West Somerset Railway General Discussion

London Waterloo railway station to Westminster Cathedral is just over one and a half miles. Wells to the railway line twixt Frome and Taunton is somewhat greater.

 

And crests are incorrect on blood and custard stock!

Going back to the PDSR carriage washer, like everything else on the line it used to be named - Dougal. No idea if it still is though.

 

It's the Steam Dreams brand name. It goes back to the earliest days of Steam Dreams' operations when the company only offered two destinations - Salisbury and Canterbury. I must confess, I'm not a great fan of headboards (although a Bulleid with the full Golden Arrow regalia at a head of a Pullman train looks rather good) and actually wrote to Marcus Robertson, pointing out that as he was keen to replicate the last years of Southern steam that he remembered as a child, even the Bournemouth Belle often ran without a headboard in the 1960s. His reply was that the "Cathedrals Express" name helped establish the Steam Dreams brand and he has stuck to that philosophy ever since, even though a glance at the current SD programme shows that quite a few of the company's 2017 trains do not go anywhere near a cathedral city.

I hope this helps.

 

Is there any indication that the present owners are prepared to sell it?

Noel

 

Thank you John P for your comments.
I remember the original BR(W) Cathedrals Express was so called as it actually went from somewhere with four cathedrals (St. Paul's, Westminster and Southwark x 2) to two cathedral cities i.e. Hereford and Worcester also serving en-route Oxford which also has a cathedral. I accept the original destinations of SD were Salisbury and Canterbury but now it seem just another heritage publicity geographical distortion.

 

Couple of things on this.
Restorations at Williton have an open offer to the plc to paint one coach each year for free. We have done a couple but operational need makes them hard to release.
We are also in discussion about painting all the remaining dual braked stock blood and custard at Williton works. The HoME has expressed himself as very satisfied at the standard of painting at Williton, perhaps because they finish with a coat or two of varnish? Anybody passing the works can see the standard the team aspire to, all done by hand as well.

 

Thank you kind sir, both the driver an I assumed with Royal Scot stealing the show nobody would notice. It was a grand afternoon out for 53808, she totally took the job in her stride. But there was a lot of shovelling to do! Surprisingly the ash pan and smokebox were not too bad this morning (but then it wasn't me shovelling the pit out).

 

It was very fashionable about 15 years ago. Major replacement of steelwork on formerly vinyled stock is now very fashionable. I believe the two are related...

 

I thinks the sides are in good condition but the roofs let the carriages down.

 

Did they not have trouble 10 years or so ago getting a decent adhesive for the roofing?

 

I'm certain Stobart and many more large fleets and small vinyl wrap their lorries. It most certainly isn't a cheap option and hardly herritage . I don't know what paint they use here on the IoM but their stock is certainly a credit to them and they have been working in 3 centuries now . They do however keep them under cover , I think they have 3 sets , 2 in service and a spare . I know many will scoff and say " it's only narrow gauge " , well it's not it's IoM standard gauge of three feet . There is something to be said for having a limited supply of stock . On the big island there is a good supply of Mk 1s although not limitless but here they seem to make do and mend , goodness knows how much a bogied 3 ft gauge new would cost ?
Something else to think about .

Paul . K

 

I was looking at SK 25323 today at BL, one of the coaches painted by WS Restoration a while back and thinking how good it still looks. Good to know the open offer is still in place; long may it continue.

 

I received my Gala programme in the post today.
The size of the print in the WTT is quite a challenge for the eyesight.

 

Interesting. I wonder if Stobart just wrap the traction unit.

 

The varnish is vital for a long lasting finish. Duncan is brilliant with a paintbrush.

 

I'm not a truck-spotter, but from what I can recall driving past recently, their trailer fleet are mostly curtain-siders, so they don't have solid sides to wrap; but they do have advertising on the rear.

(In my experience in the truck world the power unit is called a "wagon" - very confusing from a railway standpoint!)

 

Although varnish can come with its own problems. We found that atomised cylinder oil from the loco was reacting with and staining the varnish, which made the cream panels look rather horrible and blotchy and brown after a while. So we've decided to go without varnish now, although not so much of a hardship for us as we can repaint coaches fairly frequently.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

At the NYMR they use to make the top coat 50/50 paint/varnish, which gives the finish but prevents the varnish peeling off the paint. Seemed to work well, but I don't know if they still do that, or why if they don't.

 

Exactly as evident on RMB 1804's large cream panels. Being stabled alongside BL loco compound and water tower is probably detrimental to the QB's varnished paintwork.

 

Hauliers only 'wrap' the tractor unit. The underlying colour of the truck is white as it enhances the value of the vehicle at the end of the lease. Around 2 years ago the cost was £1500 or so. Any corrosion that occurs under the vinyl is not a problem for the truck operator or the vehicle owner as the vehicle is sold into the used truck market somewhere between 3 and 5 years of age.