West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Maybe that's why somebody thinks it costs £1000s each year. The S&T technician is spending time doing the flowerbeds each time they go and look at the signal? Or did you mean lamp?

 

Which is the case with the existing installation anyway, the only difference being that the operation of the crossing is automatic rather than the lowering/raising sequences being initiated by the signalman.
As for 'expertise', do not forget that the WSR has two other C/L signals already (at Bishops Lydeard), so the MD one is not unique on the line.

 

You are comparing a mechanical system, which wears out, made from steel, which rusts, and wood, which rots, both of which have to be protected by paint, which needs to be replaced on a regular basis, in a marine environment where the wind and rain carry salt from the sea which accelerates the decay and wearing processes to a considerable degree, with a system with no moving parts, nothing that wears out when LEDs are used and only a single component to keep painted. Somehow, I don't think that this was the rationale behind the idea to use semaphore.

 

You are making an unnecessary meal of this, and giving support to those who would wish to portray any criticism of the WSR Plc as arising solely from malice on the part of the critic rather than any wrongdoing on the part of the Plc.
It's quite obvious that all those involved in the holding up of the project in 2018 had no idea of the eventual effect of their intervention, so to imply that they wittingly delayed the return of the railway to Minehead and blame them for it is very wide of the mark. Authenticity is something close to many enthusiasts hearts, including most of those who post on here. It would be totally unreasonable for a new board of directors not to, at least, ask the question as to whether more era-appropriate signalling could be used, as many of us did on here at the time. That that would have the consequences that it has done, no-one could have predicted.

 

My problem is not authenticity, but whether the proposed changes to the scheme were actually proportionate or compliant with signalling principles.

I work on projects where “all” that is built is software. The costs of change rise exponentially the later they are made; even without the hindsight of Covid and its side effects, I struggle with the idea that enforcing changes and delays could ever have been a prudent use of company or council cash.


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If you don't think about what are the consequences of your actions then you are failing as a manager. Covid is a canard. Even if there had been no covid would the WSR have been able to run into Minehead last year? The answer is they would not (or at least until later) because of the delays to the project which were caused by WSR senior management. Any which way you cut it, the actions of the WSR board have cost the WSR much needed revenue and for what? A semaphore signal.

Moreover, ironically, that desire for authenticity has cost the WSR money to actually make the visitor experience more authentic. Lost revenue that could have been spent on making the WSR's stations more authentic, overhauling the home fleet, restoring the historic carriages, etc etc. It cost the bottom line and it cost the nice to haves.

Authenticity is a good thing but not at the expense of safety or revenue, and no one visits a railway for a semaphore signal.

 

Whilst having NO inclination to become mired in the general WSR melee, concerning which I remain blissfully (and deliberately) ignorant, this point stands out as being a completely unarguable plea for common sense.

 

At least the Dartmouth SR is running seven days a week offering a true 'holiday line' feel with many boat trips including the famous steam powered paddle steamer. The scenery is magnificent.
It does not rest on its laurels; something the WSR might emulate.

 

I'm not privy to the actual figures and the state of the WSR's finances at the end of 2019, other than what I have read here, but as it stands it would appear that covid, and the government payouts associated with it, might be the single most important factor in saving the WSR and enabling the necessary infrastructure renewals. What with one thing and another, enthusiast goodwill and support was proving harder to find.

 

So true. In reality, there's no such thing as 'standing still'. There's only going forwards, or there's slipping backwards. One or t'other. Taken across the WSR as a whole, both cannot occur simultaneously. I sincerely hope it doesn't take the total destruction of this fine line for some to realise that.

