West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Yesterday was my first visit to the WSR and what a brilliant day it was, from the minute I turned up in the carpark at BL everyone was so cheery helpful and welcoming. I am certainly not a Gricer, but have a keen interest in all things railway and in the whole 8 hours I was there I was totally absorbed, epecially as it was my first GW experience. I was had an interesting 'semi' technical chat with a footplateman, which culminated in a livery discussion banter with a fellow ex mariner in the book stall at Minehead, it worked haha I bought more than I had anticipated, and ended with an interesting discussion about railway preservation generally with station staff on my return to BL.
I rode behind two different engines, sampled a little onboard catering, had my first run in a dmu where l could see out of the front, had a 2 hour stop in a seaside resort, bagged a third engine on the drivers course, had a marvelous cream tea*in a tranquil surrounding...... Trades description alert... that is not a scone its a 7 inch diameter cake, what more could you want. And when the total bill is less than £30 excluding books!!!then that to me is VFM.
I will be returning.

 

Hi CH, thanks for the feedback. We do have a great railway with lots to offer. Sometimes that gets forgotten on this forum. I'm glad you enjoyed the trip.
Ian Coleby

 

Thanks CH19. Just in case you don't know ikcdab is the WSR PLC Chairman!

 

Well I am glad he is pleased because he has a good crew.

 

Err no! Funnily enough a steward at an SVR diesel event made the same comment a few years ago, we took him to task about it and had a good go at clearing him out his non gnats pee stock! Myself and a friend have gone even further from the Lager swilling reputation those who give the rest of us a bad name by cracking open a bottle of Port to accompany the cheese we'd bought on a Diesel tour we were on! We got a bit of stick but was well worth it!

 

Stogumber Cattle Dock - Next Working Party on Sat/Sun 30 June / 1 July

The next working party will strip off the vegetation from the top of the dock and the access ramp and reform the ground around the recently-installed new access gates which will also add a much needed parking space.

Working party leader Robin White said:

‘The dedicated band of Stogumber volunteers would be delighted to be joined by any other volunteers who can spend an hour or two wielding a shovel in glorious West Somerset countryside. The working party will run from 10am until 3pm on both days. If you can help, please e-mail me at robin215white@btinternet.com

The cattle dock project aims to restore the feature of the heritage Station built in the 1880’s to allow public access.

 

i was intrigued to find out the other day that the Minehead line was double track from Dunster to Minehead (and Norton Fitzwarren to BL) and also there were two intermediate passing loops between stations and boxes too I imagine (can't recall exact locations). Any plans to re-instate any of that?

 

I see on the cameras that the diesel convoy is just arriving at BL, platform 2.

Stef.

 

Kentsford and Leigh Loops.

Minehead to Dunster double not much use for traffic but an arrival loop the London side of Seaward way level crossing would make a useful contribution.

Never say never.

Robin

 

To quote a Hobgoblin advert " What's up Lager Boy ? Afraid you'll taste something ". My opinion is , different tastes for different people , however I may disagree with them .

 

Webcams seem to be down Sorry. Hopefully back soon. ( Now back thanks to Railcam UK )

Steve

 

All five appear to be operating normally as at 1500.

 

WSR Quiz 2

Just for a bit of fun I set Samantha White of the WSR Commercial Department a Little Quiz a couple of weeks ago, and she did so well in solving it that I thought the next one should be a little harder. So here it is:

WSR Quiz 2

00235678=1 and 011126688=0 on the WSR on 31 May 2018. How is that?

This has been driving her a bit loco, so if you can help, please do. No more clues for a while.

Robin

 

"Someone tell fatty I'm not going down without a fight" Thomas on being told that he and his steam brothers and sisters are being withdrawn and services dieselised . and that they were going for scrap

 

Thanks for putting on a fantastic day of diesel action.

 

That image gives a whole new meaning to the term "armored train".

 

following complaints from commuters about delayed and cancelled services the Isle of Sodor Railway controller has had to install special crowd control measures on its services .

 

Hello Everyone,
How about some more crowd funding. Following on from our success with raising funds for tarpaulins (oooops wagon sheets) we now need a bit of help again. The MoD brake van was built by the Southern Railway in 1942 to what was known as the Pill Box design. Distinguishable by its 2 large sandboxes, 2 vacuum cylinders above the solebars and the unusual pattern of 2 narrow horizontal boards and 2 wide horizontal boards. This great brake has outgrown her body, or rather the dreaded damp has taken the planks beyond there structural like. So we need some more, lots more. Then we have to do the roof with that gooey putty like paint and some tarpaulin to re waterproof the roof.
We can then transform this brake and she can join the military train for the 40s weekend.
So here is the link and lets get this one finished and back in green. https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/westsomersetrailwayassociation/goodsbrakevan

 

I liked seeing the military train at the SSG and am happy to donate a few quid to support it.

 

A worthy project after the success of the previous one. So if you have not already done so please donate. When I look a few moments ago the total had reached almost £170. So please put your hands in your pockets as soon as possible.