West Somerset Railway General Discussion

and the Bluebell and the Mid Hants and KWVR and GWSR and the GCR …….. but yes, there are some

 

I suspect the seaside railways are the exception rather than the rule. After all you have SVR, but also Bluebell, GCR, East Lancs, South Devon, KESR, Llangollen, Welshpool, GWSR, Bo'ness, Strathspey, Mid Hants, Dean Forest... I could go on, but I think you see my point.

 

Moreover, it can result in a number of operational turns having to be covered by two people rather than one.

 

Do you recommend a bracing dip in the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Keighley then??

Can @Jamessquared point us in the direction of the beach & coast path at Sheffield Park? (OK, with a 'Big House' a resort of sorts)

More interestingly however is the number of 'chalets' that are to be seen from the SVR, a reminder of times past when in 'pre car' days Midlanders had other destinations for recreation - or as my wife remembers, a trip to the park rather than the beach.

 

Bo'ness docks??

 

I'm sure many of us can. I think there are more "landlocked" than there are with Coastal destinations...

Being picky, NYMR is landlocked too. It's Network Rail's line that goes to Whitby...

 

Ah yes, those famous seaside towns of:
Sheffield Park on-sea
Alresford docks
Robertsbridge port
Ongar Fort
Tenterden Bay
Didcot Cliffs
Llangollen-mouth
Dereham Estuary
Loughborough by sea


I'll stop now.

 

Having spent many pleasant hours in the signalbox (a few years back now), I would never dream of calling it the seaside!

 

And every other post since!

Whoops! The word 'busier' was missing from my original post!

Steven

 

The NYMR is an obvious comparator with regard to day trips to the seaside. For several years they have operated a first train from Pickering to Whitby leaving at 09.25 and it is a popular train throughout the year. The 7 coach trains can be full (6 in the shoulder periods) so there is a definite demand for such a service from people wanting to travel to Whitby by steam and spend the day there. I don't know where these passengers originate and I'm not aware of any market survey information to answer the question but I suspect the majority are day trippers from the West Yorkshire connurbation, so at least an hour away by road. Whitby is probably a more desirable destination than Minehead (it is in Yorkshire, after all!) but I don't think that makes the concept fundamentally different.
The WSR has the big advantage that they don't have to fit in with the Northern or other services so they can design their timetable without any of the constraints imposed on the NYMR.

 

Is their a league table of passenger figures? East Lancs have certainly increased patronage in recent times, have I seen they broke the 200,000 mark for 2018? The big 3 have always been NYMR / WSR / SVR if I'm not mistaken? But are other lines now catching up? Are WSR now struggling to keep up?

 

I do wonder with lines that finish at an obvious town destination (Swanage, Minehead, Whitby etc) how that effects secondary spend. If you travel BL - Minehead, then go straight into town, have a walk on the beach, fish and chips in town and then come back at the end of the day, then potentially you buy a cup of tea on the railway in each direction, but one of the major opportunities for secondary spend at tourist attractions - have a meal in the cafe - must be diminished. I wonder if that goes some way to explaining the relatively high proportion of the turnover generated from fares? (i.e. relatively low proportion not generated from fares).

Tom

 

Clearly though there is a need to promote the towns the line serves which is absent at the moment - and of course by maximising the benefit of the line to West Somerset it rather draws the claws of those who wish for a commuter service

 

Obviously its the free wi-fi that's the attraction. Nobody goes there (or Costa) for the coffee !

 

Absolutely, something that's beginning to be phased in on the GWSR as we wish to have earlier trains from Cheltenham and later trains out of Broadway and currently giving me something of a headache as a roster clerk!

 

True, whilst it is not meant as a criticism the catering on offer at both Minehead & Swanage is fairly basic relative to say Horstead Keynes or Kidderminster. Having said that however I seem to remember Porthmadog as being well equipped.

 

Howzabout another thought ?

Everyone seems pre-occupied with the view that everyone wants to go Minehead BUT has anyone thought that the residents of Minehead might want to go somewhere else - like Taunton. Why not a Shoppers' Special to Bishops Lyddeard (with connecting bus to Taunton) for shoppers who might wish to sample a different selection of shops from those at Minehead. That means a start from Minehead around 09:00 would give time for a return around 10:30 which would suit most visitors either way whilst setting Minehead as the start point of service.
There seems as tunnel vision of country folk looking to visit the seaside but forget that seaside residents might wish to visit the country hence providing a 2-way exchange of custom. I write as a seaside resident (at Southport) and many of our journeys are to inland centres such as Wigan and Preston hence my suggestion that not starting services from Minehead is to ignore 50% of potential custom. Has this possibility ever been researched or has the current scheduling been created from the wrong understanding of potential customer journeys.

 

It certainly poses problems for the NYMR. Gone are the days where you signed on, prepared a locomotive and stayed with it right through to disposal. Crews now generally have PNB's away from the loco and can work on as many as three locos in their shift, which is invariably 11-12 hours long. Fifteen years ago it was common to do 108 miles on one loco with no PNB and prep and dispose of it in a non-stop 12 hour shift. Nowadays, the usual maximum mileage is 72 miles (two round trips Pickering - Grosmont or vice versa.) Ironically, it is the turns that run through to Whitby that generally do less mileage.

 

Get Mokoko or The Boston Tea Party (Local Coffee Chains) to open up in Minehead?? Failing that where is the best coffee in MD?

 

And arrive all stressed out from driving and then fighting to find a park ? Nah, train every time for me.