRA by the way, they are genuine concerns as as to condition of the stock on the WSR)

I'm happy to learn more about the workings of the carriage department and the reasons that led to this, I know there may be certainly good reasons due to operational needs etc.

Alex

 

Well FS123,
I do not think you have just made many friends within WSR Plc!



Nick

 

I can't help noticing if things are looking faded!

 

Better faded than scrapped

 

Hoping for announcement regarding oct steam gala soon

 

Quite, but a premier line such as the WSR ought to have premier rolling stock, but it all looks a bit sad. I would like to say I'm only pointing this out because the WSR IS such a good railway, which is why this stuck out particularly for me.

 

Sadly Alex is basically correct. The carriages do contrast poorly with the locos and the stations. Money and manpower as always are the problem I suspect. Nothing is perfect! If the WSRA want to enhance the image of the railway and teach some apprentices painting skills then this would be a good way to do so. Oh dear I was asleep in the comfy chair!

 

Perhaps if a specific appeal was sent out to form a volunteer painting team? I know from helping with our recruitment weekend many people like the idea of working in a small to medium size team rather than in a large pool of workers.

 

Alex - with one other I travel from Gloucester to the WSR most Thursdays. You would be welcome to join us FOC & I can recommend the volunteer accommodation at Minehead if you wanted to stay - its FOC to those working on the railway. You would need to enrol with Mel Hillman who is the volunteer coordinator (note for the avoidance of doubt you do not need to join the WSRA to work on the railway). PM me if you are interested.

Despite some of the current angst many feel that the WSR is worth passing most other railways for. It is a fantastic line in many ways though as you point out there are always areas where it can be improved.

 

The carriage and wagon workshop is the yellow building towards the country end of the station. At the most, I think, it can only accommodate 2 coaches, 1 of which is usually undergoing heavy overhaul.

 

Both 4160 and 3850 are nearing the end of their ticket. The black paint on 3850 overlays the green that it was painted before and is rubbing through in a lot of places. Both the cleaning gang and the footplate crews do as much as they can (well mostly) to keep the loco's clean. More cleaners (or volunteer painters) are always welcome. 3850 and 4160 are both regular performers on the railway and while I agree the paint is tired on both of them it's hard to justify taking them out for a repaint so close to the end of their ticket and I doubt the railway could afford not to have them in traffic during the summer.
Carriage facilities are limited at the moment and it's true there is no covered storage for stock when not in use. It may well be possible to see a greater role played by Williton in the future in terms of carriage and wagon refurbishment and painting and one hopes the Williton site development group will be looking at this.

 

As a line with one end next to the sea, I suspect the West Somerset will suffer more than more inland lines from not having anywhere covered to store stock. Being one of the busier and longer lines also means it needs more serviceable stock than many. Add the two together with limited Carriage repair and repaint facilities and you get the problems! And they seem all too familiar to me! On the NYMR, we have truly valiant efforts from C & W (and the LNERCA) and they produce a really excellent job but with between 35 and 40 coaches in service (with the diner out that night, we probably had 35 coaches running yesterday), the interval between each vehicle being dealt with can be considerable.

Hence, the reason why a carriage storage shed is a key current project. As ever, space and finance are the issues.

I suspect the West Somerset is in exactly the same position - is there a plan for for carriage storage shed (or actually 2, as one would be needed at BL for more carriages than Minehead I believe) and what is the position on any such plans and their funding?

Steven

 

There is a plan for a carriage shed at BL. It would be on the Station Farm site to the west of the station, but it would most likely be used to store the heritage coaches which are waiting at Williton when they have actually been restored, but as that is likely to be some way in the distant future, I suppose carriages not in use could be stored there but it's not very often that stock is stabled at BL for more than a day or two without being used. Most trains start and finish their day at BL, but whether they would be put away every night and retrieved the next day is very unlikely, especially at present for example the yellow timetable requires there to be 2 sets of stock, the DMU and a set of three coaches spare/for the diesel hauled diagrams at the weekends at BL each night, and it's much more convenient for them to be berthed in the platforms and the present carriage sidings. The sidings which are planned for the Station Farm site are probably only a couple of years away. Carriage sheds on the WSR would probably only be used to any great extent during the closed seasons.

 

2857 is going

 

Thanks very much for the kind offer, but I'm involved enough with the GWSR as it is, and once I'm back to school I'll only have weekends.

I was chatting about WSR coaches with some other people in our workshops who agreed that they were all rather faded. Then someone mentioned that the WSR might use a different sort of paint, some kind of acrylic matt paint? As even the fresher looking ones that I saw still looked quite dull. We, like many others I'm sure use Williamson's paints. I do wonder how much of it is to do with spray painting rather than hand brushing as well; opinions anyone?