West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Seems only weekdays, wanted weekends as means using a days holiday.

 

from today's April OnLine newsletter:

We still have some availability on Excursion 4 on 5th, 6th, 7th, 11th, 12th September, if you would like to purchase some tickets for the event please do contact us on 01643 700398 or buy through the website here

http://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/events/detail/flying-scotsman

 

Which named loco will be pulling the train in the opposite direction?

 

With pleasure.

I'm talking about the one & only Mid Hants Wagon Group!.

 

Thank you.
There may be lessons to be learnt in how to organise such a consolidated group on this railway.

 

Believe it or not, the wagon group is one of the more popular groups on the railway, with circa 50 members spanning a wide range of ages & skills. and we also help out in other areas.

I think the Rev Awdry got it right with "troublesome trucks" as they can be right basket cases!

I have no idea what the set up is on the Wizzer, but I for one wouldn't mind having a look behind the scenes to see what goes on with the wagons............

As regards forming a dedicated group, I'm sure if a few like minded folks banded together & obtained some kind of initial funding from Management & blogs were regularly published on the WSR's website, interest would grow, as I reckon that's how the MHR wagon group has grown so big, when it comes to welcome days & folks wishing to volunteer in it...........

 

WE have 2 groups on the NYMR.
Pickering Wagon Group looking after the demo freight train are based in Pickering in part of the Atkins building by the main car park.
They are often open for a walk around.
Then there is York Area Group in the PW yard at Newbridge.
Where we look after the Civil Engineers fleet of wagons and bits of big Yellow Machines.
If you take a look at the Stock list you can see how much stock we have.
https://www.nymr.co.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=8d6dadbd-05df-4cc5-8b8f-e50c530cb6e3

 

I wouldn't mind some of those wagons on the MHR, but we just don't have the space.

So do you define your 2 groups as wagon group & PWay group?..... I only ask as we seem to find ourselves occasionally involved with PWay stuff.

 

A few years ago I helped to restore the Toad brake van in Dunster goods shed, well when i say helped to restore i mean I attended for 4 or 5 weekends . this was with Stuart Nelhams & a guy who I used to know well who left the railway for pastures new years ago, unfortunately cant remember his name now. It seemed ideal location then, & could be again I'd venture , doing one wagon at a time.

 

We all have to make sacrifices at times .

Paul . K

 

How about also restoring the stone siding at Crowcombe?
One of the things that makes the Severn Valley Galas interesting is that local trains can take refuge in various sidings thereby punctuating what would otherwise be a continuous diet of full line large trains.

 

Or to take it a little further, a timetabled pick up goods along the line calling at all sidings during gala days. Up one day and down the next. A nice variation from watching scruffy passenger stock! ( I am not a photographer nor a so called gricer.)

 

For added realism, if there were two sets of goods wagons, the goods train could pick up one day, disappear off at BL as if taking the wagons elsewhere in the country, leave the wagons at NF and reappear the following day with a different set of wagons, which it would proceed to drop off in all the places it picked up from.

 

We tend to work as 2 groups but when needed we work together.
We have enough work going on to keep both groups occupied.
PWG tend to do fuller bodywork work as our stuff is more likely to get attacked by digger buckets and we accept that.
So if we straighten bodywork steel ribs it will not be perfectly square and neat.

 

Makes complete sense to me & thanks for getting back.

 

I like some of the posts in this thread. If only we had more volunteers on the WSR to make some of these things happen?

Anybody interested in volunteering, I can give you all the contact details and we can arrange for you to join the volunteer gang at Williton. All welcome but those with any sort of engineering skill very welcome.

 

I don't think with 20yrs retail management experience I'd be any use.

 

Tony - I think you should give it a go and find out! What you do in full time work may be relevant but not always. I've had a long career in map making but it didn't stop me volunteering. First I did all the dirty jobs at Swanage back in the early 1970s and then, when we moved to Somerset, I worked in the booking office at Bishops Lydeard and later did ten years as a Guard on the WSR. I still do volunteer work for the WSR Plc, WSRA and WSSRT. As they say, there's a job for everyone, and most volunteers do something very different than that done during the "day job". Give it a go.

Steve

 

You'll never know until you try. I worked in the pharmaceutical industry but now I'm a fireman. It's what Steve says, have a go.

 

I would love to be able to volunteer on the WSR and I was about to as a TTI but my second stroke put paid to that. I'm still walking and talking thank goodness but can suffer from extreme fatigue but more worryingly is my balance has been knocked to bits , not good if you ride a motorbike and live on the Isle of Man . I do however volunteer at the Jurby Transport Museum . Yesterday , I was cleaning the interior of buses today I was minding the shop which meant the more able were available to do the things I used to do . I paint as long as my feet are firmly on the ground . I was a long-distance lorry driver so not much in the way there to help out in a museum . My suggestion is Antony, go on give it a go , I'm convinced you will enjoy it , you will meet a good bunch of guys with a common interest ,we all want the WSR to prosper . If it doesn't work out for and you have to walk away nobody will think the worse of you ,at least you tried .

Paul . K