West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Nope, blue. Heavy, but lots of wheels.

 

The WSR did get offered 3803 in exchange for 4561 by the SDR not so long ago. They turned it down because they didn’t like the way GWR 2-8-0s wore the track. (Experience of 3850 no doubt)

 

Maybe of interest. My video from 8 years ago. Includes a couple of clips of 3850 in action.
The West Somerset Steam Express, 34067 Tangmere, GWR 2-8-0 No. 3850, 21 July 2012.

At least it’s on topic - ‘West Somerset Railway Operations’.

 

Useful to just about any preserved railway you would quite rightly think but this is the WSR we are talking about here which is blighted by some people who have some very deeply ingrained prejudices and not all of them are members of the supporting associations either.

This faction want money to be found and spent improving the line to a level beyond hatched/double red in order to indulge in running larger engines (the old double red was for a maximum axle load of 22 tons 10 cwt and they want to provide a home for 6024!), big chufferitis strikes again. Taking a look at 88, with a nominal tractive effort of 35,295 lb it comes under GWR power classification E and based on its axle load is easily a blue route engine. Could the WSR work its trains with blue and yellow route engines? Of course they could and have. Do they have need of larger engines in order to deal with the heaviest trains coming onto the line? Only when they haven't got the 7f available. True it is not always going to be available but if you plan for your maintenance and overhauls like Ian Riley does with the locomotives that he has charge of then it is not going to be out of traffic overlong. Neither will any other engine if this well planed approach is adopted. If they haven't got the S&D machine they could perhaps hire a locomotive for a period but evidently the GW 2-8-0 types have an unsatisfactorily long coupled wheelbase.

The railway should maintain its route to a level it can afford, blue should suffice for now, it should not be indulging in dreams, now is not the time. The railway needs more support but it will be some time before it receives it. Until people are convinced that it has well and truly buried the past and reformed itself into an organisation which can be respected and trusted folk will correctly direct their donations elsewhere. Trustworthiness is easily destroyed, so is credibility and it takes a great deal of work to restore them. If the WSR and its organisations want to know how it came to this then they should look firmly at themselves and the those who all to frequently rise to the top. Self inflicted wounds.

 

Mm, I don't think we should let the knowledge that the chairman owns 3 red route locos cloud our views too much.
Bear in mind that the WSR needs a lot of civil engineering work done anyway, it may well make sense to reinstate red route status at the same time, rather than doing everything twice. Not being able to accept heavier engines does restrict what you can run, and that may be a constraint. Already the WSR has lost Raveningham Hall, and taking the chairman's ownership out of things for a moment, there's no denying that a 96xx would be a jolly useful locomotive too. The WSR has a need for at least 1 engine that can take 12 coaches several times a year, but isn't absurdly overpowered for normal running either. In practice that means at least 2 engines, allowing for overhauls. Once you rule out GWR 2-8-0s, you're not left with much that isn't red route. I think it's also worth remembering that there is a difference in the level of civil engineering required to accommodate a double red loco going at 70mph compared to 25mph too.
So yes, the WSR can in theory run its services with only blue and yellow locos, but in a world where steam locomotives are in short supply, you really don't want to be restricting yourselves if you can help it. I'm sure the KESR for instance would love to run only ex-SR locos, but beggars can't be choosers so they run a variety of locos.

 

Gosh some of these pictures are truly depressing: http://cgibin.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?h=Topical%20pictures&t=pics
It's incredibly admirable that volunteers have been out weeding by hand in the last few weeks but on the hand WTF??! Surely the PLC can afford to send a weed killing train / vehicle down the track at the very least?
This would surely be a great morale booster as well as the practical reasons for doing so.
After all the railway made a £300k profit last year didn't it?!

 

Especially if you spend each month worrying about if you will receive your steaming fees or landed with a haulage cost to move your loco from the exWSR.

 

I thought he only owned 2 Alex? 9466 and 4936 - have I forgotten one?

Keith

 

Sorry, yes, I think I must have accidentally counted Thornbury Castle which he has of course sold.

 

Needing a certain type of engine to cope with just a few trains a year does seem an expensive options. Is there any reason why they could not simply resort to double heading these few trains or do they have weight restrictions over certain structures?

 

Thought my memory was going! Thanks!

Keith

 

I find the juxtaposition of two things interesting. Firstly, we have the identified requirement to sort out the infrastructure of the WSR because track and structures/earthworks have been allowed to deteriorate through under investment over many years. Work was done on this 18 months ago, with more needed.

Second, we have work from the winter shutdown left unfinished and seemingly well behind where it should have been at with the originally planned reopening date in March. Subsequently, working parties seem to be organised slightly haphazardly and as a result of bottom up endeavour rather than as an organised programme of work.

I’m confused about the contrasting impressions of the current railway management that these leave.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

There seems to be something of a myth going round that 53808 is only needed for a few trains per year.

According to Issue 1 of "Platform", it:

'ran very well during 2019 covering just under 9,000 faultless miles on the WSR'​

You don't do 9,000 miles per year if you only come out for half a dozen mainline specials each summer!

There seem to be lots of myths and suppositions about loco operating costs of supposedly big and small locos. It's hard to see why No. 88 should be more expensive to overhaul than, say, a Manor - you've got the same number of pistons and valves to maintain; the same number of axle boxes, a similarly-sized boiler and so on. Equally on coal consumption: most locomotives are much-of-a-muchness on efficiency, so No. 88 working to pull 6 coaches won't use an appreciably different amount of coal to any other loco, since it is doing equivalent work - probably rather less than a too-small loco being worked very hard and throwing coal away up the chimney.

The things that drive operating cost:

- Low reliability (because it decreases the number of days available, so increases the cost per day)
- Being too small (coal lost up the chimney)
- Inefficient rostering, i.e. intermittent usage (because it leads to increased coal lost lighting up - you'll use more coal running seven consecutive Sundays than running seven consecutive days)
- Crew capability (but subject to the fact you have to keep training new crews.)
- High axle load (which is more of an impact on infrastructure cost than loco costs, but still a significant part of the equation).

On all those factors, No. 88 looks a bargain.

Tom

 

That infers the route was once classed as red. When was that ?

Upgrading the line would be a massive investment and all investments should have a payback period. The world will stop mining coal before the investment is paid off. If however you have 2 and a quarter red route locos, things look very different. The WSR is not there for the personal gain of any individual but not every individual shares that view.

 

If a weed killer train ran today, the weeds would gradually die off over a period of weeks, and would still be visible, albeit dead, for months to come. Hand weeding gives instant results, and is just as effective as spraying when the roots are removed as well. The only downside is that it takes a great deal longer and a lot of hard work!

 

And I am sure the WSR knows that they have a bargain Tom. A pity they have to bite the hand that gives!!

 

As if things couldn't get worse, the WSR PLC Chairman and his holdings company have now instructed Solicitors (in Clitheroe), who have written to Julie Norman (Headteacher of Stogumber C of E Primary school) threatening libel proceedings and a claim for compensation, legal costs, and a threat to report her to the Police for the crime of harassment.

Although Julie Norman's letter of 9th March was widely repeated in the press and by the local MP (and on here), it appears that she is being personally singled out - with the inevitable consequence - if followed through and successful - of the school and Somerset County Council and presumably also the Department of Education - paying the WSR PLC Chairman and his holdings company significant amounts of money.

And if Julie Norman is prosecuted for a crime, she would presumably have to endure further consequences from her employer.

So, we now know what has been exercising the minds of some of late, rather than run a railway.

Cheers,

Julian Atkins