S&D Railway Trust

So who at the head of the WSR management is not passionate about the railway?

 

In addition, when folk are now in positions of power, there are probably more powerful and productive ways of expressing their opinions than on here.

 

Ian. Clearly our opinions differ and that's ok. I'm also aware of the WSSRT stance it has given regarding the S&DRT so why not just be honest and open enough to say that in public, its ultimately for the people of the WSR to decide what they feel is right becuase its their railway, the Boards are there to serve the people not the other way around. Again its simple, just come out and say to all clearly. yes or no.

 

That's of course assuming those people don't have their own agenda, and playing their own power games, I'm of the opinion that such is the magnitude of problems of managing the structure of the WSR, that it may require the line going to the very brink, including possible closure and administration for reality to hit, and change to be made, so far they may have changed the captain, and board, but its carry on as before , with different people making the same mistakes . which to me says, its the whole structure, not the actual persons in seats of power, either that or its continually the wrong people who find the top spots.

 

In view of the probability of the current health situation having a devastating effect on all heritage attractions and the actual needs of WSR now and in the future why not approach the issue from a totally different angle and consider:

1) Is the WSR really so desperate for space that the Washford site has any long term use particularly given the difficulties of access.

2) How much to convert the lease to the equivalent of a freehold. It is difficult for this outsider to understand the legal complexities of this given that the trust operates under a lease sitting beneath the WSR's lease from the council. Whether the council would consider releasing the Trust's site from the overall lease and thus allowing a proper freehold arrangement is of course unknown together with the costs of allowing the trust to operate independently of the WSR in terms of its own safety case etc.

3) If separation and a freehold (or independent lease from the Council) was possible whether the WSR would be better served by a large cash injection now than all of the uncertainties and costs of eviction and whether the Trust could raise the funds necessary which may actually be less than those needed to find a new site and move all of their assets.

Clearly it would be better and cheaper to work positively together but as this is not the first time the Trust has been threatened with eviction all options for its survival need consideration.

 

I agree with subsequent comments that we might not necessarily expect statements from the WSSRT and the WSRA on here, although this forum has played just such a role over previous happenings; but the absence of clear statements somewhere is remarkable. One possible interpretation is that those organisations don't agree with the eviction but are afraid to speak up for fear of becoming victims themselves. As usual, in the absence of information speculation is inevitable.

Does anyone recall mention of some such concept before? Some such phrase as "one railway"?

When was that previous threat of eviction and how was it resolved?

 

Just so!

 

If the lions are led by donkeys ....... the lions should know what to do.

 

Is a convenient fig leaf and excuse for you to hide behind.

You are perfectly capable of expressing views (when you so choose) in a personal capacity. You are also happy when you so choose to express a view in a professional capacity.

It is strange that all of a sudden some people have lost the ability to speak up. Either you agree with the decision or you disagree. You can express individual views and not necessarily those of any organisation that you maybe part of.

I can only conclude there are those who value their position and status in their organisations more than they do about doing the right thing and standing up to bad behaviour and practice.

 

But they've already done that (allegedly) which had led to the current situation!

 

I think that's a little unfair. Folk may be underestimating the effects on an already pretty poor public image of the the WSRA came out in public decrying the Plc. If you think the WSR looks bad now then think again! I rather suspect that is what those who are often known to be quite vociferous are being quiet than usual. If I were in the board of the WSRA, that would be my biggest concern about releasing a public statement, that it would bring the railway even further into disrepute. Instead is be working my socks off to try and reach a solution behind the scenes, especially if I happened to be a professional mediator. Indeed such a public statement might hamper any attempts to mediate already under way, if such a process had been contemplated.

 

There's also always the 'resign and speak out' option.

Speaking of which, it's something of a pity that the one person who did quit recently, reportedly for a related reason, decided to give out the old 'family' waffle, instead of speaking forthrightly about what really happened. I can understand that they might have felt that doing so might have been 'dirty washing in public', and not been good for the WSR as a whole, but I'm not sure I can agree. The same reasoning could apply to politicians who resign, in that open speaking about why may damage their overall cause, but there seems to be more of a sense there that that course of action is not just acceptable, but to be lauded - perhaps because it's realized that speaking openly about serious problems is usually a necessary step in solving them.

Noel

 

40 years on the WSR is a long time, people have done shorter prison sentences for far worse things.

Back in 1970 the economist Albert Hirschmann, wrote 'Exit, Voice and Loyalty'

Of course, this assumes the possibility of voice, whereas, what we have is that the costs of voice in the WSR is exit, which means if you don't want to lose access to a line where you might have spent decades working, then you have to be loyal. For some fear motivates loyalty, for others it is opportunism, those who leave need to be replaced so it is a good way to rise up the ladder (I'm alright jack).

 

I am, it will be well known, a professional mediator.

But I am also a barrister, which means it is part of my professional skillset is to judge when ‘fight’, ‘Co-operate’ or ‘mediate / negotiate’ are the right approaches.

There is. But it should be remembered that that tends to be a 'one shot' option.

I hope it will be remembered by folk (including the 'usual suspects' liking posts critical of me) that when it became clear that the 'X6' were on an unredeemable course, that Jeff Price and I had some small involvement with the group that did a lot of the heavy lifting to put the WSRA back on course. That included, it will be reacalled, an unlawful purported removal of my WSRA Life membership.

I'm relatively hard to kill (as long ago an organisation called the HVA found out) and if folk haven't yet worked out that my loyalty is to the whole West Somerset Railway family, then there is nothing more I can do to make it clear to you.

Robin

 

It's not what you've done in the past that counts, it is what you do now that matters.

 

Fear has never motivated loyalty ...... only compliance under unspoken resentment.

 

I can just imagine the fuss many would be making on here if such an action had occurred during the tenure of the X6 and they remained silent on the matter.....

 

"then at least trust the people you were enlisting last week to head up the immediate reform rather than turn and cut them down here in public." an interesting sentence. Do I take it that the reform group is working in the background? As Robin and Alfort have the ability to control what happens to the WSRA shares and as such if they persuade the Steam trust to come on board will have the numbers to hold an EGM.

Maybe Andy Norman would like to elaborate for the benefit of the rest of us who hold the WSR dear to our hearts

Rodders

 

I am not sure what to read into that post; I hope for one thing but yet the silence and reports suggest something else. Much I suspect depends on how “WSR Family” is defined; it is clear that for some the S&DRT is not part of the “family”.

However, in what has become a binary debate, an outside observer such as myself notices complete public silence from some who’ve historically been clear and vocal about what’s “right”, and can’t but fear that silence is actually complicity.

I personally don’t go as far as some others on here in their views, but their assertions reflect my own questions.

Mike asked for contributions to the WSRA at this difficult time; I doubt I’m alone in wondering whether any donation I might give would support the railway I am fond of, or a management of which I am definitely not fond.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

A very proper consideration.

Funds donated to a charity for a particular purpose - the rail renewal appeal or 4561 for example - can only be used for those purposes. (And attract a 25% gift aid uplift if you are a UK tax payer.)

Shares bought in a company provide funds to that company which the company is at liberty to spend as it sees fit.

Robin