Isle of Wight Steam Railway

Especially as, with a few notable exceptions, literally the entire preservation movement is WIBN.

 

Wouldn't it be nice can mean any number of things, from saving an 02, To the setting up of the IOWSR, As we now know it, I'm just happy that an example of the post steam railway is being preserved, something that was missed when the first tube stock was withdrawn, but things were very different then, Sometimes you do have to think out of the box, when something out of the ordinary happens, In this case, its what do we do with it? do we look to see how we can make use (and money) from it, or do we keep it as a static exhibit? On a future special weekend, hopefully when covid is behind us, it might make financial sence to have an out of the ordinary week end, when the 483 is used, either loco hauled, or battery , possibly in turn with the pier tram and trailer items that normally would not see use .

 

Those who want to understand it do so well enough Dealing with the virus and what follows is an infinitely higher priority than WIBN ideas

 

Personally I've had far more time to help draw up some WIBN proposals and indeed some more straining at gnats (SAG?) proposals because of all the enforced time away from the railway!

 

I know you don't like the ingrained way that some people seem to take over railways with their ideas for non remunerative projects, but calling them a virus is a bit out of order ...

Tom

 

No, I think we all understand the concept; even if we don't share the Hayling Island view of how WIBN should be quarantined.

Both matter - there has to be a vision of what to work for beyond just recovery to where we were a year ago.

 

WIBN - and the more extreme version WIBBLE

Wouldn't It Be Bloomin'* Lovely Eh?

* or other word of your choice beginning with B

 

Without WIBN very little of the present preservation scene would exist at all. I am all in favour of WIBN for absolutely anything that has not yet been achieved, as a starting point. There should then follow some assessment of how realistic the hope is and what steps would be needed to achieve it. At that stage some ideas can be quite properly dismissed as "not a hope in Hell", some will be "Great, let's get on with it" and quite a lot will be somewhere in between, to be kept as aspirations, for reconsideration in future as circumstances evolve.

 

Really though all it's ever used for by you is ' I don't think this is worthwhile'.
And also, newsflash, unless you're Jeremy Hopkins, EVERYTHING in preservation is paid for in bulk by other people. That's how things like charitable donations work.

 

What better reason is there for avoiding wishful thought?

 

The problem Paul is your didacticism on the issue, as if your version of WIBN represents a universal truth. But one person’s WIBN is another’s essential requirement: for example, you consider wooden-bodied carriages as a sine qua non of a heritage railway experience; but for most lines they are remote, WIBNish wishful thinking - for the simple reason the number of such carriages that would be needed simply don’t exist, and indeed have never existed in the preservation era.

So it is fine to recognise the importance of grounding plans in realism, but please accept that when you make your pronouncements that one project is vital but another is WIBN, you are only expressing your personal preference, not a universal truth.

Tom

 

Not sure that was so in the past but is likely to be so now as a result of dilapidations and so on The irony is that older stock has been found to be most useful during Covid Rather looking forward to a bout of WIBN for wooden bodied stuff in BR carriage land!​

 

Sadly - because I’m no great lover of the Mk1 - I think you’ll find that pre-nationalisation stock was very much in the minority even in the early days of preservation, and that purchase of Mk1s direct from service was normal.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Official information from Havenstreet that 483007 is coming soon.

https://iwsteamrailway.co.uk/2021/0...8IfaBf6w2XKl23tx3Nr4-YQihsv8eS97WsVmxkp9Xeya4

 

So you think railways should only do things they can pay for out of their own pocket and shouldn't accept charitable donations from people who want to contribute to the railway's upkeep or growth? What a bizarre view.

 

Boris?

 

Utter non sequitur

 

Utter non sequitur.

[Sorry all, couldn't resist! :-]

 

Wouldn't it be nice to take over some part of the Isle Of Wight railways, maybe do what Tom Rolt and his chums did in Wales? Wouldn't it be nice to save an O2, or 2, if we can scrape together the cash? Wouldn't it be nice to bring some locos over from the mainland to supplement it/them? ... I could go on (and on, and on). Railway preservation is not a sensible thing to start doing. The trick is sifting the do-able now, from the do-able over 10 years and head off the never-in-a-thousand-years projects before anyone wastes much time on them.

Personally, I have no particular interest in a 483, battery powered or otherwise, though I'm content to see one preserved and I agree that nothing should be done now that prevents it from being re-powered at a later stage. However, I'll be over for a ride behind Calborne when she's back in action.

 

Just out of interest Paul how many projects on the IOWSR have been paid for by other people? For example Heritage lottery fund, Ivatt trust... If it makes you happy when this horrible situation is over and me and the the good lady are able to hows about we don’t go to the IOWSR and spend our cash? Cos hey that railway you support is paid for by other people.