West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Keith

 

No - please read all of what I said.
Everybody who volunteers or works on the WSR is a member of at least one of the organisations on the railway. Most folk who engage with the railway know who to ask for information. Certainly those planning donations engage regularly to discuss the disposition of their donations.
Your argument appears to be that there are a huge cohort of people who will donate a huge sum if.... ?

I am now going back to working to try to support the railway.

 

Precicely that I should think!

 

Yes, @aldfort , that is precisely the case.

I would have made a donation to the WSR if the Plc had not behaved so appallingly by evicting the SDRT, describing them as a "cuckoo in the nest". I would have made a donation to the WSR if the Chairman had not told your predecessor to Foxtrot Oscar. Need I go on?

I made a subtantial donation to one of the "premier league" railways, plus a couple to smaller railways. I seriously considered supporting the WSR (as I have done in the past). However, the behaviour of the Plc in early 2020 was nothing short of disgraceful and many other people have said the same thing. It should therefore come as a no surprise that people external to the WSR will not provide financial assistance when they see such things taking place. You reap what you sow.

 

Not far away...the L&BR Trust is a charitable body and also a limited company. It is the main (and indeed only, if one excludes Exmoor Associates and other such 'friends groups' which merely acquire land or stations to 'bank' for future purchase by the Trust) membership and fund-raising body. The L&BR CIC is, as its name implies, a CIC and also the railway's operating company, working to the direction of the Trust.

The structure seems to work well for them, indeed many of us have been happily very busy during lockdown working (usually in harmonious agreement <g>) on the plans for its new Extension....oh, and running trains too, with the Company reporting that passenger numbers have been almost at normal levels

 

Certainly bad news there and some resemblance to the WSR but with one huge difference: those in charge who found others disagreeing with them have stepped down. "If you don't like the way we're doing things, find someone else" instead of "If you don't like the way we're doing things, bugger off, you're not wanted on this railway".

 

A regards the WSR, I read it as being more of along the lines of " This is MY railway, and I do things MY way, And if you don't like it, I don't want you on My Railway"

 

I had had the exact same thought; and this has been a long-running problem on the WSR (e.g. the Ex-6). Another unfortunate similarity: the hard language directed at those on the other side.

Noel

 

I am now worried that the chairman of the main railway support association thinks that the railway, which is in desperate need of some very large sums of money - £500,000 a year has been quoted - because of historic underinvestment caused by simply approaching the same "in-house" band of supporters for donations, is still convinced that this approach, which has so signally failed to date, is still the right one for the future. If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got: not enough.

 

It should surely be crystal clear that, however you define huge, the events of this year have cost the West Somerset Railway a lot of money in with-held donations. I’m astonished that this even needs saying.

 

So far I make that NatPres 7 -v- aldfort 1

Have you ever considered going on a PR course, Mike?

 

I wasn’t at PDG, I didn’t hear the discussion, I don’t know what swayed the discussion in the direction set out by @aldfort. I’m surprised at the description of consensus, and deeply mistrustful of the motives and behaviour of some.

But this is a peace process. And like any peace process, if it is to be successful, it requires people to give it enough space to succeed, and enough scrutiny that those involved cannot derail it.

So I’m in the “I’ll believe it when I see it” camp, but will treat PDG as a step in the right direction.

However, I will state my disagreement with @Lineisclear on the role of a membership organisation. It is precisely because of the bad blood and history of infighting that the membership organisation needs to be strong, and democratic process embedded in its workings. It is the absence of that, and with it of a vent for committed members to influence their leaders when they take a wrong path, that leads to the behaviours that John set his stall against in his report, and has imprudently spoken out against in public.

I look forward to the WSSRT holding its agm soon, and the election of the WSSRT 10. Even if part of their platform is impractical, the focus they demonstrate on achieving a member led structure within the railway is vital at this time.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Unfortunately, it is far too easy these days to throw mud from a distance at those who are doing their best as they see things to be, and I hope, Mike, you will console yourself, if necessary, that most WSRA members and WSR volunteers are not keyboard warriors on NP. There is a silent majority who probably never look at NP. I do not know what their views would be, and I doubt that studying NP's many posts would make me any wiser. It was clear, when I met Mike in the Directors' Saloon [we had been summoned to explain our opposition to the Toxic 6+ ], that he has the best intentions for the WSR and it would seem he has the support of his membership. He certainly has mine.

 

I too very much support @aldfort in this. I attended the WSRA AGM online and congratulate them on overcoming the technical difficulties. Yes, the sound was poor, but he managed to involve the online audience as much as those in the hall. Well done. Mike has an incredibly difficult job. He now has 4 trustees who are standing in a process that has twice been criticised in documents he has signed as WSRA chairman. He is a very committed individual and we should support him in his efforts to keep the railway "on track".
Ian Coleby

 

Some of us just want the fighting to stop but are too afraid of being told to go elsewhere to speak up,
Without having anonymity.

No lessons seem to ever be learnt and when things look like they are heading the right way more mudslinging happens.

Some of us just want our railway and to get on with stuff in peace,

 

Again, an unfortunate way to look at it. We all want what's best for the WSR.

Noel

 

Hi Ian,

I would like to see a resolution of the SDRT issues.

WSRA chairman Mike Sherwood hasn't stated anything to assist the SDRT, and neither has WSSRT chairman Chris Austin or vice- chair Steve Williams, unless last week's PDG minutes show otherwise.

Resolution of the SDRT issues is the key for many of us, and I cannot myself understand why those 3 chairmen of the WSR plc board, WSSRT, and WSRA don't understand this.

Cheers,
Julian

 

I suggest that at the moment there is a process going on rather similar to the one many nations have had to go through transitioning from dictatorship to democracy in which an accommodation needs to be reached with those in power in order to move on.

 

"but are too afraid of being told to go elsewhere to speak up". What an appalling reflection on the current management and leadership of the line. Bullying and intimidation are totally unacceptable whoever they come from and however "good" the justification is supposed to be. Things can only be improved if the volunteers and members step up and make their wishes heard. If people are feeling intimidated then they really should either stand up and be counted or, if they are not comfortable with that, then vote with their feet - there are several lines nearby that would welcome extra support.