West Somerset Railway General Discussion

*sigh* OK Paul, all heritage railways are so badly managed, that twice a year they chuck 5 figure sums of money down the drain because they like playing with too many chuff chuffs. If only they were all managed like the Isle of Wight, then things would be better. (better than what? Covid aside the heritage railway movement is rich in diversity and amazing achievements)

 

Picnic baskets have been tried so far with promising results.

 

It can learn from things it has had to do in order to get through Covid. One line has announced it had only taken one sixth of its normal income.

 

Yes, and doubtless budgets will be assigned with regard to the cash available to invest in an event, and the likely return on that event. The issue, which you choose not to address, is that risk and reward are correlated; if railways take no risks, they will tend not to make rewards. That's not an argument for mega galas - they're not a business I'd choose to be in for high returns - but to contemplate the trade offs. I always find the parable of the Talents instructive here.

 

You forget to mention that they are overly big chuff chuffs!
In all seriousness, if there is anything positive to be had from COVID 's effect on the Heritage railway sector, it has forced lines to look at exisitng services and offerings and change these in ways that could prove beneficial in the long run. Nothing like an emergency to challenge received thinking. No one has had the luxury of just carrying on in the same way as we did in 2019/18/17.....
Not all changes will work long term, but some will

 

It is possible to run a covid compatible gala successfully. It has been done at least once this year. It was not a mega gala and I would have real doubts about any gala that needed more than four lowloader moves.

Dining trains are very possible. The Watercress Line ran quite a few this summer. The issue is really only how vulnerable people are feeling.

This year will probably have taught heritage railways the following....
1. Higher prices can be charged
2. Visitors very much like "curated visits"
3. Cost control is essential and smaller locomotives often make a lot of sense
4. You have to be bold, but it is possible to earn money despite all the hurdles (at least in England....not so easy elsewhere)

Sent from my SM-A405FN using Tapatalk

 

As usual, something being "possible" doesn't mean anything unless you look at the bigger picture.

The railway's financial situation, staff time available for planning, maintenance/infrastructure commitments etc etc.

 

3802, 6430, 7754 and Jennifer are all suitable for running to Corwen. Llangollen is essentially a one engine in steam railway and always has been. Two engines in steam being reserved for events and bank holidays.

Yes and no. Mechanical wear is directly related to mileage and how hard the engine works, particularly how often it has to accelerate a train from rest. However boiler, tanks and coal spaces corrode constantly unless properly mothballed. That is an operational engine awaiting its next turn suffers a level of corrosion whether it is being used or not, particularly if it is not undercover. Usage pattern makes a big difference, if an engine is used intensively and then its laid up for a while, that is much better for it than if its steamed only infrequently, i.e. only on weekends.

Finally there are fixed costs every 10 years (or 7 if you're unlucky, a full 10 years not being guaranteed)

1. Remove washout plugs, mud hole doors, cladding and lagging, pipework, blastpipe, spark arrestor, cab, extract the boiler from the frames (can involve crane hire costs)
2. Remove tubes, superheater elements, flues, super heater header, back head fittings, regulator, safety valves, grate, ashpan, brick arch & etc..
3. Clean out the inside of the boiler
4. Needle gun and inspect boiler, including taking thickness tests
5. Call in inspector for exam (cost)
   
6. Buy and fit new tubes, new flue ends, possibly new super heaters and entire new flues
7. Ideally paint the boiler
8. You will need to do at least some of: lapping in boss faces, retap washout plug holes, replace washout plugs, build up wastage on any mud doors or replace doors, check studs for wear/damage and replace
9. Blank off the boiler, hydraulic test, attend to leaks
   
10. Hydraulic test super heater elements, replace as necessary
11. Call in inspector for hydraulic exam (cost)
12. Calibrate all gauges
13. Assemble the grate, fit safety valves, steam test, attend to leaks
14. Call in inspector for steam exam (cost)
15. Make new brick arch, fit ashpan, super heater header, regulator
16. Place boiler back in frames
17. Paint inside of cladding, buy and fit new lagging, clad boiler
18. Anneal all pipework, check for remaining thickness or any cracks, good condition of fittings etc..
19. Reassemble fittings, pipework, blastpipe, spark arrestor
20. Refit cab
21. Steam test loco
22. Touch up paintwork where damaged, or repaint whole loco

That's the minimum assuming there are no boiler repairs to do which is extremely unlikely. The costs of the above is not trivial, a full repaint of a Manor for example can cost £10k upwards.

The more steamings you do, the less that fixed cost hurts, and more money you have for bottom end repairs, and putting money aside for major repair work or a new firebox. (as if any loco group can actually afford to do that!)

There is also the point about getting value for money out of your boiler plate. If you find boiler plate at 11mm thickness the boiler inspector will tell you to change the plate. However if the same plate was found to be 10mm thick, well you got quite a lot of extra mileage out of the boiler before the inspector told you to change the plate.

 

Coincidentally Jennifer was very much a WSR loco back in the day

http://www.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/snap.cgi?h=Snapshot&p=oldpix/jennifer2_se


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I didn't say it was impossible. I went on a Saphos rail tour premier dining in August!!

Severn Valley have not ran any dining trains post March lockdown and they do the most.

 

Any news on how the Santa's are going?

 

The Web cam at B L could do with a clean Please.

 

Sorry.

 

Working with my good friend Matt Green to sign write Ryan Pope’s Andrew Barclay 1219 to complete its presentation in its 1910 condition last Sunday (with some recoating of the white during the week).

 

very nice

 

It does seem a shame that the WSR is so strapped for cash that the Board could not even approve expenditure on a string or two of bit of tinsel to make the stations used for Santa's look a little more festive.

 

The synchronised sign-writing judges have deducted points for the palettes being at different angles Top notch job though

 

If you view the BL webcam in the early evening after dark, you will see that there are coloured lights decorating the station. CH also has some lights up, but obviously you can't see them on the webcam at present!

 

The Plc don't provide for decoration, the stations do. I seem to recall that a guard held a train outside Williton one day because they had Xmas lights on the station, they couldn't ascertain whether they had a green light on the signal.