West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I know, that was on me quoting it in isolation but was more me backing up I had been paying attention. I'm from Aviemore so I know all about not burning cash when no ones around but essential backroom staff is something that should be budgeted for year round backed up by either seasonal or volunteer staff in the boom times of The Season.

 

All the available evidence suggests that the WSR is making a big loss year on year, so I for one can see no problem with them advertising for someone who might be willing to help if they have expertise in the area required and can save the cost of taking on a paid member of staff. Like most railway preservation entities, the WSR was not (and never has been) established as a job creation body. If a volunteer offers their services to fulfil a certain role that is currently unoccupied, then surely it is up to that individual how much he is prepared to take on, not for anyone else to dictate. If the person in question is ready and able to tackle it on unpaid basis then the WSR has struck lucky and can allocate the money elsewhere. If it were the case that the railway was trying to replace a paid member of staff by a volunteer in an involuntary manner I would be sympathetic to your argument, but that dioesn't appear to be the case.

 

What was the outcome, or hasn’t that come out yet?

 

Thus neatly illustrating the perils of that sort of boasting.

 

As a point of information, if the WSR ‘Compliance Officer’ role was advertised as a voluntary role for any period before being advertised as paid employment, I missed it.

Where was that, please?

 

This is a slightly ticklish issue. A chap is, say, an plumber, normal day rate, £350. He takes a friday off, and works the saturday (which he wouldn't for any price), to do a job for his church/railway/sports club renovating the ladies loo of whatever. A job that they don't have the funds to get done. Supplies his work, skills, tools, and possibly materials too, or obtains them at trade. His wife is happy because what he's doing gains some social goodwill. He is happy because for a change he can't be accused of being a gold-digging pipe-mangler, and he's made the world a better place in a tangible way.
Then someone well-meaning, but possibly with no idea of what tradesmen are worth in the 21st century offers £50 or £100 as recompense.
The plumber is then left with the impression that the job he has done is only valued by the committee on a par with a tank of petrol. Goes home and yells at his wife that he's never going back there again, ever. Because the stuck-up twits on the committee blah blah blah.
And now nobody is happy- except the ladies who can now use the loo

 

plumbers make the world a better place regardless……think of being knee deep in the alternative!

Regards, Ross. (Plumber: non-practicing. I will not come round to unblock your toilet under any circumstances….besides, my call-out fee includes airfares….).

 

That would be a fair concern, though didn’t apply in the case I referred to.


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I've had this argument before, too. People benefiting from this sort of charity don't seem to appreciate that, for them there isn't any middle ground between accepting something as a gift or paying the full going rate.

 

I know I’m a bit late to the party and apologies for thread drift, but you’ve missed two pretty significant railways from your list. On the Ffestioniog, the ruling gradient is 1-in-80 for over 9 miles from Boston Lodge Halt to Power Station Summit, although with an easing to around 1-in-120 through the woods around Tanybwlch. On the Welsh Highland, the gradient is 1-in-40 for more than six miles, from Bryn-y-Felin Bridge to Pitt’s Head; this includes Beddgelert Station, where the wheels of the locomotive are higher than the roof of the last carriage on 11 coach trains that were the norm for the 2021 season. I trust you are not discriminating on the grounds that these are narrow gauge railways?

 

Yes I am cause funnily enough standard gauge locos can't run on them.

 

Really? Gosh, thanks for the clarification. Perhaps, then, you should have said “no other standard gauge railway comes close”.

 

This might be the apposite time to point out this thread: https://www.national-preservation.c...es-of-heritage-railways-list-in-post-1.95457/

WSR is certainly far from the only standard gauge line to have sustained steep gradients. In any case, gradients aren't the sole arbiter: it is a combination of gradient, curvature, load, loco capability and railhead condition that all come into it. I can say from experience that going up a 1 in 55 with 140 tons behind a class 1 tank engine is considerably more interesting than the same gradient with 220 tons behind a class 5 - same gradient, completely different experience, even if those on the carriages may be aurally more impressed with the class 5.

Tom

 

Surely you can say thank you with a bottle of wine, or a bouquet of flowers for the left-at-home wife? It shows you have noticed and are grateful, and you have made a bit of effort [more so than writing a cheque] to show your thanks.

 

Yes yes yes, one of my favourite bashes was behind 5553 with 5 carriages up Washford bank.

 

I thought it was a given in all fairness.

 

It is a very difficult balancing act. A number of us worked in the airline catering unit during a strike, after a full day in the office I finished at 0400 on the Saturday morning and did Sunday shift. We were all happy to volunteer for the good of the company until we each received a box of milk tray, which everyone regarded as an insult. I am sure the persons idea whom it was thought it was a great idea, but sometimes less is more. And yes I appreciate that was not volunteering for a charity but my employer. But you do need to "pitch" the thanks.

 

Why is it a given? Are narrow gauge railways not important or worthy of inclusion? If you’ve never witnessed a Lady taking eight carriages up the FR, you should make a trip to North Wales; outside of the mainline, you will not find a locomotive working harder in this country.

 

Oh give it a rest. This thread is about a standard gauge railway. Narrow gauge lines aren't my bag, prefer miniature of the two 'non standard', but I am Welsh so maybe I will take a trip to Gogledd Cymru.