 

Just supposing... Back in 2019 the WSR board decide that they want the railway to have a 1950's BR atmosphere and make a decision that all projects going forward should incorporate that aim. In principle, I would think that the vast majority of those with any interest would think that this was a wonderful policy, the only likely dissenters being those who might have wished for a 1940's GWR atmosphere. Someone then points out that the new level crossing scheme involved colour light signals and the railway would then be stuck with these for the next 25 years. A valid point that is worth looking at, even if it delays the crossing project slightly. They can manage with the existing crossing for another year because it is still usable, at the possible expense of increased maintenance/reduced reliability. So far, those steps have all been reasonable ones to take. Back in late 2019 nobody had heard of Coronavirus or had the crystal ball to see the future. If they had, the decisions would probably have been quite different.

Whether this is what happened, I don't know. Just supposing......

 

In 2019, the board was telling us that the line was in imminent financial peril, 4110 had to be sold immediately to raise cash in order to survive, and that the infrastructure was in need of urgent and extensive repairs that needed funding urgently. Not withstanding covid, you don't need a crystal ball to see that delaying what was a relatively straight forward crossing replacement and adding costs for spurious reasons, when the railway could ill afford the cash or diverting labour, is mismanagement.

 

However, it was known that the crossing was clapped out. It was known that SCC would pay for the renewal. It was known that SCC's finances were not in a good place however the commitment for a new crossing was there. If someone thought it was a good idea to tear up the plans and start again then you have to wonder where their head was at the time.

 

You are, perhaps deliberately, missing the point. No-one on here knows why a delay to the project to replace the barriers meant that it could not be carried out in the winter of 2018/19, or, if they do they are not saying. Your last sentence implies that the project was delayed in the full knowledge that it would result in it being two and a half years before the railway could run into Minehead. This is absurd. In any case you are both accusing the management of delaying the project in full knowledge of serious consequences, (Authenticity is a good thing but not at the expense of safety or revenue), and for doing it without thinking of the consequences, (If you don't think about what are the consequences of your actions then you are failing as a manager), making it look like you are just looking for a reason to have a go.

"that desire for authenticity has cost the WSR money" Well, yes it has, but only in the sense that the two things form a chain of events. The first would not necessarily have the consequences of the second. This is the same reasoning that says that Napoleon lost the battle of Waterloo because he had piles, or a hurricane is caused by a butterfly flapping its wings.

 

I am not sure you are in any position to accuse anyone of deliberately missing the point. As I've said before, I can take my lumps but if you are going to keep on misrepresenting my comments then you can jog on. If it were anyone else I'd rephrase it to make it clearer but it is obvious that it would be a waste of time because whatever you think I am saying and what I am actually saying are two different things that have no relationship to one another.

 

There's a lot riding on "just supposing" in that, for the reasons others have given, at any time after about 2018. This was not a bad decision because of Covid, but Covid may have underlined just how bad a decision it was.

The queston given the posts on this by @FrankC leave me wondering, however, (a) whether the railway could have operated without the crossing in 2020 had Covid not struck and (b) whether the grants the railway has managed to obtain may have saved it's bacon compared to being unable to run to Minehead in 2020 without Covid.

 

How much is down to past mismanagement, and the need to only spend what you essentially have to? Past mistakes have meant that the railway, even without covid was in a very bad situation, that plus a management that threw everyone else off the board, and found its self juggling too many balls at once with no calm heads to say stop, think about what your doing? Could the railway had operated the whole line in 2020, ? most likily not, the track was in need of attention, and the ORR, was still breathing down their neck, over the state of the line, An board lead by emotion, rather than cool heads, might have been swayed by purists, especially if those purists were the ones who had the most influence , over the level crossing, its one thing to want purity of image, but some things , especially where safety is concerned has to be done to modern standards, and as such, authenticity might not be attainable, but of course, you can't tell a purist that their vision is not possible if they hold all the cards and power, they won't listen, Running any preserved railway will be a case of what is possible, vs what is practical , before you start to add on the modern requirements to ensure your railway is safe to operate when you have paying public .

 

I presume trains have been running from BL all this Bank Holiday weekend? One could be forgiven for thinking that the whole line was shut by the tone of many comments over the last x pages. Have the trains been well patronised? Have they kept to time easily? It would be nice to have some positive feedback on actual operation of a train service.......

Ed Chap