West Somerset Railway General Discussion

It will be interesting to tease out the answer to the ongoing availability of the card blanks. Certainly that was being "sold" as an issue. Lets see what others have to say.

 

For ticketing whilst I do love the Edmondson card type and have a good collection I think that it's replacement should be something that you would want to keep. Rolls of toilet paper just don't appeal to me.
Now if you considered the ticket to be a form of advertising as well you could create a special momento of the visit and maybe with different images at different times to encourage people to come back and collect the set.
Look at it not as a problem but as a possibility to create something new that will appeal to a wider range of people.

 

The F&WHR are ahead of you there. I've got several F&WHR tickets and they all have different pictures of the railway on the back of them.
I'm not sure if there is a "set" to be collected, if there is I saw no mention of it anywhere.

 

May I point out that, whoever wrote that, it certainly was not me. I would like to that matter clear.
I don't wish to be categorised as one of the keyboard warriors here who are over-free with their insults.

Jim

 

We're in troubled times on Heritage Railways and line survival is obviously paramount. I won't harbour messages of impending doom but for those watching, we stand a good chance of creating a bleaker future for many people in the coming weeks, months and years and harder financial times will therefore translate to less families forking out to take their kids on the railway.

For this reason, I really wouldn't mind getting a ticket printed from toilet roll if more cost effective than sticking with traditional card - have I got my priorities right folks? On the big railway my ticket appears on my phone and can be scanned - a step too far for heritage railways?

 

This already happens on the WSR if you buy your tickets in advance online!

 

I’d like to see the reaction when the TTI attempted to clip your ticket!

Tom

 

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It's cheaper to use a diesel locomotive than a steam locomotive, but steam is a major part of the package being sold. Edmondson tickets, if seen as part of the tourist entertainment package, are a very minor part. But if seen as part of the preservation or working/living museum package they are a more significant part. Arguably so are the milk churns and cabin trunks on platforms, but those are very much in the nature of stage props, no longer having any real function, whereas tickets (of whatever kind) obviously do have a real function. Where it is possible to combine the heritage aspect and the present-day functional aspect (as with steam traction) isn't that best?

 

If the difference between a railway surviving or going bust is the cost difference between "loo roll" tickets and proper card ones, I'd suggest that that particular railway would not be long for this world regardless.

 

I recall that the GWSR welded their 60 ft rails into 120 ft lengths some years ago to halve the fishplate maintence while retaining the sound of jointed track.

 

We also have quite a high mileage of fully CWR as well!

 

One of the other problems with the date-stamping is that the machines require lead-based type of a non-standard size which gets worn quite quickly and was only available from a gentleman who died about three years ago. I am guessing that most stations have been using quite badly worn type- I may be wrong. I tried to source new type but came up against a brick wall. Minehead was using type which was barely readable. The carbon ribbons might also be difficult to source now. I believe I know the whereabouts of one set of new type which could usefully feature in any permanent exhibit, [the Gauge museum would be the obvious location] though of course, to be consumer friendly, it would require someone to correct the date each day before services started.

 

Edmondson ticket stamping machine were not exclusive to British Railways they were used in a number of other countries, I know a lot of the preserved line in the UK are affiliated so to speak with other preserved lines in other countries might it not be worth contacting them to see if they can help, I know Edmondson machines were used in Australia for quite a few years.

 

There are many people who also collect tickets. The Transport Ticket Society exists to support many members who collect tickets and the journal illustrates tickets from Heritage and Miniature Railways amongst many sources. The July journal mentions a link re: Edmondson Style Ticket Printing:

http://chriswhitetickets.yolasite.com/

Thought it might be of interest.

Ed Chap

 

Well that web site would seem to be the answer to the ticket problems.

 

Chris White passed away several years ago.

 

I think the Albula railway museum at Bergun in Switzerland has taken over and operates the last traditional ticket printing press used by SBB.
https://www.rhb.ch/en/leisure-travel-and-excursions/nature-culture/albula-railway-museum

Cheers, Neil

 

Of course very true but my point is that in the grand scheme of things, ticket type doesn't really matter and unlikely to affect revenue. I know plenty that use alternatives (FR, WHR, NYMR from my more recent examples) and i don't see that it renders a loss of experience to travellers.
Given the challenges railways face, arguments over ticket type & colour are just not necessary in my humble opinion. I tend to keep any rail tour or heritage tickets for reasons I'm unclear -)) - whatever they are.

 

Commercially, I agree. Historically, I don't - the claims to historical authenticity need to cover more than just the right look.