West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I can help you there Ian. After telephoning the railway to check the prices, a standard return ticket from Bishops Lydeard to Watchet costs £18. A rover ticket from Bishops Lydeard to Watchet is £22 on the day, the same price as a full line rover ticket would cost from Bishops Lydeard - Watchet - Blue Anchor - Dunster - Minehead. <BJ>

 

As mentioned a few days ago, the notes on the pre-season WSR stakeholders meeting on 4 March included "All 4,000 WSR plc shareholders will also be contacted shortly to seek further necessary investment which is expected to be at least £500,000 a year."

 

Works out at about £10 a month if all shareholders responded favourably.

I’m up for it.

 

I note that "they" are not doing their jobs properly again on the WSR.
I also note that "they" are volunteers and in short supply. If "you" can help in a volunteer role on the WSR, in particular a fundraising or volunteer recruitment role then please do get in touch.
If you simply wish to donate then please contact the WSRA.

Thanks

 

Or just join the WSRA & it's a good deal less.....

 

How about a "Sponsor a sleeper" public scheme £25 each ? Not exactly a new idea, nor will it solve all the funding issues but "every little helps."

 

The Plc Directors follow closely the conversations on this forum and I’m sure they will take note of any suggestions. They will probably enjoy some positive feedback, instead of the constant criticism from some quarters.

A fund-raising activity which I have enjoyed on the West Somerset, and which seem to have gone off the radar recently, is Brake Van rides at the steam galas and footplate experiences. The benefit of these is that they come at no cost to the Railway, so 100% profit. What’s not to like?

 

Some good news has filtered through. The railway has apparently secured D6948 from May to July. The loco will also be taking part in the diesel gala.

If anyone can confirm the details it would be appreciated. <BJ>

 

Plenty of things for a community manager to get his/her teeth into and not just to get volunteers on the railway

There seems to me to be a disconnect between the railway and the town of Minehead. The railway seems disinterested in anything that happens beyond the buffers. There are no trains advertised as being to Minehead events (other than the railway's own), as far as I know there are no headboards with "Minehead" on them. They have no posters in the town, no business sponsorship (is Butlins an exception?). WSRA encourages purchases from the internet rather than local shops. There is no representative of the railway at Chamber of Commerce meetings.
Every WSR leaflet since 2013 and probably before contains the following uninspiring description of its prime destination -
Minehead - Nearby: South West Coast Path, Sandy Beach, Harbour, Minehead Eye Indoor Skatepark, Butlins and tree lined avenue of shops and eateries.
In the weeks before Christmas there was a complete lack of service trains bringing people to Minehead to support local businesses. The only service train from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead pre-Christmas was a single 3 car DMU which ran to the Minehead Station Christmas Market on the 1st December which by chance was also one of the days of the Minehead Christmas Festival.

That should keep the Community Manager busy for a while.

 

More details here: http://thegrowlergroup.org.uk/?p=1312
A one-off opportunity to see it away from the GWR. Unlikely to happen again due to the ever increasing costs of moving locos larger than 90t by road for any sort of distance and possible this time only through some private sponsorship towards the cost.

 

They require an extra loco in steam, surely? Unless I am missing something here

 

They are short of cash an steam hire in would be expensive and they need a loco around 100 tonne by the look off things not that easy to find when they also need to move trains off 6 to 7 coaches in holidays.

 

This genuinely puzzles me, I'm sure someone can explain.

On the Isle of Wight the O2s as a matter of normal operation regularly handled 6 coach trains up the 3 mile Apse Bank which was 1 in 70. Their power classification was 0P. For some reason the WSR seems to require 5MT or above to work the branch. Why is that?

 

How much did an IOW carriage weigh? And how much an Mk1?

 

I think even to hire a small mainline steam loco is going to still be more expensive than the 37

 

Any answers?

 

You might want to revise your sleeper pricing.
Especially if non wood is used.

 

What colour D6948 please