West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Assuming, of course that there is a good explanation - we've yet to find out why evicting the SDRT was a good move. And no, please let's not re-hash that for the 173rd time.

But I shouldn't rise to the bait, and hopefully this thread can go quiet again - if the WSR backers can learn to restrain themselves from so aggressively defending the WSR anytime anything is said. Some fires just go out if one doesn't feed them. (I know, I know, I should take my own advice...)

Noel

 

Division 3???
As you say......its the little things that are indicators of bigger things.

 

Oh just shut up. It's a level crossing.

 

Have you considered popping along to the next RVR planning meeting?

 

Preservation (1965), not NP.

 

What on earth are you on about?

 

Interesting response to a civil question.

 

And considering that this minor level crossing that is just a molehill is also the reason why the WSR can't run to Minehead and couldn't have run into Minehead for the last year or so. I can't think why anyone would be so interested in what is happening with it.

 

Did the WSR say they couldn’t have run into Minehead last year? Everyone knows the old crossing equipment is life expired and needs replacing but old equipment can often be kept working safely for a while longer with additional inspections, maintenance and repairs if required- albeit at additional expense. Without lockdown can anyone say that wouldn’t have been possible?
With lockdown, the condition of the crossing and the difficulty of maintaining it may well have been a factor in the decision not to run; but perhaps not the only one.

 

I believe it was cited as why the WSR couldn’t reopen last year. Which is why I and others have always been confused about how the railway could have hoped to operate last year had Covid not happened.


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Well, this goes back to the poor communication and engagement by the WSR PLC. The official position was that they did not have suitable carriages. It took their own volunteers 5 minutes to demonstrate that this wasn't true. In the absence of engagement two explanation emerged, the first that it was not financially viable and too difficult (too late to start) but this was undermined by the success of other lines and the attempt to run things later in the year. The other put forward by posters not known for being critical of railway management is that the line had deficient SMS and the crossing was one of the sticking points. The notes of the ORR visit pointed to this was well.

The PLC left a void of information although I seem to recall that there were some posters who claimed to 'know the truth' but would only communicate this in private.

 

I'm under the impression its 99% down to a lack of someone who is good at public information , etc, Much of what has damaged the WSR, is self inflicted, and IMHO, could, and should have been avoided , What should have been done is for the railway to have put out a press release, just saying, why the line can not open fully, ongoing work to improve the state of the line, Level crossing renewals etc, no one likes bad news, but what they dislike even more is no explanation, as to why All the time the WSR continues to shoot its self in the foot, it deserves the negative replies .

 

I agree the WSR’s official communication has been pretty poor but, without confirmation from an impeccable source, the assertion that the crossing could not have been used last year seems to be based only on what “somebody said”.

 

It is. But nor, despite opportunities, has anyone tried to refute the suggestion that the crossing was unusable in normal service last year. It’s not conclusive, but given the rapidity of the rebuttals frequently issued on this thread, is at least suggestive.


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As somebody who has had to spend a good couple of hours getting evidence from various people after somebody reported a SPAD via the webcam, I can well understand why they may want to have the webcam switched off (especially if they are using external contractors). Turns out in the situation I had to investigate - the person concerned hadn't managed to notice the long whistle from the locomotive as it went past (or potentially didn't know what it was). Then of course you have to calm the forum down where it appeared! All time where you could be doing something more constructive

People do need to remember that a webcam only shows a direct image - you can't see what is happening out of shot for example which may give the answer away! There's a website where the webmaster obviously spends most of their day watching the webcam, if they see something, they report the fact it has happened and what it is doing....the fact that what the locomotive is doing is completely different to what the webmaster has dreamt up...doesn't seem to matter.

 

We have covered all this several times now, admittedly it has since been buried by a whole load of posts going over *other* things for the umpteenth time!

The crossing was known to have been near life expired and needing replacement for a few years, and plans have been put back for various reasons, potentially WSR Shenanigans according to an S&T manager in Facebook. Some time in April, just after the lockdown commenced, the crossing changed from "nearly life-expired" to "life expired". Since then, all movements have had to be flagged. Which is OK for occasional stock movements, but not for regular passenger trains.

All this is second hand, but it fits what we know to be true and no one any more in the know has refuted it.

 

I think the people that look after the town will not be fussed that the level crossing is stopping all the trains at the moment as it will help them with social distances in the town. The trains will get to many people into the town at the moment. The town managers might even be paying the railway managers to drag it out a bit as lots of railways have had money for not being open.

 

That is such a ridiculous statement that it does not deserve a detailed response. Please keep such conspiracy theories to yourself!