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West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by gwr4090, Nov 15, 2007.

  1. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

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    It's all getting a bit meta when some people only post to moan about other people only posting to moan about something.
     
  2. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

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    If the WSRA is the "membership body" for the volunteers, it would make sense for them to be in charge of volunteer recruitment. If they are not to be in charge of volunteer recruitment, then that suggests that there is a move to make them not be seen as the membership body.
    Steve Williams must have turned up wearing the wrong hat. He had his WSRHT hat on when he should have been wearing his Plc hat. Or perhaps he just forgot which hat he was wearing, after all he has so many of them, it must be hard to keep track. Perhaps he should be provided with a mirror at the next meeting.
     
  3. Miff

    Miff Part of the furniture Friend

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    As you say the fundamental design of both the railway and the highway will not change. However the method of controlling the crossing will change. This affects not just the design of the barrier system but also the signalling and signing systems on both the railway and the road. When the method of control changes in this way legislation & guidance requires a new Level Crossing Order to be made by the Secretary of State for Transport; and the procedure for making a LC Order requires a consultation process. The extent of the consultation required will be guided by the ORR and the time it takes includes enough time for ORR to consider any responses and decide if any changes are necessary before making the final Order.
     
  4. jnc

    jnc Well-Known Member

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    Agreed; but the fact remains that the loco needs an overhaul now because of past use on the WSR. If the WSRA's charter is such that they couldn't help fund a loco overhaul, at all, that would be fine; but in fact they apparently can, and the WSRA'S apparent unwillingness to contribute is because 'we can only contribute if it's going to run on the railway in the future', that seems to me to be splitting a very thin hair indeed (going forward in time, versus backward; it in fact did 'run on the railway'). That's a pretty hard-nosed attitude; it's what I'd characterize as 'exploiting an ambiguity' - not really what I think of as the appropriate attitude for the vintage rail world.
    Good point; which is why ghost's suggestion sounds like a good one. The SDRT could then do whatever quality of overhaul they wished.

    Noel
     
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  5. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

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    That might be great for the Plc, who will have been relieved of an obligation for £100K's worth of their staff's labour, but not so great for the S&DRT, who will have to find another £100K to complete the overhaul.
     
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  6. free2grice

    free2grice Part of the furniture Friend

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    Sorry to interrupt ;) but train movements have been planned by the WSR Infrastructure Engineering Department for today through to Friday and again on Monday and Tuesday (15th/16th) as follows (timings are approximate):

    D6566 (33 048): 08:30 Dep Williton with loaded ballast hoppers and deliver ballast to several locations, as determined by the Infrastructure Engineering Department.

    wsr.org.uk :: Williton Webcam - looking north
     
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  7. Dead Sheep

    Dead Sheep Member

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    Having read through this thread and the various stories published in the railway press, it strikes me that the WSR is rotten to the core. What surprises me is that anyone would wish to volunteer their time and effort for the railway. I guess that it is in the vain hope that matters may improve in the future. I would like to share their optimism given that it is an attractive line in a pleasant part of the country.

    The railway has clear problems with its finances and structures. Anyone, such as myself, who has studied failed organisations will appreciate that a defective culture can often underpin poor management and decision making. With all the current problems at the WSR it does not bode well. It is possible to turnaround an organisation's fortunes but a radical shift is often required from bottom to top. It is not just about finance but about cognisance of the problem and an ability to recognise that change is required.

    Years ago, I was a volunteer at the KESR and the seeds of a similar culture were evident with frequent infighting and less than transparent or ethical company board. Poor governance was a significant problem. Social media is clearly not a reliable source but what I read does not indicate that they are improving either. I am glad that I left.

    With the pandemic providing a big hit to the heritage railway industry, it will be very interesting to see whether the WSR amongst others can survive. Time will tell whether it is those railways with a dysfunctional culture sink first.
     
