West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Well at least the axle loading will not be an issue!!!!!

 

53809 left the WSR today for a three week holiday at the North Norfolk Railway. Is it returning?

 

And just think. If this was just two years ago they would be eradicated from the WSRA for doing this good work.

Does anyone know if the PLC will be claiming costs from the road people who caused the damage? I hope so.

 

Article by John Craven in the October issue of Countryfile Magazine. He travelled on one of the last BR trains on the Minehead branch in 1971 to report for BBC Points West. He also talks about the WSR revival and possible commuter services

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Usual waffle from de Mendoza who clearly suckered Craven. Craven did a rubbish job in researching his story.

 

West Somerset Railway - Then and Now #49

Doniford Bridge looking towards Williton 1951 / 2017

We will return to Minehead as there are still some interesting pairs to create, particularly looking into the station from the buffer stops but that requires me to find a moment when there is not rolling stock stored there.

In the meanwhile, here is a shot in which it is difficult to believe this is the same location. So much has changed, all except the fact that the field to the left is still producing hay, although the means of gathering it has altered over the years.

The Leylandii provide a windbreak for the station but they do not assist with photography.

Copyright David Soggee / Robin White

1951


2017

 

I might be wrong, but it seems John Craven didn't speak to anyone from the railway, if that's so it shows, as you say, poor research.

 

It's quite likely he didn't speak to Mendoza either. All the quotes from AdM appear on his website or elsewhere.

Robin

 

Interesting to see the heritage stooks of corn compared with the round bales.

 

Not such a great article then....
Didn't realise that Mendoza was such a controversial figure.

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He certainly met the Railway folk: http://www.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?h=Snapshot&p=2017/07/081




Sadly, Alex de Mendoza seems to revel in rubbishing the very people who kept the railway open all these years. But hey it keeps his name in the media. Like others, I wonder if he appears on Countryfile.

Steve

 

Not at all. Seems very educational to me.

Since the WSRA's remit is partially educational there is no reason, apart from the cost, why they shouldn't sponsor a visit.

 

It does also rather seem to suggest that the estimable Mr Craven is a bit "hard of thinking" as well.

To quote the article:

"Recently I returned to update the story and found that Minehead has certainly survived as a holiday destination, thanks largely to the upsurge in car ownership in the intervening years. Ironically, so has the line. Five years after it closed, the West Somerset Railway was set up as a charitable trust and runs the longest heritage steam railway in England along the same tracks."

(My emphasis)

The "ironically, so has the line" seems to imply that the upsurge in the town's fortunes has been despite the presence of the line: it seems not to have occurred to the writer that perhaps the upsurge is because of the presence of the line: in other words, all those car-owning tourists are choosing to visit Minehead rather than some other seaside destination precisely because of the presence of a railway as an attraction. So much for "joining the dots".

Tom

 

I think there a bit of short sightedness here. Let's not dissect every word and try and read new meanings into it. Mendoza has a point of view, we may not like it, but it's "out there"

What we have is an article in a magazine which is publicity for the town of Minehead and the railway. He quotes someone who we have doubts about, but it remains a fact that the link into Taunton in some form is still desirable.
When Andrew Thomas was the publicity man at the Ffestiniog he would have quote how much it would cost to buy this amount of publicity in a magazine, and the same for the TV slot. Come on look at the bigger picture and don't view everything through jaundiced eyes

Rob

 

Indeed Tom. But like other commentators, I feel the whole article was not written by Craven but gleaned from unchecked media sources.

What's more, the WSR was not "set up as a charitable trust" - although I, like many others, wish it had been, and long for the day the whole "WSR family" goes into a cocoon and emerges as one.

Steve

 

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U54985/2017/08/30/advanced

morning, what`s this that's on its way to lydeard today please?

 

maybe flying scotsman