WSR Mixed Traction Weekend 10-12 June 2016

AFAIK the Steam working is to cater for for the Dunster Castle/Hestercombe Express traffic?

 

But with other railways in the SW running pure steam they surely could go else where and if they are that desperate to go to Dunster Castle wait till after the Diesel Gala.

 

You don't seem to grasp the fact that the vast majority of passengers, the core business of the WSR, wishes to ride on a train hauled by a steam locomotive. The railway cannot ignore that fact. Here is a quote from the WSR: ''There will be one steam diagram on both Saturday 11 June and Sunday 12 June to cover the general holiday maker market''.

The WSR is predominantly a steam railway and will not want to turn passengers away because there is not a steam loco to be seen at the height of the summer season. <BJ>

 

I will just add to this that the WSR has a number of regular block bookings from holiday tour companies and hotels, one of whom books at least a whole carriage every Thursday and Sunday for the entire running season. The railway cannot ignore the requests of such businesses who book on the basis that their trains will be steam-hauled.

 

Provided the diesel rosters are done carefully it is not too hard to live with the two steam round trips. However, a situation as occurred in the last two years when the last diesel hauled departure from Minehead on the Sunday was at 15:45 should be avoided. (16:45 steam, 17:45 DMU). I would not be surprised if that resulted in some who could only make the Sunday not coming at all.

Reading between the lines it would appear that the timetable will be similar to last year. The DMU being needed at Bishops Lydeard on Thursday & Monday. Friday shuttles to Norton and 15:50 to Minehead (hauled set combines with 17:00 for mega train). Saturday maintenance at Minehead. Sunday shuttles to Dunster and 17:45 ex Minehead.

A criticism I heard over the last two year was that for those staying at the Minehead end of the line the first Sat/Sun departure was now too late (c09:50 when it had been c09:00 in previous years). Presumably that train was lightly loaded in the past but might a solution be to use the DMU on this, abandon the Dunster shuttles and juggle the stock diagrams so the last train out of Minehead is diesel hauled.

 

Yes please

Rodders
(50021)

 

seen it at taunton last year, where is it now?

 

Seriously how about an 'All Bulleid' Gala??

 

Only if they could be all unrebuilt....

So stylish.

Robin

 

Great idea! Are there enough in preservation.

 

It's mid June! The kids will only just be finishing their first week back after Whitsun half term when this gala kicks off! The SVR are having an all diesel Saturday just three weeks before hand.

 

Weekends during June can be a lot busier than you may think, especially if the weather is good. I have known trains to be full and standing. It may not be a school holiday period but families are still looking for something to do at weekends. From what I remember of observing the steam-hauled diagram at the MTW, it's usually pretty well patronised

 

Which perhaps calls into question whether this is the right time of year for a specialist event aimed solely at diesel enthusiasts?

Robin

 

And, bearing in mind that it is almost inevitable to clash with dates on other lines no matter what the date, should the other line be a long distance from the WSR, or would it be an idea to put on a joint gala with another line in the south west, eg South Devon or Bodmin, so people can spend one day at each, and make it worthwhile for people coming from a long distance?

 

So when would the right time of year be?

Remembering that WSR coaches do not have ETH.

Robin

 

June is fine
3 days on WSR is fine.
Odd steam turn is fine.
Difference is in the detail. SVR/MNR listen to feedback re rostering,timetable e..g putting additional early and late stops at Hampton Loade.

Meanwhile WSR SEPT will churn out the same dull hourly timetable with plenty of station sitting even late on Sunday evening, an irrelevant 66757 because of it's name, stupid station renaming of interest to no-one of what should be the target market and probably the usual late Sunday trains into BL of kettle and dmu of no interest to the target market,but operationally convenient for Monday morning...

 

I'd still like the 66 there

 

A bit of lateral thinking: Run the diesel trains earlier and later in the evening. And more of them throughout the day between Lydeard and Norton (steep gradients, three miles each way). That way more people can "get" the loco(s) they want. Keep the steamies as they are during this event - to me, the WSR is not so much a line for enthusiasts (of any traction type) but a line for the average tripper (who invariably want steam) and the WSR needs to cater almost exclusively for the latter if it is to survive.

The alternative is to run diesel only events in March or November when the diesel guys - albeit wrapped up a tad - can have the run of the line. Is it always that much colder in March or November?

Steve

 

Whilst I would agree that for a diesel gala, the hourly timetable produces a lot of hanging about, it did prove its worth last year when the 56 failed, services were severely delayed then but by the end of the day, they were almost back to being on time. If they had continued to run with the same lateness, there would have been complaints from people using public transport that they had to leave without completing their day's objectives or they would have been unable to get home.

I think that a 55 minute timetable would be possible, perhaps even a 50 minute one, but the latter would depend on nothing going wrong at all. One delay there and the lateness would almost certainly increase as the day went on.