West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Is that 18 weeks beyond sept or 18 weeks from now?

 

Some Good News! we were driving past Stogumber station yesterday and noticed the "open" sign. the toasted tea cake, tea and ice cream were greatly enjoyed. Suffice to say that we have passed by on the train many times but this was our first visit to this delightful station garden. A steam train passing would have been the "icing on the cake" We will have to consult the timetables and plan our next visit.

 

Most construction work was classed as essential, especially highways. See Snifter's post above yours.

 

How many of the various Heritage lines had civils projects or even restoration projects, continuing through the "Lockdown"
The NYMR had Br27 at Goathland, Pickering Carriage stable plus a reballast in Newtondale.

 

Likewise, I am pretty sure a lot of work can be done remotely - design, procurement, permissions/negotiations etc

 

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it possible to do the crossing the winter before the first lockdown?

There was certainly a lot of argy-bargy on here about whether or not the railway could have reopened on time anyway, irrespective of the lockdown, because of the state of the crossing.

I just wonder if the works would have been so delayed if the orders for the works had been placed two years ago when this problem first came to a head?

 

Not an excuse, but a question.

Given the project, as I understand it, is being paid for by SCC, to what extent does the WSR have control of the timetable?

 

That's not usually a requirement of this thread. Surprised they haven't blamed the weather on someone at the railway yet ...

 

Not initially. Parts of the construction sector started to open up fairly quickly once was realised that it could and would benefit the economy but there were plenty of comments at the time about lack of social distancing and whether it was, in fact, essential.

We have also discussed the reasons why things didn't happen many pages ago.

 

I construction terms the WSR is 'Controller of the Site' the contractors would have to liaise with the railway to obtain access and follow the railways rules while they had that access.

 

In fact there were large parts of the construction industry that didn't close at all and many of those that did only closed briefly, as you point out.

We have indeed, but lockdown isn't one that held any credibility, then or now. What is remarkable, however, is that why this work wasn't started when the funding was first made available is still just as much of a mystery now as it was then.

 

I was thinking more in terms of who is responsible for ordering supplies and equipment, such as whatever is now delayed.

 

The company the council contracted to do the work would be responsible for ordering supplies, labour, plant etc.
They will also request road closures, parking suspensions etc from the council.
Even though its a council job getting their departments working together is not easy.
Then they may hit upon "unforseen issues" once work starts causing more delays while a new plan is formulated.

 

Just seen on Mr E's website:-

"The West Somerset Railway Plc have kindly provided an update.....It has become clear in the last few days that the crossing is unlikely to open to passenger trains before mid to late September....."

What is not mentioned, not is it obvious in any way, is whether or not this will exclude the possibility of a (limitied number of) charters etc being hand-signalled across the crossing in order to access Minehead station. AIUI now the track itself is fit-for-use, as is the main signalling infrastructure, the stumbling block is the actual crossing mechanism and its associated controls and interfaces with the signalling. So, not an insurmountable problem, but not something that you would want to manage several times a day every day for scheduled services.

I'm sure Frank C will correct me if my assessment is faulty

 

I do not know enough about who is actually managing the programme, but if it is council then it will probably take as long as it takes. Their Procurement Department may well have been furloughed in some or all of the lockdowns and where would this have been on their list of pressing road works?
Regarding charters I suspect again it will depend on how the site is classified and the "risk assessment" needed let something move through it. Is it still a railway, a road worksite, or some other form of construction site? I do not know but suspect they all come with their own challenges.

 

Regrettably it will not be permitted for passenger trains to pass over the crossing until it is complete in its new arrangement. This has been fully investigated and external advice taken.

 

Exmoor coaster open-top bus starts next weekend, running from Watchet to Lynmouth. Shame it can’t link to WSR services. https://www.firstbus.co.uk/uploads/adventures-by-bus/exmoor coaster leaflet may21 WEB.pdf

 

Looks good

 

How long would Network Rail have taken to do the job?

Clearly on the 'Big' Railway, even on a minor passenger route it could not take more than a few days.