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  8. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    The crucial consideration here would be "additionality". If the WSRA hands over some cash to the PLC for overhauling the loco, does that make a positive difference for the railway? The benefit from the work done by the loco in the past is unchanged: only the possibility of work in the future is relevant.
     
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  9. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    Not anti-PLC per se*: anti-(some of the things that the PLC has been doing).
    However the PLC has not (as far as we know) done anything very reprehensible in the last few weeks, so there are only its past doings to complain about, and I do agree that further discussion of those is unproductive unless and until someone has significant new light to shed on them, whether in defence of them or by way of further condemnation.

    *Please note correct spelling, not "per say" as written by some people.
     
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  10. Paulthehitch

    Paulthehitch Well-Known Member

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    :D
     
  11. Downline

    Downline New Member

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    Could I suggest you reread my posts from yesterday and correct your assumptions you have made?

    And whilst you reread my posts, they will provide answers to the above, i.e. why I wont be responding to your last sentence. Clue - going round in circles
     
  12. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    I did. You complained that no one discusses anything that is taking place on the railway and then when invited to discuss things that are going on you claimed you didn't have the time. Which is the kind of argument Piers Morgan would come up with.
     
  13. Downline

    Downline New Member

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    Would you like to read post 36317 and correct your assumption in post 36318?

    And as this is starting to become non WSR related, please feel to message me privately to continue this discussion.
     
  14. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

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    Perhaps the only workable solution is this, The PLC give the owners of 53808 the equivilent of 7, or 8 years worth of steaming fees, over the next two , to three years and in return the trust do not go after the PLC for breaking the agreement to overhaul the loco, The trust are then free to seek overhaul agreements with another railway, they will have a stream of funds to get their engine overhauled, plus they launch an appeal for more funds, That way the WSR can move forward put this behind them, The trust can also move forward and get a steaming fee agreement from its next home, that way, hopefully, once things settle down, with hopefully a new board in charge, 53808 might one day have a spell as a guest loco on the WSR.
     
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  15. Alan Kebby

    Alan Kebby Well-Known Member

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    But why should the SDRT have to rise additional funds, when an agreement to overhaul the loco is already in place? Your suggestion might be agreeable to the WSR but certainly not the SDRT.

    We’ll just have to see how this plays out. The WSRs attitude seems to have changed recently (perhaps after legal advice?!). It now looks like they are trying to find a way to meet their commitment, for example by approaching the WSRA for funds, rather than continuing to say ‘we don’t have the money’.
     
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  16. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    Nothing in it to change.

    If you want direction of the discussion to change to discussing things going on at the WSR then it is up to you to move the discussion onto topics about what is going on at the WSR.

    So far you've only changed it to a discussion about the discussion.
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2021
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  17. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Whatever's wrong down Minehead way, it seems to be spreading. Could someone please perform an urgent exorcism on this thread? :Meh:
     
  18. Downline

    Downline New Member

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    Again you are not reading my posts. I made a comment which provoked you to start a discussion about a discussion.

    Anyway, i'm bored of this, and so are others, and I have other things to do away from the National Preservation forums, so i'm no longer going to respond to you through this thread on this. My offer of continuing discussing this via private messaging is still there, although I doubt you will take it somehow.
     
  19. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

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    As I said, while it is not the best deal for either party, it would be a deal. Better to take some money and run than spend years tied up in legal matters while the loco sits idle and any funds that are available/awarded are eaten up by legal fees.

    Yes it would be great if the WSR stood by it's agreement and paid for the whole overhaul, but, in my opinion that is looking unlikely, so it would be better to strike a deal, walk away with something and make a clean break.
     
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  20. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    I've asked you what you think about the PDG meeting - there are the changes in volunteering, the changes at Williton, the desire for covered accommodation, Seaward Way etc, you declined to change the conversation to that. You said that the tender would not have been your top priority but declined to talk about what would have been your preferred choice.

    If you won't change the topic of discussion I can't help you.
     
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