West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I understand that they are like tinder boxes and don't need any accelerant to go up like Roman Candles. Perhaps they could be incinerated on 5 November.

 

West Somerset Railway - Then and Now #51

Watchet - opening day 31 March 1862 / 2017

Here we reach back 155 years to the day the Railway opened from Taunton to Watchet.

The station at Watchet has been decorated with a triumphal floral arch and the legend 'Welcome ye friends of progress'.

It is hard to take an equivalent shot today as the footbridge (provided for the extension to Minehead in 1874) rather gets in the way. And the station building has been altered so that what was a door in 1862 is now a window.

31 March 1862


2017

 

Heritage railways are no strangers to arsonists. The WSR does not need to join the them.

 

Add in an eating apple tree at each end adjacent to where loco footplates stop & a few more would vote for that.....

 

Now there's a thought.......!

Robin

 

Reflections on a Timetable - West Somerset Railway 1862...

It's an interesting exercise producing this 'then and Now' series and it makes me think afresh about the Railway.

I have been looking again at the 1862 timetable over breakfast, with an Operators eye, and the following conclusions are apparent:

1. The service starts and finishes at Watchet. (Tomorrow's photo includes the engine shed).

2. There are 4 round trips a day, and the timetable is such that one engine can run them, so no need for any signalling / passing places between Watchet and the main line.

3. There is an unused 2-hour slot mid-morning. So the opportunity for goods train would seem to be before the passenger service or in that mid-morning slot, although that would be 'tight' if there were any shunting at intermediate stations.

4. Third class passengers are only conveyed on two of the 4 services, so presumably the third class coach(es) were left behind otherwise.

5. The comment about onward road coaches is confusing, since 'express and third class trains' would seem to cover everything.

Any other thoughts?

 

A quick poke around bus timetables shows that, in 2017, First bus service 28 takes 7 minutes longer beween Bishops Lydeard and Taunton stations than the B&E service did in 1862. That's progress for you!

Lovely photos as always Robin.... please do keep 'em coming.

 

I think the reference to "well regulated coaches" means horse-drawn coaches to Lynton, Porlock and Minehead. "Well regulated" in that sense I think implies that the timekeeping of the horse drawn coaches will be controlled so as to ensure connections with the "Expresses and Third Class Trains".

It's interesting that the 3rd class trains only run in the afternoon - I would have thought it more normal that there would be an early morning train to meet a requirement for "parliamentary" trains at a time convenient for workmen?

If you assume one crew for the engine, the signing on to light up and prepare would probably be somewhere about 6am, and signing off probably near 8pm - that seems a long day even by the standards of the 19th century, though maybe doable. Possibly the break late morning was not paid? Or did they have someone to come on shed and light up?

Tom

 

Now back to normal.

 

is there a timetable with loco allocations for late summer weekend please

 

Not sure about the date we are looking at but in more recent times many small west of England sheds had one man on permanent nights to dispose, coal & keep in steam the loco(s) allocated to that shed. That way best use of (higher paid) footplatemen was made. I'll bet that no lone working risk assessment was ever done in those times.........

 

Public Timetable as now posted around the Railway for Flying Scotsman event.

Robin

 

Do Scotsman passengers ride the WSR express first or afterwards? If the latter there is quite a wait. Still with the lovely autumn weather forecasted sitting on the beach at Minehead should be "fun".

 

Disappointed no WTT available for this weekend, will 60103 be on shed at Minehead?

 

Both, depending on which way round they have booked.

 

FS is securely housed in the BL shed this weekend.

 

Is that wood in the tender of the 4-4-0?

 

West Somerset Railway - Then and Now #52

Watchet 1872 / 2017

One of my favourite shots from the early history of the WSR, the 'then' shot is packed with fascinating detail.

Reference points are the Methodist Chapel and the harbour. The 2017 shot shows just how much the greenery has grown up.

1872


2017

 

By the looks of the harbour side scene they were chopping more trees down back in the day!

Great picture.

 

I suspect it is big lumps of hand-cut coal.

Is there an engineman in the house?

Robin