West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Signal rodding
Ground frame
Telegraph pole
(Ugly fence)
The only real give-away is the plastic baggy lifty thing by the Goods Shed.

Are you sure the captions are the right way round?

 

Is there a wasps nest nearby the Crowcombe Heathfield Station webcam?

 

I've been thinking the same thing for a couple of weeks. It's quite a distraction when you're trying to enjoy the other activity around the station.
Stef.

 

The box has a bee infestation.

They got in via the holes drilled for the webcam installation.

The Signalmen find it rather a distraction too....

Robin

 

I can't read them any better than you can.

Dunster station is a delight, and a rare and valuable survivor (including the goods shed, cattle dock and the like).

The use we make of it on the WSR is a disgrace, IMHO, and a tremendous lost opportunity.

Robin

 

Am I right in thinking that Platform edge painting should not run down the ramp?
But finish in a Right Angle at the top of the ramp.

Whatever the case it looks like the white paint has not been redone since the 1951 photo.

 

Did Dunster have a signal box in 1951?

DJB.

 

Robin,

Agree 100% . This is the only goods yard on the WSR that is still basically as BR left it and still capable of being returned to it's 1930's condition, an opportunity that is being missed at present. The plc has to progress a plan of restoration if it is to maintain any heritage credibility.

Andy.

 

It is, for me, the litmus test of the WSR plc's understanding of and commitment to our heritage legacy.

Robin

 

Care to explain why you feel Dunster is a litmus test of 'neglect' or lost opportunity by the PLC?.......

From the views you posted up thread, I kind of like it - "untouched & unspoiled", save the unnecessary fence, in my opinion - glimpse into the past as things used to be as opposed to some imaginary chocolate box world.

Surely that is "preserving our heritage" in another form - showing how things really were at a point in time?.

 

If you try taking a similar shot at the upcoming Spring Gala I am sure you will find the weed killing wagon sitting quietly in the siding so it appears in every pic taken. If only I could have had £1 for every time I was asked why it was there at last years Galas I could now be happily retired in the NE of Brasil.

 

Hmmm. A missing running in board at the Blue Anchor end of the platform we have been waiting 5 years for ? Where requests for posts to be made and sent up from Minehead go ignored and unanswered? And that is just the tip of the iceberg. At the moment it is just a messy PW dump.

 

So, apart from installing a running in board, just what do you suggest they do?.....

On the MHR, up at Medstead we have an untouched station, almost as was, and then we have the yard......... where you have the Building group, S&T, P Way & finally parked at the end, us goodly folk of the wagon group & all the associated clutter, and on top of that we now have portacabins about to serve as a temporary signal box due to the impending renewal of the 'original' box on the platform, yet I don't hear folks up in arms about it!

All this stuff has to be done somewhere. & unlike the big railway, like most preserved lines. space is at a premium, so I look at it as not unsightly, but an actual working railway getting things done for the benefit of the line & the paying public.......... lets face it, the view from the window on most if not all preserved lines is infinitely better than that of the national network - warts 'n' all.

 

Speaking as a sometime platform white line painter (amongst other junior tasks), there was no golden rule - at least on the Western Region of BR in the 60s. Ramps were rarely painted because it was a chore that was best completed in a minimalist fashion (and if anyone fell off a ramp they had progressively less distance to fall). I don't ever recall seeing a right angled white line on the Western though I have a vague recollection of seeing it on other regions railways. Plenty of rural branch platforms were left unpainted by the 1960s, if not always. My guess is that that they were supposed to be painted during the war and the blackout, but were only painted afterwards when there were sufficient staff to do the job. And of course you needed a broom paint-brush cut in the regulation right angle form so that you could paint both the top and the edge at the same time, and get the width consistent. At Exeter St Davids it was a regular once a week early Monday morning turn task, to be avoided if you possibly could.

Although relatively trivial this is an interesting example of a myth building up that in the railway past there was always a "right" way to do things. It was sometimes much more random.

Frank

 

It is certainly the case for new builds that ORR guidance states no white line on the ramps.

Regards

Matt

 

Nothing I say should in any way be seen to denigrate the work of the WSR P.Way Department. They need somewhere to conduct their operations, which will always involve a certain amount of materials laying around.

Some years ago there was a plan to move them from Dunster to a less visible site and to restore the precious, precious heritage buildings at Dunster to present the line's collection of goods vehicles. But the regime changed and that plan disappeared.

Dunster could be an achingly pretty recreation of a complete country station, and as such an extra destination in its own right for the Railway.

Robin

 

On this forum? I will suggest nothing, but save it for our next staff meeting.

 

A very sensible option!

 

I just wondered if 1 you had the originals or 2 better local knowledge than me.

The nearest I can find is Blainscough which is a colliery in Lancashire. Would that fit?