West Somerset Railway General Discussion

As with many things, this is more complicated than it appears at first sight. Times have changed on the streets around the railway since the closure of the catering carraige, and there are now a significant range of catering outlets offering a very wide of different levels of meals (not just food!) within a short distance of the railway in Minehead. We are continually reviewing the catering available on the railway (trains and stations), but at Minehead we need to be careful we don't replicate something which may be more easily offered by one of friends and neighbours. This is a very difficult balance to achieve because it is important our team have as free a hand as possible.

On the other hand, catering on trains is a different matter. We are delighted that Barrie and all his colleagues have managed to turn the QB from a marginal extra into such a success. He said he could and he has! This has been the result of some open thinking, and also some substantial changes in the way the operation is managed. I remember that a year or so ago we used to hear that it was running through Stogumber (to take a station at random...) half empty. Now that has changed thanks to the on train team and many others working hard behind the scenes to restructure the approach. We realise we still have some way to go - not least to fund the long term maintenance costs - but we have made very good progress.

Frank

 

It seems difficult to please all of the people all of the time.

I'd never been motivated to write/speak negatively about the former carriage catering vehicle at Minehead because we simply went elsewhere and got on with life. That carriage was not inviting (having spent an hour inside a carriage/brake van getting to Minehead, my family were in no mood to spend another hour having a meal in another carriage) and in any case it was not suitable for our family as no access for a wheelchair. Great food maybe but not if you can't get to it. Whereas the 'Turntable Cafe' has lots of room and is light and airy (esp with its optional outside seating). The food on offer is more than adequate for most people and if folks want more then, as said by other folk, there are lots of alternatives very close by.

I agree the catering at Lydeard could be even better, given space and money and this will follow one day for sure if there is a proven market for it.

And a BIG plea: Maybe on this last day of 2017 we should each resolve to shed our shoulders of those chips - not chips of the edible kind but of the negative sort, like dragging brakes. We may not always get the Railway to do what we think they should do. Instead of slagging off the Railway, we must be grown-up and accept we may not be right. If we fail to persuade 'em, then go back, re-draw the plan and come back later with a better plan. And yes I am the first to admit I too should make that resolution.

With best wishes for 2018, folks.

Steve

 

We do fully understand the issues around the QB Gala breakfast and lunch service, and as Barrie has already said, we are hoping to introduce pre-booked seats for next season. I am a little saddened by this as I love the idea of the traditional walk-on service but, although it works fine on main line service trains, it is proving difficult for us to avoid the battle to board. We managed to overcome that for the WSF but obviously caused discontent along the way.

As far as other catering options are concerned, we are chock full of ideas that we hope will be open to discussion for the coming season!

 

My suggestion, for what it is worth is that in Minehead he railway is

1. In competition with a lot of other outlets, and
2. Possibly needs to be seen as 'bringing business' to Minehead, so doesn't want to compete to hard.

On the other hand at BL

3. There is no competition, and
4. Many people will have come some distance so will want some refreshment on arrival (or departure) either on the station or on train...............

 

I Saw the attached print for sale in Frome, What a great idea! I thought, and then I looked closer, and it's wrong! What a shame to create something like this and not get it right.

Rob

 

Our thinking is maybe a role for the QB to provide a static service from the bay at BL !!! Food for thought

 

Are those bus routes or what? Whatever they are, presumably they are subject to change.

 

There was a version 'Frome Metro' or similar that included the Donkey Cart service to Coleford

 

What form of heating does the QB set have? I believe there is a gen set on board, to power cooking/fridges/washup but surely not enough for heat as well. The seating precludes standard ETH anyway, so would a static use require a loco to provide steam heat? Even the March weather for the SSG can be pretty chilly in a northwesterly gale.

 

" .......... and the BL hoses will reach the QB set in the bay platform"

See post 10094 on page 505

 

On point 4, I suggest that, if there were hordes of people seeking refreshment (beyond that already provided) at Bishops Lydeard, then I imaging the demand would be recognised as a moneyspinner and things would have happened years ago. Most people starting at Lydeard, I suspect, do not want a meal there but time their arrival to suit their preferred departure time. They can of course grab a drink (and more) at the station, and usually on the train anyway. And then sort lunch at Minehead (or Watchet, Dunster or Blue Anchor). I make these comments after 40 years or so of observing the behaviours of our visitors, but it is after all just my view.

Steve

 

How many passengers are actually seeking a 'meal' as opposed to 'food'? How many preserved railway catering facilities mainly serve full meals to staff? This is a vital role but may affect the required range and even nature of full meals provided.

Steven

 

Did someone mention Stogumber?

If I were to report on the loadings of the QB running past my house at Stogumber yesterday or the day before, and identify, directly, which Railway it was on, I would be in breach of a certain Railway’s new social media policy and be subject to mandatory disciplinary proceedings, if I had not obtained the particular Railway’s General Manager’s express permission first.

Not a good way to have ended 2017, somewhere in England.

 

You seem to be deliberately forgetting Ian Coleby's comment in post #9986 on 24th Dec :

4. People will not be in trouble for making positive and supportive comments about the railway.

Assuming the QBs were full, would it not be making a positive and supporting comment to report this?

 

(1) The policy is still in place.

(2) And in any event, Frank’s post looks back to the time social media was at the centre of bringing to wide enough attention the failings of the WSRA that built the support to deal with the problem. Like commenting, as I recall doing, that 8 diners on a 71-seat train might not easily be described as a ‘success’. That does not fit the ‘positive and supportive’ ‘exception’. Making that comment today would oblige mandatory discipline.

A certain Railway has some serious cultural issues to deal with.

Barrie and Dee have made rapid progress with the QB in part by listening to those with professional catering and railway operations experience.

The success of that ‘inclusive’ approach, welcoming of knowledge and experience, is a valuable lesson.

Robin

 

Thanks Mike. That was recent enough, I should have remembered it.

Jim

 

From personal use,

- The SVR feed far more than just their staff at Kidderminster, Bridgnorth, Bewdley and in the Engine House facility close to Highley (which includes a splendid viewpoint balcony, popular among photographers). In fact at Bridgnorth the dining facility is being much extended, but modelled on proven GWR examples, of course.

-the Ffestiniog have a decent restaurant and bar on the platform at Harbour station, Porthmadog, as well as a smaller place at Tan-y-Bwlch definitely with no local opposition. Also the new Welsh Highland terminus building at Caernarfon will include a restaurant, I understand.

-the Bluebell do quite well at their southern terminus of Sheffield Park with a good bar and restaurant.

No doubt those railways could provide further comment if the WSR was examining their own possibilities.

However, I have been to other heritage railways where, shall we say, the catering facilities are less welcoming.

(EDITED to correct the spelling of Bridgnorth. I was in the RAF in the 1950s, but square-bashed at West Kirby, so the name isn't engraven on my memory.)

 

I think the publisher needs to be careful. They could be in trouble for using the circle & bar logo which is a London Transport/ TfL registered trademark, so unless they're part of London Transport, or have permission to use the logo, they could be getting a letter from TfL's legal department. TfL are very protective about that logo.

 

Does this mean that anyone putting a review on tripadvisor is also in breach of this policy? After all passengers could also be seen as having a 'connection' with the railway...

What will they do? Quietly ignore a 5 star review and then get progressively more stroppy as the star ratings drop?

 

When staying in Portmadoc, I have often found that Spooners is the only place to get a meal in the evenings as the locally owned places are all closed.