West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Possibly a question worth asking of any thread about a preserved line might be, were the management to read the threads might they learn anything useful from them?

Useful includes not only what is wrong of course but what is right.

At the expense of blowing my own trumpet, I was asked if a post I made about a visit to the North Norfolk Railway could be used in their publications because of my & my wifes comments on the good condition of the coaches.

 

There are plenty of illustrations of the problems any reform or instituting change on the WSR will face in the last couple of pages.

You have the tendency in the WSR to pull rank. Points of view or opinions are not treated as they stand, but rather there is a tendency for someone to claim that their idea is more valid because they have spent 30, 40, doing x,y,z. It then descends into macho nonsense about who has the most experience and so therefore their opinion is more valid than someone elses.

This is a weird WSR thing, when I read the Bluebell, NYMR, SVR, MHR, NNR, GCR or Ffestiniog threads (to name a handful of the premier league lines), I never see someone claiming that because they have been volunteering since 1978 that their views are more valid than someone who joined in 2010. But I guess that is the culture in the WSR, and that is part of the problem.

Any outsider is dismissed because they are an outsider.

Criticism is treated as either a personal insult, or dismissed.

You'll note, that ideas are not discussed.

Nor, on the basis of that is there any willingness to compromise or openess to alternative view points.

So, even if the WSR were to weather this storm, there will still be the old cliques, the same old prejudices and intolerance will remain, the same old resistance to change, the culture won't have changed. All of which means that reform will either kicked into the long grass (crisis over no need to reform), or subverted (I'm not giving up my position if so and so is remaining in post).

The insularity, of those involved in the WSR, would be wryly amusing, if the situation facing the WSR were not so serious.

 

>>>>Sports team ditch a struggling manager mid season to effect a change....
...a process which has always puzzled me, given that it is the players who kick the ball into the opponents' goal who get the result, not the manager.
To apply the analogy to the WSR, we appear to have a situation where the manager is slowly taking the players off the pitch one by one and then wondering why his team is overwhelmed by the opposition

 

Some time people on the outside have a clearer view than those who are at the coal face, because if you are actively involved your judgement can be clouded, either for , or against, No railway has a right to exist, and there is no such thing as being to big to fail, the problems with the railway go back years, and is heavily ingrained to the point where its possible that it will never change, Railways that are at war with themselves is not a nice thing to see, it divides friends into two camps, pro, and anti, I can remember only too vividly when my old line had it's problems, it hurt everyone, and friends fell out over it, but it had to be be done , you can not have a railway being ran as anyone's own play thing, and setting department against department in the process, and it took years to recover from it, some people left, but others came back, who fell out with the old management, sound familiar ?

 

Ah yes MHR. It’s taken years for it to recover from the damage done by a hard nosed businessman doing among other things, deals with another company they were also a director of.

 

Sn******ch! Thanks Keith, for ages I've had a sense of deja vu, but I couldn't pin it down.

 

You don't need knowledge to spot logical inconsistencies (apart from a knowledge of logic, that is).

 

It is clear that the railway is, as a result of several things coinciding, very short of available funds.
Perhaps a couple of the senior members here could explain why, with the exception of the Hinkley Point application organised by Andy Norman, there have been few, if any, attempts made over at least the last five years to apply for grants from other agencies. A number of other lines have benefited from these processes and it is likely that the WSR or one or more of the support organisations could have gained some assistance through this means. This is pretty basic fundraising for most charities and community organisations. Is there a sort of "we won't accept charity" mindset or was it just too hard to fill in the paperwork ? Certainly, until recently there seems to have been no reason why such application could not have been made.

 

The counterpoint to this argument, which @Maunsell907 is also making, is that the COVID-19 crisis has not paralysed us. Quite the opposite, it has left many people with much more time to do things than they would otherwise have had. In fact it is the perfect time for the WSR to be looking to make major organisational changes. The "quest for survival" is not an exclusive activity, other activities can be pursued in parallel with it.
Added to this, there is strong evidence that the problems whose solutions you wish to delay until after the current COVID-19 crisis is over are themselves impacting the ability of the WSR to survive that crisis. To continue with @Maunsell907's nautical analogy, we are being urged to stop worrying about the hole in the side of the ship and join in with those manning the pumps.

 

Not just a "valid comment"! @Anne C-B touches on the most important issue facing us right now. We don't need to be told (again) about the causal factors as folks see them.

Please address the serious matter of "no Plc, no Railway" and tell us what to actually do to save the Plc and thus the Railway. Please give us real solutions. Now. Otherwise, support us by donating to the cause.

Steve

 

I agree organisation change is needed right now but how is that process started when some of the main parties have no wish for change? Rest assured, some folks are working on it. Even if we could start that process today, it would take months, years before it was all sorted. Meanwhile there is a Railway to save and since the Plc runs the Railway, we need to save the Plc.

Steve

 

A new PLC Board seems like a good starting point, followed by withdrawing the Notice to Quit served on the S&DRT and reinstatement of the HR Procedures, including 'Due Process' for all that have had their WSR ID cards withdrawn

 

Interesting

 

And exactly how do you propose "we" do that? In the next few weeks or so? I remind you that the Plc (and the Railway) may not be there for that new Board you desire.

Steve

 

I'm not saying how 'We' do it, I am simply listing what I think is needed.

The existing board is perfectly capable of withdrawing the S&DRT Notice to Quit & reinstating the HR policies, together with going through 'Due Process' for those whose ID cards have been withdrawn, all of which would be very helpful in the current situation. Why it will not do so I have no idea.

 

Whilst I appreciate that there is a need for the reformers to keep their powder dry, some evidence of movement towards reform would go a long way towards making the saving of the Plc an easier and more successful process.

 

I think we need more than that, @johnofwessex - saying what needs to be done is one matter, but, we really need to know how to make it happen.

Steve

 

Well the WSRA and WSSRT could have a Zoom meeting within the next 24 hours and use their major (joint) shareholding to instruct the PLC to make changes.

It can be done if the will is there, unfortunately I really don't think the will to change is there within any of the PLC/WSRA/WSSRT.

Keith

 

I don't think anyone who believes in reform and is working on change is keeping their "powder dry". The WSRA have mentioned the need for structural reform, the recent petitioners have mentioned same. Even lowly supporters like me have written about the need. Some of these may well have broached the topic with the key players. However, there is no formal "movement" as far as I know. Just a seemingly growing number of people who believe change is vital to the future of our Railway. None of us will not be discussing any of this further if the Plc does not survive, and the Railway needs it to survive. So, please help us by donating now to the Plc.

Steve