West Somerset Railway General Discussion

But we are not discussing carriages! No real reason to find fault.

 

Impromptu classic car rally at Stogumber Station this afternoon with Odney Manor and train as backdrop.

Photo: Janet Hall

 

Nor was I as such. You seemed to mentioning it as a positive fundraising exercise, and my response was made in that context, pointing out that there's only s limited amount of squeezing that can be applied to a handful of pips, when some at least were the railway's own carriages! The money used for that purpose cannot now be spent on, say, track renewal.

 

Not all WSR appeals are 100% successful…

Forty one years ago.

 

Wonder what became of that?

 

News in Brief - Locomotive 53808

 

News in brief - Locomotive 53808. That statement seems to me that the locomotive will be returning to and running on the WSR.

 

I'll believe it if/when the S&D chaps announce it.
Ray.

 

This one might have to go airborne first.

 

That dates from last August. The PLC has made a lot of statements since then, only a few of which have been borne out by events

 

If there is a contractual agreement in place for the WSR to run and then overhaul the loco and if, as they have already suggested, the plc do not intend honour that contract/agreement and pay for the overhaul (for whatever reason) than I'd suggest the ball might be put in another, much more serious, type of 'court'. The management might like to take note of the events that have happened at a certain railway in Derbyshire over the last year or so when a railway refused to meet its contractual obligations.

 

Hi John,

I think that it as you have quoted and as Patrick has quoted except that the overhaul date quoted by Patrick is incorrect and the date you have quoted from "The Pines Express" is correct.

There might also be a bit more as you will surmise as the agreement prior to 53808's departure to The Mid Hants was outside of the prior agreement.

You may have to 'read between the lines' on all this. Suffice it to say that the SDRT have covered all eventualities, as one might expect of a very well run Trust with an excellent Board of Trustees, dealing with a very difficult situation.

Cheers,
Julian

 

If the loco returns to the WSR next year on expiry of its boiler certificate then any future steaming on the WSR will depend on:
1. When the overhaul starts and the amount of work that needs to be done.
2. Probably more importantly, the ability of the PLC to pay for the overhaul.

As we all know, the plc has already warned that it cannot afford to pay for the full overhaul and it is currently stating that it needs £0.5m (or is it £1m) per year in extra appeal funds just to stand still. Unless someone in Minehead finds a magic money tree in the next few years, I cannot see how the loco could be overhauled in order to haul any trains before the end of the agreement in 2030

 

I would refer you to the previous reply to John Palmer. Our postings may have crossed as we type our replies on here!

 

Julian, many thanks for confirming the situation as regards 53808.

I am very conscious of the S&DRT's need to navigate carefully the legal pitfalls attending the WSR plc's announcement that it may be unable to find the funds required for discharge of its contractual oligation to overhaul the locomotive.

Reference has recently been made to the edition of the WSR newsletter 'Platform' published on 27 August last year, which states that 53808 is expected to remain on the Mid Hants Railway:

“until expiry of her boiler ticket around November 2022. The locomotive will then come back to the plc for overhaul and to fulfil the remainder of her steaming contract on the WSR until 2030.”

Since 53808 went into overhaul in about 2015 and was returned to traffic in time for the 2016 commemorations of the S&D's closure, I assume she holds a 10-year boiler ticket that will not expire until 2025, consistent with the 2025 overhaul date referred to in the Winter 2019 PE. If I am wrong about that I shall be glad to be corrected but otherwise take it that the 2022 date given in 'Platform' for expiry of her ticket is simply wrong.

 

We were first collectively corrected on this point over a year ago, it has been forgotten about and reminded several times since, such is the way of WSR threads. I'm really not sure there's much more to say on 53808 and the S&D at Washford unless there's any new news, all that happens as time passes is the discussion repeats itself with more and more established points of fact being forgotten...

 

Well, thanks for that, but if there was a boiler overhaul and re-tubing in 2013 then why was the boiler lifted and hydraulically- and steam-tested only two years later in 2015? It's quite clear from reports and photos in Pines Express that such work was done in 2015.

 

Thanks for a positive post in amongst all the huffing and puffing daily on here!

 

Agreed, the lions who are making such a good job of keeping the railway running need their fair share of praise amongst the castigation meted out to the donkeys that are leading them.

 

Probably, this has been said before, but I was brought up that you don't enter into commitments unless you are sure that you can meet them when the time comes. The behaviour of the plc has been disgraceful.