West Somerset Railway General Discussion

T

Thank you for your comments. Who are 'We'? I guess not The Royal We?

 

Thank you for those kind words.

The WSR plc position at the moment is altogether rather strange, and undoubtedly not well thought through.

The 'Southern Gateway' plan will need major surgery to make it workable and desirable. I trust that will be the outcome of the present consultation, which I believe has now been extended into May. Do get behind the WSRA effort in this regard.

The suggestion that Williton be developed as a 'Brunel Station' as an attraction in its own right is also not well thought out from a high level planning persepective, given that we are not intending to move the D&EG or the Swindon Shed and features like the cattle dock were removed only a few years ago. We should get on and acquire Sheerings Yard - as we had first offer on before the present owners bought it - and establish Williton as an engineering centre of excellence for the Railway under the leadership of the Head of Mechanical Engineering, with a place for the WSR plc P.Way Department.

Ah yes, the P.Way Department. They should be at Williton, in the middle of the Railway, with easy access to 80% of the Railway rather than being trapped behind the Minehead side of Blue Anchor, requiring a signalman every time they want to access the rest of the Railway early in the morning.

Dunster can then become the gem it should be and the folk attracted to visit a Medieval village can be diverted to see a 1950's station where it is forever Coronation Year awaiting news of Sir Edumnd Hilary and Sherpa Tensing......

All easy to achieve (over time). It just needs vision, inspiration and leadership, of which there has been a dearth for a while on the Railway.

And the Brunellian bits of Williton Station can still be presented for their historical value, and improved by re-erecting the water columns and the water tower....

The Railway also desperately needs a training location for its operators and others. The perfect location, IMHO, is Williton Goods shed, with a mezzanine floor built sympathetically into the heritage structure to provide two large 'conference' type rooms where training materials can be left permanently available.

Vision, inspiration, leadership......

Robin

 

There is much to learn about future plans in the Plc's Corporate Plan available on the official website.

Steve

 

Breaking news re another engine for the Spring Gala later this month on Steve's wsr.org.uk site. http://www.wsr.org.uk/news.htm#1110

Fantastic news as far as I'm concerned as 76017 is the engine that I took my first firemans exam on back in 1994/5 when it visited the East Somerset Railway for a couple of months. I had some great firing turns on her and some very fond memories. It will be the first time I have seen her since so really looking forward to seeing her again on the WSR. Thank you very much to all those concerned in arranging this including the owners.

 

Replacement for 7F? Or additional loco?

 

How does the additional loco fit in to WTT if its not replacement for 53809

 

Well if indeed 53809 isn't ready wouldn't it just slip into her diagram, 809 still had a load of scaffolding round it yesterday

 

Hear Hear. I cold,nt belive it when they didnt buy sheerings yard. I put it down to cost, maybe there was other things involved. Agree with your 'vision , inspiration, leadership', someonr who's not afraid to use a bit of initative!

 

A part of the Railway had first refusal on Sheerings Yard but the offer lay forgotten in an in-tray until after the present owners bought it some months later.

I hope that the consultation over Southern Gateway may spark consideration of some inspiring projects on the Railway for the future.

Robin

 

Congratulations and best wishes to Richard Jones after the announcement of his new post as Head of Operating at the WSR (as of 1st June).

''Richard will be responsible for providing leadership and a strategic review and overview to the work of the Operating Department, and for managing all the operational workforce of around 200, some paid staff but the majority of whom are volunteers.'' <BJ>

 

Glad to see from the roster Andy that you will be able to rekindle some old memories! Just what the WSR should be about!

 

What about good clean TTIs!

I would have said both were important - either dirty coaches or rude staff will be the impression passengers take away with them no matter how good the other aspect is!

Steven

 

When I was referring to shabby WSR stock it was the faded paintwork not the condition of the inside .

Paul . K

 

On my last trip on the MHR I had the pleasure of travelling behind Nunney Castle . The footplate crew seemed to be having a whale of a time . The load I think was only 5 but I do think by the speed we went over the "Alps" and the amount of soot tat was landing on the tables they were really going for it , glad I wasn't clearing up the mess .

 

My original posting was based on a misunderstanding that the post I was following was concerned with cleanliness rather than condition of the vehicle.

However this posting brings out a couple of other concerns Firstly speeding. Very easy to detect in these days of satellite technology and you never know who "may be around".

Secondly, fuel selection. A steam railway is a tourist attraction and the passengers will not want their clothes (or hair) dirtied. When selecting coal supplies, this is a consideration to add to "ease of use" and "cost". What does the W.S,R. burn?

Paul H

 

We use the finest Welsh anthracite from Foss Y Fan.

 

Thanks very much. Glad to hear it! One line I visited recently had a locomotive which was pouring out thick black smoke and some quite recent brickwork adjoining the platform was showing signs of smoke staining. After all we are portraying an illusion of the past but not necessarily including the grime.

PH

 

No doubt @Snifter will be able to give us a better view, but my impression was that the grime was an essential part of the success of the Minehead cleaning gang - but then, they have made a more direct choice than the visiting public.

Robin

 

I totally agree. Whenever I've visited the insides have always been clean and in good condition (even though there seems to be more Formica than wood paneled examples, just a personal preference for wood here!) But the paintwork has long looked faded to my eye. Get the right team of people and you can repaint a coach in under a month as long as all that's needed is a light sand down.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

The overhaul programme of the WSR's operational coaching stock is solely the responsibility of the WSR Plc. I feel the Plc's C&W department do a fab job. Even on other heritage railways we find coaches with faded outside paintwork and in need of a rub down and a lick of paint I think the WSR has more in good nick than not. Those who wish to make suggestions on how do things better are advised to write to the WSR's GM.

Steve