West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Interesting pic. I always thought locomotive tyres were solid, not pneumatic...

 

I suppose Michelin railcars do not count?

 

or even Michelines

 

Plenty of rubber tyred locos built in the UK. Mainly for use in mines and tunnelling. Not pneumatic, though.

 

Hello Robin
I can guess what it is doing, but would like to know for certain

 

I dont understand your question?

Robin

 

If you look at the latest 9351 Blog entry (the link to the Blog is contained in post # 20400) there is an explanation.

 

Hello again as suggested by another person I looked up t he blog site and found as I thought it was checking the weight on each bearing. This is a way I did not know as we weighed them using weighing machines at Swindon.

 

Glad you got the answer you needed.

Robin

 

Thank you

 

carriages on svr could do with a wash.

 

O/T but the carriages are cleaned regularly in the washer is situated behind the Carriage Shed at Kidderminster (road 6). After a while they don't come up quite clean, there's paintshops at Bewdley and Kidderminster and they are also using the Kidderminster Carriage Shed and Bridgnnorth loco paintshop to increase the output. There are some mixed formations as a result.

Back on thread, it's good to see the WSR Mogul back running, congratulations to all involved (should non-members be welcome to comment)

Patrick

 

Just curious, when painting in the carriage shed is there a separate area sealed off or anything, or are carriages literally painted whilst still in their rakes?

 

Of course.

Especially welcome to come for a ride, particularly if using the new Taunton - Bishops Lydeard Saturday connection....

Robin

 

They are washed regularly - but over a period of time they become ingrained with brake dust etc which the washing plant does not remove.

 

The joy of disc brakes...............

 

A favourite train-watching spot.

I posted a picture taken from Minehead War Memorial on Facebook yesterday, and it seems the view from there isn’t as well known as I would have thought.

Here’s one with the last train of the day running in to the station.

Do others have train-watching locations that might not be so well known?

Robin

 

The WSRA/WSSRT have just rolled out the new WSR Education & Community Engagement Brochure to local educators, it contains a host of events to involve in particular the schools community and invite them in. This is a part of the £96k award from the Hinckley Point C Community Engagement fund that I gained for the WSRA last year. I’d also like to repeat a post from #Aldfort a couple of pages back where he highlighted the WSRA Fund Raisers efforts in gaining circa £120k total in the last few months for various projects including 4561 & The Dunster Goods Yard Projects.

I’d like to make two points if I could, one negative & one positive.

1. Both projects were developed and instigated by me under my work as a volunteer for the WSRA & PLC, on top of my firing duties. Forget about me as a person, just think ‘just one random volunteer who wanted to do a bit extra as was able to’ that’s the important thing. I‘ve made previous comments about the poor culture within the WSR and its need for change. As ‘just a volunteer’ I stepped up (as #Aldfort has asked people to do on here a number of times). I had a 100% success rate in these and other projects and here are two examples of real tangible and large outputs which will help the WSR in many ways both people and money wise. Yet the culture of the WSR means this ‘just one volunteer’ was removed and cast out for not agreeing with certain people’s views. The question is if you continue to remove people who can develop and implement things (and others I did such as BESTT Engineering Trainees & the 1940’s Weekend), or even a volunteer who just wants to help with small things, does that help the WSR out of its hole or not ? And can the WSR afford to keep removing people willing to help ?

2. The more positive comment is: Catherine Dance the WSR Community Engagement Manager and Kate Williams the WSRA Fund Raiser who both took over from me should both be recognised as doing some great work here. The new Education, Learning & Events Brochure is very good, professional and attractive to Educators, Catherine has clearly grasped what the project is all about and is taking it forward as it should be. Kate is having some good wins in bringing much needed grant funding into the WSR despite restrictions previously mentioned. Both these ladies are making real, tangible differences in terms of people coming to the WSR and money for worthy projects. The WSRA & WSSRT are running these projects and whilst I take issue with a number of other things currently happening this is one area I must congratulate them on. These projects are the way forward without a doubt in my mind and they help break the cycle of having to chase more bums on seats in a diminishing market to fund an ever increasing gap.

For my part whilst I have some sadness at not being there, its overtaken by the pride of seeing ‘my babies’ spring into life and prosper under two great guardians. Thank you Catherine & Kate.

 

‘Rocking the Railway’

The Rock Choir is a national organisation consisting of numerous local choirs. It’s described as the worlds largest contemporary choir with a total of 25,000 members, the majority female.The local choirs carry out gigs in their own areas and occasionally combine to form one vast choir to perform at national events. Recent appearances include BBC Proms In The Park, performing at Abbey Road studios, and numerous spots on national television and radio. (My wife sings with the St. Austell Rock Choir).

On Saturday 10th August the choirs from Clevedon, Weston-Super-Mare, Burnham On Sea, Bridgwater and Taunton are combining to spend the day entertaining staff and travellers on the West Somerset Railway. Their performances can be enjoyed the the following locations:

10.00 to 10.30am. Stogumber station gardens.

11.15 to 11.45am. Watchet station.

12.30 to 1pm. Minehead station.

2.50 to 3.20pm. Dunster station.

4.30 to 5pm. Williton station.

6 to 6.15pm. Bishops Lydeard station.


These people give their time for nothing, simply to give pleasure to others, just as our WSR volunteers do.

I hope that some NatPres members may be able to support them and enjoy their performances.