West Somerset Railway General Discussion

You have identified the start of the time of trouble very accurately. It is a time I remember very clearly as it was the time I made the decision to get on with my gender transition. I was, for a time, a member of all three Boards: WSRA, WSSRT and WSR plc. Perfectly comfortable until the icebergs began to pull apart. My decision to step away was more 'personal' than 'railway' but the start of the infighting didnt help. I should say that the present WSRA Trustees are a delight to work with and the relative stability of the WSRA Trustee Board should be noted. As usual, we are one or two short of a full compliment and I would encourage any WSRA member thinking of standing to speak to any of the current Trustees. You will, of course, need to offer yourself for election at this year's AGM and there are some other conditions of membership.

'Bayard' makes a good point. But as the chair of the group which wrote the first (successful) CHRF bid - and second signatory on that bid, I find this explanation for the failure of the CHRF2 bid puzzling to say the least, as the WSR plc had the same structure the first time round and the policy of the WSR plc has always been to re-invest and never pay a dividend. Perhaps that was forgotten? I cant say. Of course, I am unable to comment effectively as those of us who assisted with the first bid were not invited to help with the second. I WAS able to make some minor contributions to the K&ESR CHRF2 bid, which was successful and amounted to 73% of the sum awarded for K&ESR CHRF1.

The 10-day delay because of a photograph thing (it was my photograph) just made me laugh. I find that the best response to much in life.

 

With the passage of time my recollection is a little 'fuzzy', so I stand to be corrected here, but....when the PLC put its Bailey proposals to its shareholders for comments, the response sought was basically as 'yes' or 'no' in favour/against the Board's proposals. The problem that I saw was a perception that a 'no' vote would be taken to imply a vote against Bailey itself. There seemed to be no intention to offer or count the third option of 'we agree with Bailey, but not your proposals to implement it, please try again'. In other words, phrasing the question so as to increase the likelihood of getting the answer that you wanted.

 

Looking forward to my 'I am a Volunteer' badge...I missed out first time round.

 

The appeal has been launched across Facebook with a cracking image

 

Thank you for answering the question I posed in my last post. And people complain about members of Nat Pres "taking any excuse to have a go at the Plc".

There are three possible explanations for this: firstly, as suggested above, the criteria might have changed, secondly the second bid might have displayed a much more commercial attitude in its wording and thirdly, the actual causes of the failure of the bid might lie elsewhere and this is a face-saving excuse. If the reason is the second one, let's hope that the CHRF doesn't ask for the first grant back on the grounds that it should never have been awarded in the first place.

 

Fuzzy memory here also but I seem to recall the board referred to a majority of shareholders supporting them and made no mention of the actual number of shares voting for or against.
Or was that on another of those 'We'll do it our way - no one will notice...' occasions?

 

I have (very) recently heard that HMG is attempting to renege on agreed awards. No more details, but I imagine that word will spread, if that is the case.
Pat

 

Perhaps they were running around looking for who was supposed to be digging in the hole and the 'bloke in the bowler hat' who should have been supervising...

Hey, didn't someone write a song about something like that?

 

I am persistently puzzled by such images. A manor with 7 on wearing the Cambrian Coast Express is highly evocative- of a train running Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth. Why put that headboard on if you want to say "Somerset branch line"?
The dipped rail joints do suggest a need for funding though

 

Because 99% of people would have seen the photo as a reminder of steam train travel and thought about donating. Only 1% of people would have looked at the picture and tried to find something to criticise.

 

You a presumably aware Manors did not operate the Minehead branch due to the turntable being too short.

Running with a CCE headboard is a harmless piece of fantasy. If you’re a bread a butter family group that knows little to nothing about railways, it’s a bit of interest, but they won’t know it’s wrong. If you’re an enthusiast, you can squint a little at the WSR and it doesn’t look so different to the Cambrian.

As there is no steam at all on the Cambrian any more, and little to no chance of a Manor operating the Cambrian again, it’s nice to keep the express alive in a way.

 

My reaction to the shot was to be reminded of the late summer of 1987 at the end of my training year with British Rail when I took a fortnight off and made ‘very extensive’ use of my ‘All Stations’ pass.

On arriving back at Towyn from Abergonylwyn, a Manor was unexpectedly waiting the road on the main line running just with a support coach. Would it have been Hinton Manor? A quick chat with the Inspector and I found myself on the footplate for 20 miles or so on a lovely afternoon. I managed to hide the black marks on my clothes from the guest house owner in Barmouth and headed north via the Ffffffesyiniogggg the next day.

I still have my ‘book’ cab pass from then. Great memories.

Robin

 

I expect most people won’t know what ‘Cambrian’ relates to. Seriously dude, it’s a steam engine running in 2021. The whole thing is basically a fantasy.

Simon

 

While much of the criticism of the WSR is all too valid, I note with amusement that some of it has been about the railway seeming to be too fussy about authenticity and now it's about inauthenticity.

 

At least two posts mention the word "fantasy", how thoughtful.

 

I rather like fantasies, so please don't presume it's a slight. The point I was trying to make is that there's a lot more 'right' in the photo with the CCE headboard than wrong, and that it seems a bit daft to argue the toss about authenticity when you take a more meta view of the railway (any preserved railway).

Simon

 

If they are a member of the railway, they are in fact required to highlight *what they believe* to be wrong. Otherwise, they will get their membership revoked.

Lapsed members or those who have sworn never to visit the railway ever again are particularly encouraged to grind their axes in public repeatedly. Using cut/paste can make posting quicker ...

 

WSR PLC launches a £1m appeal to try and save the railway and all people can bang on about is a headboard....!? Greater things to discuss I'm sure!

 

Today, the WSR Plc has launched another 'SOS' Appeal, cynically mentioning the 'family' support it expects.

The trouble is the 'family' is not itself supported by the Plc, usually being treated with utter contempt by that body ......

If they sow contempt what do they expect to reap ?