West Somerset Railway General Discussion

It takes a bit of finding, but :-

Reduced fares are available for young people, aged 3 to 16 (inclusive), and children under the age of three travel free, so long as they do not occupy an individual seat. There are no other concessions of any kind, and free passes and other reduced fare tickets are not valid. A limited number of spaces for wheelchair passengers are available: these must be booked by phone 01643 704996.[/quote]

 

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Thanks

 

I'll be over when 9351 is back in service , I wonder if it will make the Autumn Gala ?

 

A before and after photo for Yorkshireman and anybody else who is interested to show wagons in a poor condition should not go for scrap.


Before.


After.



This pair are now been worked on with the crane nearly finished.



So it isn't all doom and gloom but better workshops are needed for the C&W and a covered building to keep them in good condition when restored.

 

I agree! Nevertheless some selectivity needs to be made e.g. the tankers. Being really harsh the van above has, it seems, only the chassis that is original. Covered storage has to be a crucial object of the big fundraising effort.

 

And of course the GW hand crane would make a great feature to a heritage Dunster goods yard portraying the movement and handling of goods in days go by.

Could be put away in the Winter once the issue of covered accommodation is resolved.

Jeff

 

I think I'd probably agree with you re tankers, although on a personal level they've never interested me so maybe some bias there!

However, I don't think lack of covered accommodation ought to be a barrier to resorting wagons. As long as they're overhauled well with the right wood and lots of paint of the right sort is applied there's no reason why it shouldn't last at least 10 years before it even looks a little tired, let alone more work needing to be done. Yes covered accommodation for wagons would be nice, but the only railway that I can think of that does is the IoWSR, but that hasn't stopped loads of other railways from having lots of nice looking wagons.

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There are agreements with the PLC for all 17 GWR 813 Funds wagons.
There is funding for all GWR 813 Fund wagons that are unrestored.

 

Yes, there would be an expense in laying down some extra track at NF, and moving all the kit, but that does not seem to me to be "seriously expensive" in the railway scheme of things.

Take a closer look. Either a lot of the timberwork has been artificially "aged", or it's original (or at least pre-restoration). I think the latter is more likely. Yes, covered storage would be ideal, but storage away from the wind and salt rain of the seaside would also be better than the status quo and a lot cheaper and quicker to provide. Let us not let the best be the enemy of the good.

 

Why not carry out WAGON ONLY restoration away from the WSR. I am sure that there are local Somerset farms with unused covered sheds that are quite suitable for one or two wagons. A simple arrangement might be made with the owner for access by small low loader and suitable rent agreed.
As an example, the L&B restored one of their coaches under covered sheds in Suffolk, over 200 miles away!

 

Good news but is there the manpower?

 

Plenty of volunteer labor at Minehead engineering, 1 wagon at a time over the summer once the Green BR shunter has flown the nest, would add to the upskilling of the WSR volunteers.

Just needs organizing.

Jeff

 

or perhaps a steady work-flow for West Somerset Restorations?

 

I think you'll find 813 group already have both a contract (or at least an agreement) with the plc and funding to restore a lot of the wagons on the line.
As you pass Williton you'll note that there is a covered van in the yard that's been restored recently, mostly by Williton volunteers and, pending a coat of the right colour paint, should be ready to go. You'll also notice the breakdown crane being restored by Williton volunteers. I believe the intention is that this will sit at Minehead near the Morrisons car park when it's finished to be an object of interest. So the WSRA is trying to do it's bit to help. Similarly some of the Minehead gang did get the Gunpowder van done a while back. What we really need is more volunteers, then more progress could be made.

Edit - Sorry, I was a bit late with this. Lots of posts to indicate what I'd said already.

 

There is one very noticeable difference between the photos of the unrestored and restored van. A first glance suggested they were not the same van.

 

The number is the same in both cases so the same van and it is the only one of this design on the WSR and during the restoration it was restored back to a vac fitted van as the vac cylinder had been removed in the past, as part of the vac cylinder bracket is showing in the un restored condition.

 

The running number is barely legible in the un-restored pic but that is not my observation. Neither is the vac cylinder; it is more obvious than that.

 

Always saddens me, when I see what looks like a Siphon G Van and the two Six Wheel Milk Tankers. Just sat there quietly rotting away by the sea air.

 

Easliy said but given the time much of the rolling stock has not been touched for ten years and continues to decay how realistic is this? Let us say that they could all be restored in ten years where would they be stored and would they actually be of tangible use? Given that most visitors are more interested in steam engines and a reasonable carriage to ride in does spending scarce resources make economic sense. Of course it would be nice to have a pristine set of wagons but is the cost too great? The is already an interesting group of them at Washford for all to see.

 

See what you mean Photos are off both sides of the van, so I will have to see if the other side has the angle bracing on the other side is there, but the van was moved to the north end of the Swindon Shed yesterday so not so easy to see now.