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West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by gwr4090, Nov 15, 2007.

  1. Ploughman

    Ploughman Part of the furniture

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    Or if you tend to wear a lot of Green, SM is a Sergeant Major.
     
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  2. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    Given the context
    and that post #9928, which started the hare here on NatPres*, was quoting from the WSR Staff site, I surmised at first that it stood for "Staff Management".

    * Abbreviation acceptable?

    But regardless of all that, Happy Christmas to all.
     
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  3. Yorkshireman

    Yorkshireman Part of the furniture

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    Noted re the WSRA. Unfortunately a number of people cannot distinguish between the two. It is very unfortunate that it had to be made public but there seemed no alternative. It was not a step taken lightly by me, or those who passed the information to me because they had been effectively gagged. I am glad that the Chairman is takiung steps to rectify the situation that was not of his making. Let us give him a chance to do so. The full details and reasons may emerge in due course but not from me.
     
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2017
  4. Yorkshireman

    Yorkshireman Part of the furniture

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    Just for clarification I am not a volunteer though I have been in the past. The people who passed the information to me had sought a solution but none was forthcoming. See post 10023.
     
  5. lochness8

    lochness8 New Member

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    A Prayer for Peace and Unity on the West Somerset Railway 2018

    Dear God of this Wonderful Railway
    Hallowed be thy customers
    For they art King
    May all who serve thee
    On thy little Minehead branch
    Be they paid or volunteer
    Chairman or cleaner
    Let that not be forgotten.

    And as 2018 doth beckon
    Let us proceed
    In a spirit of unity and common purpose
    Of optimism and determination.

    Let us recognise and face the challenges ahead
    Let us not shy away
    From difficult discussions
    From difficult truths
    From difficult decisions
    From the reality of our situation
    Let us be not like an ostrich
    With head in the sand.

    But let us deal with this positively
    Cast aside our grinding axes
    Let us speak not of shareholder revolt
    Let us leapeth not to conclusions
    Before checking the facts
    For this is the path not of righteousness
    But of destruction.

    May management possess the grace
    To listen
    To learn
    To heareth bright ideas
    To spend time with their staff
    And their volunteers
    In a spirit of openness and honesty.

    May management recognise
    That volunteers giveth their time for free
    And might not always do what you want
    But generally meaneth well
    And haveth much to offer
    And giveth their all
    Thank them much
    Encourage them in their ways
    Understand their potential
    Promote their achievements.

    Yet may volunteers possess the grace
    To listen
    To learn
    To heareth bright ideas
    To recognise that management is but human
    And haveth a railway to run
    With multiple pressures
    Which may not be widely understood
    Yet generally they meaneth well
    And haveth much to offer
    And giveth their all too.

    And may volunteers recognise
    That the management team is new
    And inexperienced in the ways of thy Minehead branch
    Yet bringeth with them new ideas
    From the outside world
    Some of which might be of value
    Sullied not by Association
    With the ancient tribes of war
    Steer them from perilous rocks
    Yet giveth them chance to succeed
    For Rome was not built in a day.

    And if differences exist
    Let us discuss these openly
    And in person
    Be not paranoid
    For the stick may be held at the wrong end
    Cast away the chains of e-mail
    Plot Not
    Make it not personal
    Remember where we be
    It is only a railway in West Somerset
    For God's sake
    And not a Shakespearean Tragedy
    Think twice, nay thrice, about airing thy grievances on NatPres
    Or the Book of Face
    Though it may be very tempting
    But it causeth bad blood
    And wasteth much time.

    May we be conscious of thy Book of Policies
    (Which hath existed for a good few years now)
    (And may be found on the Staff Services Website)
    And may we all as staff and volunteers
    In our wish to be treated as equals
    Hath respect for thy policies
    And if we hath trouble with thy policies
    Let us seek first a resolution quietly and without fanfare.

    So God of this Wonderful Railway
    In conclusion
    Let us work together
    Let us all have respect for one another
    Paid or volunteer
    For together we prosper
    But divided we fall.

    Amen.

    (with apologies to any professional poets, or clergy)
     
  6. Train times on West Somerset Railway for 27 & 28 & 31 December 2017 and 1 January 2018
    [​IMG]
    and train times for 29 & 30 December 2017
    [​IMG]
    See wsr.org.uk/times for more details

    Steve
     
  7. Hemerdon

    Hemerdon Member Friend

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    Does anyone know which way the engines will be facing for the Winter Steam Festival? Photos on WSR.ORG suggest they may all be facing Minehead. Thanks.
     
  8. baldbof

    baldbof Well-Known Member Friend

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    lochness8,

    A very eloquent and gracious way of putting what a lot of folk will be thinking. I wish I had such a way with words.
     
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  9. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    But spoilt for me by the inclusion of the "-th" ending in various inappropriate places.
     
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  10. Gladiator 5076

    Gladiator 5076 Part of the furniture

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    Moving away from the posts about social media, which I assume have some big background history for those at the railway, I was wondering why the DMU was being used as a replacement for the failed 53809 during the Winter Steam Up. The WSR has some excellent and rare mainline diesel locos, are these all winterised or just too expensive to operate?
    I had planned to drive over from Swanage one day to have a ride behind the Manor and 53809, both of which I have little mileage behind. Not sure I will now bother now it is only the Manor of the two that will be operating, although a Hymek for example would have been a good substitute for the 7F. Of course a small amount of the white stuff having fallen may change my mind.
     
  11. gwalkeriow

    gwalkeriow Well-Known Member

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    No method of heating the coaches I believe.
     
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  12. The stock is steam heated - the diesels cannot provide the steam. The DMU comes with its own heating :)

    But do come over anyway. Good day out - and a big plus - there's good food aboard the Quantock Belle services - no need to book but do be early!

    Steve
     
  13. Gladiator 5076

    Gladiator 5076 Part of the furniture

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    That would make sense many thanks gwalkeriow.
     
  14. Yorkshireman

    Yorkshireman Part of the furniture

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    I assume there is some technical reason that prevents Ryan Pope’s loco from providing steam on the move behind a diesel.
     
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  15. Chris B

    Chris B New Member

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    It's all very well suggesting Ryan's loco, but does it have steam heat and vac brake pipework fitted, is it able to run at line speed and is its lubrication up to a full round trip at that speed?
     
  16. Yorkshireman

    Yorkshireman Part of the furniture

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    Which is exactly why I asked the question. I don’t have the technical knowledge so I hoped somebody would explain.
     
  17. Chris B

    Chris B New Member

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    Having had involvement with an RSH 040 industrial those were the questions that sprang to mind. Thinking back i seem to recall one of the WSR industrials has been on carriage warming duty, so vac brakes and steam heat sound like they are covered. With regards to speed and lubrication industrials are generally quite small wheeled for low speed tractive effort and lubtication is quite rudimentary due to the short distances involved in shunting work, although in preservation some are up rated to cope with longer runs.
     
  18. D7076

    D7076 Well-Known Member

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    If only the eth cables hadn't been removed....
     
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  19. Snifter

    Snifter Well-Known Member

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    It's rather more complicated than that. Please read the detailed post from Mr Aberdare.
     
  20. dinmore7820

    dinmore7820 New Member

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    So: ETH removed, unlikely to come back any time soon as per previous comments.

    Perhaps it’s time to invest in a ‘steam heating’ boiler fitted coach or retro fit a CCT? If the Irish version worked well in the past, I can’t see why a modern day equivalent couldn’t be produced?

    You’d then just take the vehicle with you, save dragging a steam engine around. Et voila: Diesel hauled winter trains!
     

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