West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Reading the wsr's partnership development plan. It mentions possible aquisition of a redundant 7 road carriage shed from peterborough. Though on google earth/maps cant see anything like a shed except i know peterborough east loco is still standing. Where abouts is sited? Gave a good over view of future projects and progress including the minehead raillink group which i saw a banner for today at mineheads tescos

 

The C&W building is between the Station and Midland road, was latterly an EWS facility.

 

https://www.google.ie/maps/@52.5731361,-0.251453,264m/data=!3m1!1e3

Steve

 

Ahhha i see nicely tucked away. Thanks for the directions =).

 

No longer has a rail connection it seems.

 

Looks like it has a corrugated asbestos roof.

 

That had crossed my mind, but could not be sure about it. Maybe a new owner might put on a new roof?

 

Looks quite compact. How many carriage could it potentially hold?

 

Being a seven coach shed, possibly seven?

 

There are some EMU sets further south in the sidings by the river. Judging by their length it would be two per road, so 14.

 

seven roads, Howard, not seven carriages! However, with a length (measured on Google) of about 150 ft, not that many.

 

Isn’t that the old wagon works?


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So not too many then. Could it be handy as a carriage repair shed. Give you carriage dept more covered space to get carriages refreshed and restored faster an free up workshop space else at williton or minehead for other work. Bit like the newer one nymr are going too have. Will have 5 roads and space for 9 carriage to be overhauled refreshed or restored at one time

 

Oh dear. If in doubt read the original text! Apologies.

 

If you search through the prior 605 pages of this thread, you may find a link to the original PLC planning application from 2014, revised, renewed & conditionally approved in 2016. I think it was referred to as Station Farm, separate from the Southern Gateway. There was much discussion about the track layout & the shunting & signalling implications.
From memory, it was for a 2-road shed holding 6 coaches on each track. A smaller shed (2 coaches?) allowed for minor maintenance.
Notes: Steel buildings are relatively inexpensive. The foundations, drainage, track-work & erection will easily double the initial cost - probably well into 6 figures.
Steel buildings are somewhat modular so it should be possible to construct a long, thin building from a short, fat one. (Apologies to any structural engineers!).
I hope this helps.

 

Whatever. They ought to grab it with both hands! Its ten times better than the carriage shed on the WSR now!!

 

This same shed was on the cards for the NYMR for many years, but I think there's a lot of problems associated with it, for example the space between the roads limits its usefulness as a workshop but who wants a storage shed that is only two coaches long?

The WSR would be better off with a modern, purpose built, portal framed building, probably a lot cheaper too.

 

So, this summer we have two S160's in The West Country & a replica Baldwin......................

Why isn't there some sort of promotion aimed at visitors or expats from the USA?

The other S160's & USA Tanks, Royal Scot. KGV & Mountaineer could also be included?

Ditto of course locos that served in France, Greece, Turkey, Sweden etc.......................

 

Well this weekends the 100th anniversary of the formation of the RAF, so far I've only seen 2 railways do something about it... But how many anniversarys can you commemorate? Bear in mind what 11/11/18 will be.

 

A bit of investigation reveals a number of significant items regarding the building in question.

1. It was built c 1870 by the Midland Railway as a carriage repair building.
2. Since around 1900 it has been used as a wagon repair building.
3. It has always been only 6 roads wide in 3 bays, the 4th bay has always been a workshop area.
4. The building is reported as being mostly original, only the timber floor being replaced with concrete and the slate roof replaced with asbestos.
5. The entire building is of nearly all timber construction, timber framed and timber clad.
6. It is grade 2* listed as being of significant historical interest.

For further details see https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101334940-crescent-waggon-repair-shop-central-ward

There will be a variety of tricky issues for a new owner.

1. Because of the high grade of listing relocation would be both expensive and strictly controlled.
2. Alteration of shape is unlikely to be an option.
3. Being timber and 150 years old the condition can be expected to be poor in places.
4. The present owner could reasonably be expected to pay for relocation and re-erection, but they will do their utmost to do as little as possible whilst meeting the relocation conditions.
5. Fitting out will fall to the new owner and will have to be done to a high standard whilst being sympathetic to the history of the building.
6. The responsibility for ongoing repair and maintenance will fall to the new owner, costs are likely to be high.
7. Future use as a workshop is unlikely, public access almost certainly a requirement as a condition of any funding.

I expect that this is a splendid building and fully worthy of preservation but with so many historic buildings around the UK in desperate need for funds any future owner of this building will need robust resources to consider owning it. A large, and old, timber structure must be one of the most expensive of items to maintain for another 100+ years and it will be a brave heritage railway to take on the liability.

Andy.