S&D Railway Trust

Presumably that's when the candidate toddles down to the County Court with a tame lawyer in tow?
Now why does that sound familiar?....

 

The colour is right, Prussian Blue appears to vary with the available daylight.

 

Wasnt one of the reasons why SCC wernt keen on selling the freehold last time that it would retain a number of the liabilities, in particular for the sea defence between Blue Anchor & Minehead that the railway provides and some bridges? As @Robin Moira White pointed out the GWR fitted Rock Armour around Blue Anchor in the 1930's

 

Given that the Peckett was never an S&DJR engine and never carried Prussian Blue livery ins ervice, one could argue that the colour is 'wrong' for the engine anyway

AIUI its stay on the Helston Rly ended in January, after which it was returning (to Washford?) for overhaul - has it not yet come back? The S&DRT website is quiet about its whereabouts at the moment.

 

I asked this on the WSR Operations thread a couple of weeks ago:-

Has everything that invoked the ire of ORR been put right?
There was a lot of fuss about it at the time, but it’s been somewhat usurped as a debating point by the SDRT sub lease.

 

I'm not sure "invoked the ire of ORR" is the right phrasing. The ORR were called in by WSR people. I recall one of them said as much on this site.

 

I’ve said before that the only problem the WSR has is its Culture. Taking a step back from all of this the actions and inaction's of people today is the end of a line of built up behaviour which has been allowed to happen partly due to structure, partly due to lack of governance and partly due to poor management who think the ends justify the means. The bullying on the WSR has become institutionalised, getting people to stay silent by any means is just normal and accepted behaviour now. Sometimes these actions are deliberate and sometime they are sub-conscious, but the outcome is the same.

The first time the WSRA tried to stop me talking was 5-ish years ago when the then WSRA Chair and Vice-Chair both issued a dictate to the other Trustees (I had just joined). It said, because we had just got rid of the EX6 we all needed to pull together, do some tough things etc. etc. so the Chair & Vice Chair had decided that Trustees were not allowed to talk either on Social Media or to Members who asked questions, only they were authorised to do that. In addition we were told that if a Board decision was made by some without other Trustee’s knowing then the other Trustee’s had to agree automatically or resign.

Whilst I understand the need for a communication strategy this was the beginning of gagging people and cutting out any opinion that didn’t match the self-chosen few which has grown and prospers today. I did not agree that a WSRA Member who I considered my ‘Boss’ was not allowed to get a response from me. I also disagreed with some of the decisions taking place, so after a short period of trying to work it through ‘inside the tent’ I resigned as my only option.

This culture has grown from that time, I have had emails from the WSRA starting in Dec 2018 firstly asking me nicely to stop posting because the new PLC Chairman needed some time to save the railway and then later telling me in no uncertain terms. It continues today to others who I have spoken to, it’s sometimes passive/aggressive in nature but it’s still bullying and a few recent attacks on people here have been orchestrated. Today the actions are becoming bolder, the bad structure, lack of policies and governance means the institutionalised bullying has no check or balance as long as people stay scared it’s an easy case of divide and conquer.

What’s this got to do with the S&D? The eviction is just the latest in a line of things but it’s also one with a large external profile and impact. They were asked for a large amount of money, they couldn’t pay for the reasons previously debated and so they are being thrown out. The process is the same: do as you are told or you will leave. The behaviour because it’s gone unchecked is larger and more public now. The people involved know there are no consequences, after all they have done similar many times now and got away with it, so why would this time be different?

Cure the culture and you begin to unlock all of the positive things about the WSR (and there are many), the people are there to do this, they just can’t/won’t engage under the current culture. The structural solutions are simple enough if the culture allowed the change, the money and the people are I believe there and they will come back if the culture is in place to welcome them.

Currently the culture is negative, poisonous and dangerous so why would anybody ever want to give themselves a hard time and get involved? Make the culture positive and welcoming and people will feel safe to engage. The one universal comment is always that all love the WSR, so just allow all to love it and be a part of it.

