West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I have a feeling that we'd fall out very quickly.

 

Page 17 todays Times. A heavy doctored picture of Crowcombe Heathfield station. Looks very much like a picture I took some 3/4 years ago, but had Braunton in it!

 

Is that Stogumber University it's bound for, or has Washford Polytechnic has a status upgrade?

 

This is the picture I was referring to!

 

It's very close, and evidently taken from more or less the same point, but the light is different and so are some of the flowers.
Your photo is way better

 

The second smaller conifer behind the diesel is obviously a copy (reduced) of the first tree!

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What does the associated article say?

 

Must have missed this coming down, why was it on the WSR?

 

It's

It's not real that's why! It's the work of something like Photoshop!

 

It is about a new super light commuter train. Sounds like another pie in the sky project. Or should I say pigs in the sky?

 

Like so many things, not believable.

J

 

Thought it had replaced the dmu on this weeks Bl-Watchet service

 

The front-end styling of the artist's impression is reminiscent of the Stadler FLIRT family, but I don't think they come in a single-car variant as yet.

 

Any link. Would prefer not to buy the times

 

Subscribers only AFAIK.

 

Looks like an elongated Parry People Mover.

 

The article headline is "No-frills mini trains offer route to reopening lines that Beeching shut"

In summary, it states that the proposal is for a new generation of "no frills" trains. They are ultra cheap, use lightweight materials and run at low speed. It predicts their introduction within two years. The project is funded by the Rail Safety Standards Board. Under present plans it could be tested on parts of the Northern Rail network. The project is for a single 18m long 28ton carriage with a pair of 3.8litre diesels. It will also have rechargeable batteries as power backup. Max speed around 70mph. Cost will be about half that of conventional vehicles. The design is being developed by a consortium alongside the University of Warwick. The aim is to have a prototype within 18 months.

 

Haven't we been here before with things like Pacers though?

 

I presume these will run on bogies rather than be 4-wheelers, so they will be more like descendants of the Flying Bananas, and long before those the steam railmotors. It would be good to see either of the latter running on the WSR (thus returning to thread topic).

 

I said above the styling reminded me of the Stadler FLIRT - surely it sounds from the description as if it's meant to be a slightly-shrunken British copy of the Stadler RS1.