West Somerset Railway General Discussion

They were all announced at the WSRA AGM and so will undoubtedly appear in the minutes.

 

Sorry Rodders is not that type of guy - if you want to know you will have to ask him!

Why should he bother to contact you when he has no need to do so?

Why does he need to explain himself on here?

 

It would be fitting karma if those 10, do get voted in at the WSSRT AGM and those who supported the PLC, lost their seats , especially the chairman, and he was replaced by the very same person much of the abuse was aimed at, of course, she won't be invited to join the PLC board, not yet anyway, whilst the present group have the power, hopefully, then, things can move towards evicting the PLC cuckoo from the WSR nest.

 

So Rodders has left the forum - I am not surprised, but believe me he is not ^^^^ stirring or otherwise he would have published what I believe he knows and then if it is true as I believe then I think you may well be somewhat surprised and disappointed!

As ever with the WSR it all about Personalities!!

 

There was a water tower at Williton in preservation, between the two lines of the platforms at the MD end. There's videos of it in use in the 80s. It was then lying for a period of time there until the late 00s at least, it may still be there I can't recall now.

 

That last paragraph says it all, "It's about Personalities" and that is ,why it may not survive. unless enough people decide, that's enough, and start to put their railway first, it will, if it survives, limp from crisis to crisis.

 

You'll have to explain something to me, because I really don't get it.

How does a legal letter sent to someone justify transphobic abuse against someone on this forum?

Time and time again, the two issues have been conflated to muddy the waters, and to provide some way of excusing the abuse that was posted on this forum.

Even if someone sent a legal letter, in what way does that give someone the right to respond abusively? In what way does that provide a justification or explanation for that abuse?

Even if the letter sent was in the form of cut out letters and dog mess, that would still not justify abusive behaviour here. So frankly, I don't see what the point is here by referencing it.

 

Now that the Autumn Equinox has passed, I've been thinking that perhaps the best thing to do would be to hibernate until next Spring, by which time hopefully all this nonsense will be over. Sadly, rather like Groundhog Day etc, I would probably awake again at NP page 3xxx and find that nothing has changed :-(

Meanwhile, let's just pause to remember how it all began, all those long years ago....

 

He doesn’t and I believe now cannot. But if he wishes to be taken seriously, then throwing occasional grenades then running away doesn’t achieve that. Nor, writing as someone who’s never knowingly encountered him, does it do anything for the suggestion that he’s a plain talker.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Censorship is not what I am after. This thread has become a nasty, vindictive circus with repeated and repetative accusations flying back and forth which make no sense to this observer. Mature discussion is fine but for the most part that is nowhere to be seen on here. Instead there is nothing but bile and bitterness which does no credit to either side of the various disputes on show here. If this is a reflection of the reality of the WSR there is no hope for the railway and the sooner it is put out of its misery the better. It certainly will not survive on the venom unleashed on these pages.

Peter

 

Closing down this thread will not make one ounce of the venom go away, it will just come out elsewhere, if the statement by the candidates for the WSSRT trusteeship is anything to go by. At least if people are being nasty on Nat Pres, their tactics can be seen by others and when other people profess wide-eyed ignorance of such tactics, their attention can be drawn to the relevant posts. On Nat Pres, people can reply to these sorts of statement and implications, inconsistencies, inaccuracies and failures of logic can be pointed out, none of which is possible in, say, the local newspapers, which haven't been shy of putting one side of the argument.
Closing down the thread is addressing the symptom, not the disease.

 

I didn't see the post, but good god ! If anyone who has links with the railway can make such vile comments then not only should they be having words with the police and see the inside of a courtroom, but the railway should issue a life ban from all property owned.

Anyone who is so closed minded as to make comment should be ashamed of themselves.

 

Well, if he doesn't mind people thinking him a s***-stirring troll, then no, he doesn't. And no, it makes no difference what he knows or could have published, his posts are still s***-stirring. The fact he could have added more **** to the pot is neither here nor there. You seem to think that if you are telling the truth, you cannot be s***-stirring, when in fact telling the truth is often the best stirring-stick that there is.

 

Many heritage railways are currently struggling to survive - apparently it's different in Somerset - they are struggling to die. For gawds sake get a grip and either start working together or simply pack it all in.

The reported antics remind me of the Hatfields & McCoys ( feuding hillbilly families ).

 

John is entitled to an opinion, just like you are. He has prepared a report based on information provided to him by the various parties and has reached various conclusions and recommendations. Isn't that what was his remit but it seems that, if you don't agree with him he is opinionated and not reaching a rational conclusion. FWIW, I tend to agree with him. From my vantage point over 200 miles away (actually much closer at the moment as I'm on holiday in the south west) it really does look like the move to increase the number of trustees to the WSSRT is a takeover bid with ulterior motives that are not simply for the benefit of that Trust and is not a good idea. It is simply another move in an ongoing power struggle. I might be wrong but I need convincing.
I am very doubtful that John Bailey is acting as a spokesman for the plc. One thing is certain; whether you like those involved or not, the plc hold all the cards and, if there is to be any future for the WSR, they are going to have to lead and the others follow and I'm reasonably certain that John will be of the same opinion. IMHO, John is also right in his suggestion that a new charitable organisation is formed to take over the assets of the railway and a new wholly owned plc formed to run the railway. I can never see the WSRA undertaking that role; there is too much history to both it and the personalities involved and the animosity between the various factions will not go away. You only have to read the posts on here to realise that.
Before anyone again accuses me of being in cahoots with John on this; although we are reasonably well acquainted, I have not seen nor spoken to him since last October and that includes any other means of communication, other than a couple of brief posts on here.

 

There have been many comments here which seem to read into posts what is not there - as suggested in jma's post. A few posts here make 2+2=5 sadly. Rodders closed his account, he is not suspended. The suspension refers to someone else. Work it out for your self.
There have also been posts, today, which have sailed very close to infringement of Forum rules, in my opinion, regarding personal names, despite the courteous advisory post by Big Al a day or so ago.

 

As the disease is clearly terminal, the humane thing to do is to alleviate the symptoms. The WSR has reached the stage of needing palliative care prior to its forthcoming demise.

There seems to be so much nastiness on here that I long ago lost track of who is being nasty to who and why. To me it is just a mass unremitting and seemingly childish and pointless point scoring. A bit of compromise on all sides would go a long way to help but that seems to be a concept alien to many here. It just seems such a pity and so unnecessary to me.

Peter

 

No. John Bailey's job was to work with the PLC and the SDRT, his job wasn't even to propose ways to resolve the issues in Somerset. He chose to do that.

His job was not to insert himself into the internal debates within Somerset and to take sides.

If an outside facilitator starts taking sides which John Bailey is, then they are no longer impartial.

If he is acting as the PLC's spokesman to the press then he is no longer impartial. He is the PLC's man.

If he is no longer impartial on those matters then it is hard to take the report on the future of the WSR or the S&DRT as neutral reports from a dispassionate outside observer. No wonder he came to the conclusions he came to.

He is a fig leaf for the PLC to hide behind.

 

I am not taking sides, either with John Bailey or anyone else. I am forming my own opinions. That they are different to yours does not make me impartial.

 

That doesn't have anything to do with John Bailey's lack of impartiality.