West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Possibly my favourite shot of the year.

Something magical about trains at dusk and just thereafter. Just two days now to experience this before the long shut down.

The driver of Foxcote Manor looks back for the ‘right-away’ at Stogumber.

Robin

 

Wish there was a night time photo charter on the WSR

 

Thanks for that.

Tom

 

That was a damm fine evening!

 

Hi Anthony , IMHO it is irrelevant how much money the WSR paid for 4110 , I would however imagine it would be somewhere near the market price on the day .
Any object , a loaf of bread , a car , even a steam loco is worth exactly how much the buyer is prepared to pay . It is up to the seller and buyer to come to a mutually agreeable figure .

 

Thus, if any of the other bidders for 4110 are intent on getting it for themselves then they may up their bids. The PLC could accept the highest bid, given their apparent need for cash in the bank.

 

I am a few days behind following this so please forgive me . As I see it , the reason for the sale as stated by the WSR is the need for them to raise cash quickly and this is the quickest way to do so . End of , or do I have that wrong ?

 

Pray explain Oddjob ? Thank you .

 

He was one of the bad guys in a James Bond movie.

 

As I have said before... any business must ensure that income exceeds expenditure. One off events can be tolerated, but consistent running down of reserves to the point of needing cash urgently is NOT a wise way to go. To do so just delays the inevitable next call for cash. Selling assets is a short term solution.... because the assets for sale will eventually run out.

It may be the quickest way to raise cash, BUT.....the ONLY way to balance the books is EITHER to increase income, or decrease expenditure. Since increasing bums on seats is an impossible option, especially when there are no services, then unless there is a sudden inflow of donations or share purchases, the ONLY option is to reduce expenditure. The quickest way to do this is always to reduce the salary bill. Not a popular choice, but a necessary one.
Robin L.

P.S. As the first post in 2019, Happy New Year to all...
P.P.S. I am no longer a member of WSRA... removal of trustees for a pathetic reason is a major factor in my decision... and for a number of years of almost zero support for WSR plc means I can't support it.

 

Yeah bowler hat and that

 

And the most important WSR topic for the moment is that there are...




Steve

 

A nickname Odney Manor first acquired during its time working at the East Lancs.

 

Reducing the salary bill is probably easier said than done. I do not notice a huge queue of volunteers lining up to do the work currently being done by paid staff - in fact one has noted employees being needed to help staff the trains during the peak season when there are insufficient volunteers. Does Tracker have a list of paid staff whose jobs do not need to be done, or of paid staff who are not busy enough already? I was involved once in reducing staffing numbers at a school. The obvious person was the geography teacher. But he had to stay because someone was still needed to teach geography.

 

Of course I don't... that's the job of management.

 

As tracker quite rightly says, income must at least equal outgoings (including allowances for repairing/renewing worn out track, infrastructure, rolling stock locos etc). Otherwise there will be no railway eventually! One off sales or other actions may be essential to achieve a short term measure of relief. More fundraising will help but control/reduction of expenditure will help even more in the short term. I am sure all ideas will be welcomed by those involved with the WSR to achieve the balance.

The old expression applies that if you keep doing things the way you always have, you will continue to get the same results.

 

Are you sure? As someone whose ELR involvement goes back to those days we called Rodney Manor......

 

I heard the phrase (odd job) at llangollen many years ago. I had thought the name was because of the different shade of green on Odney as compared to Foxcote when they were matched up years ago....?

 

Thank you Barrie , I knew that 7828 had served on the East Lancs but was oblivious to that moniker .

 

Goldfinger , I believe , just wondered where the connection was with 7828 ?