West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Completely OT, but for anyone interested in those who run a heritage railway under difficulty should look at the FR webcam for Harbour station this morning , Fri 21/8. I've been visiting here since the early days of preservation, and never before seen waves topping the Cob's wave wall (built within the last few years) while trains are running. See https://www.festrail.co.uk/webcams/

Jim O'Brien

 

I have mobile phone, not an all singing and dancing one - I don't need it. It is a true mobile phone, i.e. a phone which I might need when to not at home to contact family or get help. It is usually switched off when at home.
I must add that my pc and laptop never remember, by choice, any log-in details of banking or any where payments are concerned.

 

And it is the existence of people like you as part of a customer base that the obsession with always online services needs to remember.

 

Indeed, Paul, so many utilities and others won't rest until they get a mobile number. It seems irrelevant which number you type in usually, as long as it is the customary number of digits and starts with the UK prefix. Which may explain why some folk, apparently, get curious messages on their mobile phones. An e-mail address is safer I guess.

 

Some organisations sadly seem unable to comprehend or accept that fact that it is quite possible to send and receive text messages without a mobile phone at all - I do it on my land-line all the time.

One bank insisted that I had to use a mobile for 'security' reasons so that it could send me one-time pass-codes. I pointed out that a fixed land-line at my house, to which only we had access, was far more secure for such purposes than a mobile which I might have lost, or had stolen, and could be in the hand of any unknown person. They had no answer to that.....

 

To some extent any visit to a heritage railway is pre-planned, especially if it involves travelling some distance and booking accommodation to stay there for (say) a weekend. However I know from practical experience that until such time as I actually arrive at my destination there is no guarantee that the visit will actually happen. Personal circumstances are such that, even with bags packed and car loaded ready for an early start next day, I may well have to cancel when morning arrives. The 'worst' experience so far was actually getting within sighting distance of my B&B when an emergency call from home meant I had to turn around and go straight back :-( Even on the day unexpected delays caused by road-works, traffic accidents, etc can mean that arrival is significantly delayed and a rapid re-think of the schedule for the day is necessary. Accepting the fact that trains may, or may not, be fully-booked without the option to just turn-up on the day and take pot-luck would mean that I would think twice about actually making a visit.

 

I can't remember now if it was the day of the bomb scare or a day when they terminated early, it was well over two hours whatever it was, I asked why there was nothing on their website and one of the senior management flippantly responded that they had just put it on Facebook. Really? Well he figured that is what everyone was using. So general Joe ( myself and how many others?) on pay as you go mobile had to try and find a signal and log on to mobile data to then be told that it would cost an arm and a leg and there wasn't enough credit on the phone. Those around us that did have data and a signal were looking in the most obvious place for their information, the West Somerset Railway, and were not at all amused to find nothing at all.

 

To be fair, social media is the more effective tool in that scenario. A website can take time to update and the person with the know-how might not be immediately available, whereas anyone can put it up on Facebook, twitter etc. That said, if you're actually on the railway I'd expect to be told by a member of staff what was going on rather than be sat on my phone trying to find out when I was actually there, regardless of which website the information was or wasn't on.

 

There’s some truth in that, but over adoption can hurt companies as it degrades their relationship with customers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

A bit of nostalgia.
Only ever saw 53808 once at work on the WSR, on The West Somerset Steam Express, 29th September 2012, with a bit of help from Tangmere:

 

You lucky person!

Used to do 2 round trips a day every gala!

 

A quote from the latest Steam Railway magazine.

''Enterprising railways, centres and museums have found ways of creating a meaningful experience in spite of the well-known restrictions that are now in force''.

A key word missing from the West Somerset Railway at present .....'enterprising'. <BJ>

 

I think to be fair, the open station events at Minehead did and will show some thought has gone into providing an attraction of a different kind. Whilst it may not be perfect, it does allow the public to learn about railway operation.

 

Not forgetting the bus operation.

The open station event may be been fine for a quick one off visit but how does that compare with being aboard a steam service and hearing the steam loco hard at work climbing Washford or Crowcombe banks? That really is experiencing and learning about a railway operation. <BJ>

 

I think a big restriction is that the locos and stock are trapped at Minehead with Seaward way a no-go area. Things B&Q sell and 'What a' in front of it come to mind!

One railway I'm not quite so sure why they aren't running are located in the next county further west.

 

So it sounds like there's a load of people who aren't prepared to let go of the past and move forwards to a new era....now why does that sound familiar?

 

So - have you foresaken pen and paper and now write only on electronic devices perhaps ?

 

Says someone who drives steam engines.

 

I wonder if he has an steam enginemen's drivers guide app on his phone, telling him where to brake, what cut off etc is best, all done by GPS, Seriously though, we are at the stage now with mobile communications, that signalling could be possible by an on board app, on the drivers phone, already, its done on the radio in the cab, on some routes, I wonder how long before some railways start using hand held devises for daily mileage recording, fault recording, exams etc, possibly as part of the maintaince schedule recording?