West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I might be misunderstanding the alphabet soup here but I assume FoBAS stands for Friends of Blue Anchor Station? Is that right?

 

Yes

 

Thanks!

 

At Williton Station on 21 March 2020 we see a horseless carriage, a real horse or two, but sadly no iron horse.
© Robin Moira White
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. Any re-use of the above image must conform to the requirements of the Creative Commons Licence.



The S&T Gang used their early 60s rail drill driven by a Villiers C12 industrial petrol engine. This machine drills two holes simultaneously, but needs careful handling when used on modern running rails because they are much harder than the drill was originally designed for. The (stationary) tamper can be seen in the background. Taken on 16 March 2020.
© Peter Mann
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. Any re-use of the above image must conform to the requirements of the Creative Commons Licence.



On virtually the last S&T Gang day before the enforced closure, the team replaced many track circuit bonds at Minehead after the winter track relay. Holes have to be drilled in the running rails to take the bonds. Taken on 16 March 2020.
© Peter Mann
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The repainting of the Quantock Belle coach no W35408 (formerly named Jupiter) is complete. Seen at Williton on 19 March 2020.
© Harry Spencer
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The repainting of the Quantock Belle coach no W35408 (formerly named Jupiter) is complete. Seen at Williton on 19 March 2020.
© Harry Spencer
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. Any re-use of the above image must conform to the requirements of the Creative Commons Licence.



The repainted Quantock Belle headboard at Williton on 19 March 2020.
© Harry Spencer
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. Any re-use of the above image must conform to the requirements of the Creative Commons Licence.



On 18 March 2020 GWR Sleeping Car no 9038's ten week stay in the loco compound ended when it was moved back inside the Gauge Museum but not before a wash and brush-up by Trust volunteers. No 9038 seen here in the goods shed road.
© Chris Austin
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. Any re-use of the above image must conform to the requirements of the Creative Commons Licence.



On 18 March 2020 GWR Sleeping Car no 9038's ten week stay in the loco compound ended when it was moved back inside the Gauge Museum but not before a wash and brush-up by Trust volunteers.
© Chris Austin
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. Any re-use of the above image must conform to the requirements of the Creative Commons Licence.



On 18 March 2020 GWR Sleeping Car no 9038's ten week stay in the loco compound ended when it was moved back inside the Gauge Museum. The walkway (formerly a storage area) has been opened up to allow visitors to enter the car from the Up side. The 11 metre long map of the line in 1910 (in the heyday of the sleeping car) is on the left.
© Chris Austin
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. Any re-use of the above image must conform to the requirements of the Creative Commons Licence.



Class 33 'Crompton' no D6566 resting between duties at Williton on 17 March 2020.
© Chris Lawton
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. Any re-use of the above image must conform to the requirements of the Creative Commons Licence.



Visit wsr.org.uk for all the latest pictures




(Edit: just thought I'd test out a script what I wrote the other day which shows a few WSR scenes and goings-on for those on this forum to have a decco.)

 

May I ask how much work / projects will continue during the enforced shutdown, i.e. loco overhaul (including 6024), loco maintenance, station upkeep etc.?

I appreciate that work on track infrastructure will continue. TIA. <BJ>

 

As much of the above as the railway can find the funds and the volunteers to support.
It is not impossible to do and still maintain social distancing and abide by all HMG advice.
The reason we and most others are not running is that you can't guarantee social distancing on the trains or in the stations. Plus we figure a lot of folks are choosing to stay home anyway.
Note - Network trains and buses are still running, at least as I type this, all pretty empty though.

 

I assume that this does not include PW work? As you can see from the pics in Steve's post above, the 2 workers are much closer than the currently recommended 6 feet.

Keith

 

There does seem to be a lot of confusion at the moment as to exactly what is or is not advisable .

There is much social media chat here about the situation for those us required (by virtue of age or health) to stay at home for 12 weeks, yet apparently allowed to get out and exercise subject to keeping the 2m distance apart. Many who did so yesterday, like myself, found that other people (mostly younger) simply carried on as normal getting far too close. Some of the local parks etc apparently were even busier/more crowded than on a normal sunny day! Other views are simply not to go out at all - no, not even for food - yet the social/neighbour/volunteer delivery schemes have failed to materialise.

Maybe the local authority will simply go from door to door once all this is over and collect the bodies with the rubbish, while they sweep up the tumbleweed.....

