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West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by gwr4090, Nov 15, 2007.

  1. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

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    Indeed it does and you don’t but it can sometimes help!!! They actually filmed a live version initially but the problem was you couldn’t hear what he was saying which is why the video I linked to is actually the 2nd attempt, you could perhaps argue that someone else, (not necessarily a professional but a keen amateur), may have realised that there would be a problem in the first place and avoided it.

    I say that with no disrespect intended to JJP and whoever filmed it as at least they got out there and tried to tell it as it is, most welcome compared to previous communications.
     
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  2. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    I'd cut them some slack. You've just had an incident that stops traffic bang in the middle of your peak event of the year for income. So you've got your immediate safety concerns ("Any trains out and about? Anyone directly affected? Any impact on our immediate neighbours from our activities?") Then you've got - "What is the impact? How much damage has been caused to our infrastructure? Can we repair it within our own means, or will we ned to hire in equipment? How long before we can expect to run a train over that section?" While all that's going on, you've got probably several hundred passengers for that night's service who you've got to contact individually to tell them the train can't run - at least some of whom may not be very sympathetic. (Look what happened at the Spa Valley recently when they had to cancel a train). Then you've got to think about how you recover the service as quickly as possible ("Can we run tomorrow? If so, how? Maybe top-and-tail on part of the line? OK, so we need to roster another crew at short notice, and replan the timetable and location of displays ...")

    That's a heck of lot going on at one time. As GM, I can imagine you probably want to go to the scene to form an opinion and get some photographs for the record - recording a message for your supporters is a nice extra touch, but it is probably a bit much to expect more than a handheld mobile phone footage. You aren't going to wait a couple of hours while you ring up your tame videographer to come in from 30 miles away and film a slightly more slick production, while back at base a mountain of problems are building up.

    There's a management technique, ascribed to Eisenhower, of how you prioritise between things that are urgent or not urgent; and important or not important. You get a matrix with four quadrants:

    Urgent and important - Do
    Urgent and not important - Delegate
    Not urgent and important - Plan
    Not urgent and not important - Delete

    Sounds like they had a lot of urgent and important that day ...

    Tom
     
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  3. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

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    Perhaps I could have worded it better but actually I was!!!

    My point was that ideally someone who knows what they are doing is beneficial and perhaps would have avoided the sound issue but but also commended the fact they got out and took the effort to explain what has happened.

    I also thought it was good that having found there was a sound problem they promptly released another video which was a positive sign they’ve realised engagement can be beneficial, I didn’t expect a professional camera crew!!!
     
  4. brauntonians

    brauntonians New Member

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    no matter what this railway does it just seems to attract negative posts, please give it some slack. thank you.
     
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  5. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

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    Whose being negative exactly?
     
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  6. brauntonians

    brauntonians New Member

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    those who do will know and that is may last word on it
     
  7. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

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    Right okay, doesn’t really make much sense as the recent posts have been positive in my opinion in what are difficult circumstances.
     
  8. echap

    echap New Member

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    New Civil Engineer is now reporting the landslide, the article being illustrated with a nice photo of 5542 and train.

    What surprised me was the following lines from the article:

    This has led to the cancellation of a number of its Winterlights services, which takes passengers through the Somerset countryside illuminated by Christmas lights displays.
    Local reports have slated the cancellations as a positive thing as the cash-strapped railway reportedly is running on a £1,000-a-day loss.

    I make no comment as I do not know all the facts but this statement about the finances comes as a shock.

    Ed Chap
     
  9. Gladiator 5076

    Gladiator 5076 Part of the furniture

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    I have only seen positive posts on here.
    I also thought the video was a very good effort at updating people.
    Not sure what has upset you so much!
     
  10. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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  11. 5944

    5944 Resident of Nat Pres

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    https://www.wsfp.co.uk/news/landslide-blocks-heritage-railways-christmas-specials-584566

    Be interesting to know where they got that figure from.
     
  12. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    Ah, we are into the "definition of slated" thing again :)

    My interpretation (and it is just that) is that the £1,000-a-day loss is a whole-year figure - which would mean a loss of £365k across the year. I haven't checked the accounts, but that is not out of line with the sorts of figures talked about previously on this thread.

    I wouldn't interpret it as the Winterlights services specifically running at a loss - that absolutely would be a disaster. Rather, I'd assume that the railway is losing £365k per year; and the picture could be much worse but for the revenue boost of running the Winterlights and Santa trains (i.e. the normal seasonal ebb and flow of finances that most heritage railways see). So in that light, I can't see how you could see a cancellation as remotely positive, least of all in cash terms.

    Tom
     
  13. garth manor

    garth manor Well-Known Member

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    Hard to see WSR escaping some costs, an Act of God for the landowner perhaps, and a failure to take clearly required precautions on behalf of the exposed neighbours on the part of WSR, could be expensive.
     
  14. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    3 times in a year, and “act of God” may be rather a stretch for the landowner to argue - especially if the suggestions of a change in how they’ve worked are correct


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
  15. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

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    That seems particularly financially illiterate. Does no-one who writes for this sort of publication know anything about economics?
     
  16. Cuckoo Line

    Cuckoo Line Member

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    Obviously picked up some comments from a local news or discussion site without checking out the real facts, typical journalists, I,ve been at events they,ve reported on and wondered whether I had been at the same thing before now!
     
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  17. Hirn

    Hirn Member

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    The second sentence is so absolutely right: because what the volunteers do comes "free, gratis and for nothing" it is all too easy to overlook just how impossibly much it would cost to buy in the the value of the contribution and yes, simply just how big the overall operation is.

    Somebody pointed exactly this out to a learned society I had to do with in the 1980s when the effects of the 19770s - inflation and a squeeze on peoples time, facilities - were bearing were having to be met.
     
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  18. DH34105

    DH34105 Member

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    Certainly the Winter Lights trains are running as I have seen them through Bishops Lydeard Last evening and this evening on the return from as far as they can go towards Crowcombe Heathfield and heading towards Norton platform.
    This evening with 33 leading and Manor trailing.
     
  19. bluetrain

    bluetrain Well-Known Member

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    I don't think the WSR have publicized their engineers' assessment of the damage. Maybe it has to remain confidential while discussions continue with the adjoining landowners and with the County Council.

    In the meantime, Steve Edge's web-site has some pictures of the damage site. People can form their own impressions, but note that there has already been some work done to clear the track-bed of the mud and debris that had spilled onto it.

    http://www.wsr.org.uk/
     
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  20. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    I suggest that the adjoining properties might be also in have solicitors or insurers involved
     

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