Swanage Railway General Discussion

1. Postponement (again) of Carriage Shed. worthy of comment from a PLM. Y/N
2. Putting out coaches in less than A1 shape worthy of comment Y/N
3 Moving Birds Nest Buffet worthy of comment Y/N

One can be fairly certain that all in all of those situations that those were not solo views
No stamping of feet; just a concerned member but not a camp follower

 

A definite "maybe" to all of the above items - and not necessarily through here. But the underlying challenges have been explained many times, and equally often ignored.

 

Again I’m left wondering if you have approached these issues in some sort of potentially constructive fashion through “official” channels that may actually be heard by the relevant entities. Or is it just more potentially destructive bleating into the ether…?

 

Why don't you approach the SR board with your issues, and get a response from "the horse's mouth" instead of wasting yours/everyone else's time on here? I've raised 3x e-mails with the board since my return as a working volunteer this year, and both times had an honest and open reply within a week. I recommend doing the same as posting on here will make no difference whatsoever - your just cluttering up what used to be an informative/useful thread.

 

The Title is "Swanage Railway General Discussion" Clutter?? These are very important issues and this is a forum where they can be addressed by ALL with an interest in the SR.

 

The problem is, that you are the only one that seems to have a major problem with these issues. You seem to think that someone on here can suddenly fix the issues. You steadfastly refuse to engage with the SR who might actually be able to give you an insight to the difficulties of operating the railway, and why the projects have been delayed.
Everyone else has taken Covid, coal, the cost of living increase and other factors into consideration and appreciates that the SR has had to change course in order to remain solvent. Only a madman would continue to pursue projects that will cost substantial amounts of money, while the railway itself is struggling to stay afloat.

 

But when you're repeating the same thing, and ignoring the answers given because it's not what you want to hear, then you need to seek alternatives to hear the answers you "do" want to hear.

You can't expect different results if you only ever try one method.

 

From the comments I have seen on Faceache recently, the move has been inspired and is working well. I'll be down the railway on Sunday and having worked out the timetable, will be at Corfe quite a bit of the time so am looking forward to partaking in a nice cup of tea while watching the comings and goings before my next ride.

Happy to reply with my personal findings on the situation once I have completed my visit.

 

Those who have an interest in Swanage including getting ones hands very dirty are not worrying that:
A: The carriage shed has been put back till next winter
B: So you claim that coaches have not been put out in less than A1 shape (They are fit and safe to be used.)
C: Moving Birds Nest.

Those that have an interest in Swanage are tired of reading your what seems constant criticism. Please give it a rest Sir

 

He does seem to have a knack of making people go all of a splutter. Not invariably a bad thing.

 

Hearing a train come into Swanage this morning at an unexpected time made me notice the Blue timetable has changed. Still 5 rotations a day but first train reverts to 10:00 off Swanage and some longer gaps in the middle of the day. Looked strange at first but giving it more thought seems well aligned towards what I have seen both pre and post Covid as usage patterns and allows those parking at Norden to be in the town by 11:00. Seems saying which days are operating days but only releasing the timetable in chunks has allowed such flexibility. Good to see the railway being proactive.
I expect howls of protest however from across the pond.

 

Do you mean from Sandbanks or the Isle of Wight?

 

I am all in favour of economical running,however going back to what started all this, if you are in the tourist/entertainment business ,and charge very good prices for it,then the punters should expect, and get, a quality product. I did not describe the coaches as a bit shabby,someone else did, but if you are in the public eye and making money from it, put out your best, you have webcams which hide nothing visually,in my case i mentioned peeling carriage roofs.so they were seen world wide. The general discussion then went to address the number of projects and appeals under way and the chances of some of them coming to fruition any time soon. Again I am not alone in my comments on this. Next up. The Carriage Shed.let's see it happen.

 

The Carriage Shed will happen. But not through the summer, at a site with minimal clearance to the running line, through the main season at a site with no road access. The railway has said it is still a priority for this winter along with the rest of the maintenance backlog caused by COVID restrictions and uncertainties; give them a chance, and if there's no progress by this time next year, then come back at them.

Until that point, I'm afraid all you're doing is getting yourself worked up.

 

Thanks for the explanation but why is I get the feeling no notice will be taken and you have unfortunately wasted your time regarding an explanation?

 

Peeling carriage roofs are hardly the end of the world, provided they are not leaking, and actually they cannot really be seen by other than very tall passengers! They are visible from further away, but become less obvious the further away one is. To do a decent job of stripping and repainting them requires a workshop with provision for safe working at height, a facility that is in very short supply on the SR with various projects competing for priority - since you don't seem to like any priorities changing, what projects do you suggest delaying to allow an all-out campaign lasting perhaps a year to rectify them?

 

Not really a commendable argument. What one British Rail chairman described as ''the crumbling edge of quality''!!

 

Whilst I agree that they are not the end of the world, but at Swanage Station they are highly visible to a significant proportion of the passengers and non travelling onlookers. Park at Victoria Avenue Car Park and the usual walking route to the Station is down Gilbert Road. The road is higher than the railway and thus you look straight down onto the carriage roofs. Likewise walk along Northbrook Road and stand on the bridge (over the railway) ((and the alternative walking route to the station) or from the viewing area in Court Road (by the ops office) and again you look down onto the carriage roofs.

 

Is it better that:

a) the SR operates trains with clean, tidy carriages with not so good roof paint and attends to the roofs when it is able to do so (financially/operationally/manpower)

or

b) the SR doesn't operate at all while it repaints all the carriage roofs? (please state source of money for the paint)

Make your choice