 

That is not PW work.
That is S+T work.
PW use bigger drills.

Seriously though, what is the date of the photo and when did the advice come out.

 

That idea backfired at the various National Trust properties yesterday. They had opened their gardens and parks for free to the general public to help us stay fit and keep our spirits up.
Today all NT properties are closed. <BJ>

“Having observed the numbers visiting our properties today I am no longer convinced we can maintain social distancing over Mother’s Day when numbers are likely to grow, and beyond.”

 

https://westsomersetrailway.digitickets.co.uk/category/27181?

I urge everyone to donate directly to the railway to allow it to complete the maintenance that is required so that they can open ASAP when the green light is given.
I believe that there needs to be a railway there and this is the way to help that is not beholden to any organisations AoA on what they can do with the donations they may raise.

Get behind the WSR and donate on the link above that's what I will be doing.

Rodders

 

21st March, 2020. The first day of cancellations of railway heritage centres and main line operations.

I wonder how long it will be before normal services resume. <BJ>

 

Even as I sit here at my keyboard this AM, I have seen at least two groups of visitors with flowers etc clearly arriving for Mother's Day at other houses in our road. I can't believe that they all intend just to stand outside and wave through the windows.....

 

Rodney, full marks for keeping this in the public eye.

Folk should, of course, donate anywhere and anyway they are comfortable.

But the 25% gift aid uplift if a donation is routed via a charity (the WSRA or WSSRT, or whoever you are comfortable with, and if you are a UK taxpayer), coupled with the certainty of what the funds will be spent on, might be good incentives to choose the charitable route, when every penny counts.

Happy to discuss with any potential donor. PM me for contact details.

Robin

 

With many of the heritage railways already putting out appeals for money, it makes sense to use Gift Aid as much as possible to ensure the maximum gain for monies donated.

Ed

 

The PLC will need cash to keep going in the near future if not now. The rail renewal and 4561 are for the future and with the way the AoA of the WSRA are written the funds donated can only be used for what they are given. Giving directly to the PLC means the cash flow of the railway is helped. Yes the rail renewal is a worthy cause but at work (I work in an acute hospital) they are talking of this shutdown going on for most of the year and what good will £100K in donations for rail renewal do if there isn't no railway to renew. "Cash is King" Mike Rowe will tell you and he is right because you may have all the assets in the world but without cashflow you have nothing. Lets not forget that the railway is mortgaged to the bank (Companies house has this on record) and the bank will take everything (the companies house filing state everything) in a firesale if we let it so I say again donate directly to the railway.

Rodders

 

Two observations:

1. You presume that in the event of administration, there would be a firesale rather than a desire to protect the railway as a going concern. Much as that would be a desperate state of affairs, and very much to be avoided, I would challenge whether that particular outcome should be presumed.
   
2. Donations to any organisation require trust in the receiving organisation. That commodity is in finite supply with regard to the WSR plc given it's recent behaviour; enough that I would personally struggle to give via an intermediary, let alone direct.

 

Have to say that I agree with you completely Rodney. I gave my donation directly to the Railway for that very reason, although the option to increase that donation by 25% with Gift Aid is an attractive one.

 

Perhaps you don’t have the full picture, Rodney.

4561 is being worked on by WSR plc staff, so supporting that project keeps the wage bill covered and contributes to WSR plc overheads.

Likewise for infrastructure work, carried out by the WSR plc and the other projects we have asked the WSR plc to come forward with.

As I have said, please donate where you are comfortable. But it is, IMHO, a bit mad to avoid a 25% uplift on your donation from the UK government if you qualify.

Robin

 

"Directly to the railway" is an odd statement in this context, the idea that the Plc is more "the railway" than the WSRA is is another one of those symptoms of disconnect on the WSR IMHO.
Anyway, I would merely note in respect to @rodders154 's concerns, that the GWSR has a similar appeal here, in this case focusing on the recent landslip costs of half a million pounds, but at the end of the day it is in effect the same as everybody else's coronavirus shut-down appeals. We're asking for all money to be funnelled through the Trust, whether prospective donors can take advantage of gift-aid or not, so it can't be that hard. Once again, it feels like the GWRT seem to find it much easier to grant money to the Plc running the railway than people on the WSR think the WSRA can to their Plc.