The first step on the journey is to stop the S&DRT Eviction now before it goes too far. I have spoken to the S&DRT in detail over the last few weeks, I think they are reasonable people and as a Member when I ring or email the Chairman to ask him probing questions I get open and transparent answers given in a positive and welcoming way as a two way debate, we need more of that engagement between everybody.

From my conversations, in my opinion if the S&DRT felt a part of the WSR then they could help more if there was positive dialogue and a strategy which all could work toward (the PDG would allow this). Overall the S&DRT add to the WSR, they contribute in lots of ways, they have been a partner since the start and deserve better. However the bullying culture means they are just currently viewed as a big piggy bank to be raided and nothing more, and the bullying culture means everybody else in the WSR family are either doing nothing or supporting the bully without saying it in public.

It’s coming to a head now, the situation is I feel unsustainable, the culture of the last few years clearly hasn’t worked so time for change. The PDG and community engagement is the key to this, in my opinion the WSR has to be a community railway because that means people and money wanting to be involved in a great community asset for the good of all.

Long post again, sorry. Despite trying hard I’m still maintaining my 100% failure rate in stopping myself giving a detailed opinion/worthless rant (delete as you see fit).

 

The 'we need to pull together' argument seems to be whipped out with regularity on the WSR to silence people.

 

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/great-dorset-steam-fair-postponed-4087490

Not good news it must have some impact on the Steam rally which will affect the amount of funds raised by the WSRA and the S&D who would normally have a stall to raise money

 

ORR called in by WSR people?

If there was nothing found wanting, why has ORR’s involvement with WSR been used jointly by ORR, HRA & WSR to inform other preserved railways of what is and isn’t acceptable?

 

You are indeed correct however numerous footpaths cross the line. Washford has good line of sight in either direction so could be argued to be far safer than many others.

And to answer twr12, yes the ORR were contacted by a colleague who I was working with on a number of mini projects and (some ?) members of the board had prior knowledge.

 

What exactly was found/placed in the public domain & where is it?

 

This?
https://orr.gov.uk/news-and-blogs/orr-blog/2019/steaming-safely-from-the-1950s-into-the-21st-century

 

I see from Railway Herald that the 4160 have reached an agreement to complete the loco - but it's only a one-liner and doesn't say who or what's involved - can anyone here elaborate? If it isn't the WSR it must surely complicate any legal action by the WSRA to recover its share in the engine.

 

South Devon Railway - to complete overhaul then run - custodians to be 5542 Ltd. Should not really impact any action by WSRA as that is to recover "shares" in the company - of course it does likely mean that chances of the loco returning to the WSR are diminished

 

The gate at the foot of the platform slope is usually unlocked when the station is staffed. Good job too as it is the only access to/from the platform for those using a wheelchair. We sometimes worry that one day we'll return by train to Washford, find no-one on duty, the gate locked and we will be unable to leave the station.

Steve

 

A very sad post all round. Whilst I'd noted with deep concern the number of things attracting criticism over time, I'd not considered it as a progression before, lack of action against one decision enabling the next, slightly worse one.
I was reading a discussion about why UK ministers have been so bad at responding to the current crisis and came across this in the context of ministers being picked for being pro-Brexiteers rather than competent: "I was always taught belief or adherence to an idea, as a requirement to participate in government or run it's bureaucracy was how empires often ended." Sadly it reminded me of the WSR.

 

Or to a further extent, the actions, comments and views of the president of the United States, Mr Donald Trump.

If any of his staff disagrees with him ….they're gone. <BJ>

 

I've never known it to be locked in the 20 plus years I've been around there. It is an accomodation crossing for the farm/Crown land on the other side, the farmers go back and forth freely all year round. The field gate does now have a lock that was put on when the cycle path was opened, the farmers have access to the code or whatever is used, that has to be locked to stop trespassing. In theory anyway, the staff are supposed to challenge the climbers I think and turn them back if they do see it?