West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I would not put it past the WSR to allow the S&DRT to relocate to BL , Then to announce they are abandoning the section beyond BA , not intending to operate beyond that point, blaming it on costs etc, i then had this thought, imagine, then if say the WSRA broke away from the PLC/ WSSRT operation, renamed themselves the Somerset and Dorset railway, and started operating its own services, From BL, to Washford, and had the former promotions building etc, And whilst the other end of the line ran a couple of mk1's and pannier, the other end got on loan engines such as an 9f, std 5, etc, anything with a S&D theme, for a re opening gala under new ownership running decent sized trains, and built up their own line, to a point where they killed off the PLC stub,

 

There is much speculation circulating, but this is utter fantasy. In all of this, we need to remember that it is the WSR plc who hold the relevant papers to allow trains to run, and that it is a time consuming and seriously expensive job (especially with zero fares income) to put that paperwork in place.

 

You're smoking some rather potent stuff today Martin? What is it and who sells it to you?!

 

You are far from alone thinking about this connection, or rather series of connections linking these two areas. Glad you brought it up, I have only used the PM facility so far.

 

Washford would be ideal, presumably, for servicing and maintaining visiting charter locomotives (from Tyseley?) as that was an aim of the PLC some while back, hence the costly red route expenditure.

 

There is also a saying about looking like a duck, swimming like a duck etc.

I tend to agree with you that it's unlikely the management team are taking conscious steps to make it fail. But their unconscious steps could certainly make it fail. In essence this is the 'conspiracy versus cockup' view of life and I see the management of the PLC as being rather more on the cock-up side of things.

You say that a blueprint for the future of the railway might be in preparation, but hasn't yet been shared. I really admire your optimism! But don't you think that after nearly 2 years at the helm, the Chairman might have shared that blueprint by now? Indeed, by now, you would have thought that (Coronavirus excepted) the WSR would have been well into its turnover and recovery plan. But, regrettably, there was never any sign of such a plan, at least not one that was actually written down, consulted upon, and shared with all the railway's stakeholders. Instead, we have had nearly 2 years of meaningless (and at times downright misleading) platitudes, one after the other and recently at increasingly alarming frequency. In the words of another BSJ, it's all just "meaningless piffle". So personally, I think the time for slack cutting has long since gone. And I suspect many of the 500+ petitioners would agree. Time for a change at the top.

 

With regard to the “white knight” scenario, of someone offering to buy WSR Plc outright.

Just suppose that someone did actually rock up and offer £Ms to buy the Plc and retain it as a heritage railway?
Would the Plc be bound to accept it?
What percentage of shareholders would be needed to accept or decline the offer?

There is a precedent for a sole proprietor heritage railway; Epping Ongar Railway.
The owner sensibly runs it along heritage railway lines with a board of volunteer directors. Albeit selected and appointed by the owner.

 

So who could plausibly be this white knight, and what is the solution to the permits to operate that die with the plc on administration, as I can't see one that doesn't mean the railway closes for an extended period.

 

I think we're off into the realms of fantasy there Jones!

 

Why do the words 'City of Truro' spring to mind ???

 

To say something is "in hand" could simply mean it's on its way to the wastebin.

 

Fantasy speed?

 

Possible?

 

OK, i own up, i was being somewhat outlandish, but lets say for example the S&D group were allowed to stay, but had to relocate to BL, that section is hardly likely to see trains in 2021,if the cost cutting means operating a smaller section of line, they would effectively be left high and dry, until such time as services could be restored. how long might it take before the rest of the railway is brought back up to standard where services could resume, might that result in maybe thoughts of some with in the WSRA of the S&D being starved out , no services, no income, no visitors.

 

We're still in the realms of fantasy Martin

 

Its not so outlandish as it first appears. If you were going to 'reboot' the WSR and review it in total (which is what it needs) then you do have 6 acres of spare land at BL doing nothing immediately behind the station. It does access both the normally unused by regular passenger train section from BL to NF and the rest of the WSR and it would allow the S&D to run their tank engine and use their lovely coach on a shuttle to Norton when they wished (in between the other current uses). This could mean their stock which normally stands idle could be on passenger services, photo charters, footplate courses and educational trains, it would add to whats already happening not take anything away from it.

Whilst I'm not saying this is viable in reality, in my opinion the whole of the WSR if it does survive the coming months does need fresh and lateral thinking and new approaches as just doing whats always been done is not working. Regarding the use of the WSR as a'southern mainline steam base' mentioned a few posts above. That's not a new idea and a recent attempt 18 months back to move two mainline GWR engines into Williton didn't go down well either, but again in the right circumstances without throwing somebody else out to achieve it, you add to it while not taking from it, then its another idea that could have some legs. It would be another reason for people to come to the WSR and the WSR has lots of spare space including 33 acres at NF which as an area is being built up to with new access roads and housing meaning it soon won't be a field in the middle of nowhere that you can't get to but its now on the outskirts of Taunton as the County Town.

All these things need are money (back on the large grant funding band wagon again), strategic thinking and buy in by all the relevant stakeholders. The WSR has masses of potential and masses of resource on its 24 miles. Nobody since I've been around has worked together to unlock it, and I'm sorry but I'm back to it never happening whilst the current structure/people are in place. As Rodders (Rodney) said a few pages back the people involved for years won't even agree to combine two charities due to the power struggle, he was correct in his opinion on this, so what chance does using the WSR's resources to its full potential stand !!

 

But when asked why he took that stance there was no reply ! Perhaps somebody else can explain the history behind there being two charities and why they seem unable to work together. Is there a genuine difference in their views of the direction the WSR should take or is it just down to some bruised egos ? Currently it looks very much like the latter but that may be a mis-reading.

 

That is the question. What is really going on?
We have 1330 pages devoted to this particular railway so far and the discussion of perceived issues continues. The railway needs a reformed structure to be more certain of survival. It appears to be impossible to get the various groups and bodies involved to come together, to meet form a consensus with respect to what needs to be done and then to stick to it.
The bodies involved are felt to so be so ingrained with "guts hating" that they are going to go their own way at the first and every opportunity and so any notion that a consensus is realistically possible can be readily dismissed.
So what to do to? Force a reduction in the number of groups? Who can do this and how can they go about it? You have then to consider the nature of the motive, saving the railway and if so in what form? Is it going to be in a form similar to what currently exists, cutting out the historical inter group issues. Or what?
In the absence of reasonable, accurate and honest information, concerned and interested people will speculate.
It could be that the line is being taken in a direction that a very significant number of its supporters would be unwilling to support. If they lose out who will gain. Many individuals want to do themselves good to the point which means that doing anyone else good is not on the agenda. And you need to be aware that your view may be seen as unworthy of any consideration in dealings with such people. Get a group of similarly minded individuals together who see a clear goal to achieve as opposed to a loose knit body of groups unwilling to follow much needed advice and there will be tears.
But motives and the nature of the real endgame being so obscured makes for a very unsettled state of affairs.