West Somerset Railway General Discussion

That’s right, let’s just sweep discrimination under the carpet and carry on as if nothing happened. Well done

 

Are you wilfully missing the point? No one said there was no cost reduction from running fewer services, only that the variable costs are a much smaller proportion of the total than the fixed, and as a result it is quite difficult to cut one’s way to success.

What we can tell from the revenue numbers Tom shared is that ticket revenue has not paced inflation and that as a result if the railway is now able to manage all repairs etc it is doing very well indeed.
I think that’s really all that was being said as a conclusion from revenue even though the reasoning was more involved than that. I fully agree with Tom.

Genuinely I would like others like to understand more about the turnaround that is being talked about. Personally I’ve never wished any railway to fail, even those who have leaders that really ought to behave better. I’d very much like to see the WSR thrive and I’d like to understand how they are progressing with their turnaround.

 

At the risk of teaching how to suck eggs.

To run a train ( whether on the WSR or elsewhere ) involves additional variable costs i.e. specific
to that one operation eg. fuel, ‘wear and tear on the motive power, possible staff costs if associated
duties cannot be covered by volunteers etc. If the asscciated fares cover these costs then any additional
revenue represents a contribution towards covering the fixed costs.

Additionally there is the potential revenue from associated sales eg food, drink, mementoes. etc .To
rely on these I think is risky, but sometimes unavoidable. ( Some of these inevitably include
significant bought out costs whether as per food, books etc or possibly staff costs wrt food and
shop. The net margin i.e. contribution towards covering fixed costs can be low.

If there is doubt that running a service will produce a net margin (I.e. contribution ) then
do not.

One of the difficult to measure actions I think is “If we remove marginal services on Monday
how many passengers do not travel on Tuesday or later ? Similarly there is a concern perhaps
that if we do not run on Monday there will be overcrowding on Tuesday ( poor passenger
experience, unlikely to return or recommend to friends. ),

I am not privy to current West Somerset Railway finances ( I spend one day per week in
the information office ) but so far this year good pax loadings , overheads are far less than
a decade past ( less staff etc, ) and morale is good.

However I suspect that cash is tight; donations, grants, share sales etc ( as through out movement in
general ) are necessary (essential ? ) for any significant capital works ( whether infrastructure,
motive power, carriage stock etc ).

The WSR has a fairly new and comparatively young management team. It has come through a
difficult period ( some I regret of it’s own making ) but is now alive. There is I am sure much
more to be done.

Like much of our movement there have been personnel difficulties ( inevitably I think with any
organisation dependent on a large volunteer diaspora there can be internecine strife ) but the
WSR needs all the support it can get; whether volunteers, supporters, armchair gurus etc.

Michael Rowe

 

Given the highlighted paragraph (which is no surprise), I continue to be curious about what underpins claims of the railway's strength, given the financial health warnings before Covid.

Parking my reservations about the managers of the railways to one side (bluntly, that war has now been fought and concluded), it feels to me like a brittle position, with shoots of growth but a lot of inherited challenges too. That is no disresepect to anyone, and common across the sector. Yet we're told (and not in the above) that it's all great - which just begs for elaboration and clarification.

 

Strengths ?

Stable motivated management team below Board Level.
Good blend of experience and youth.
Careful control of costs.
Improved ( in fact excellent ) staff morale.
Careful targeted marketing.
Vibrant coach party business.
This plus ten stations ( all now well looked after by dedicated teams.
Controlled overheads.
etc

It does not mean the ‘eye can be taken off the ball’ but it is not a bad
foundation for a solid business.

Michael Rowe

 

Agree with all of that. I would also add my previous comment that the board management are not only experienced business people, but also rail enthusiasts. Having one and not the other is not ok. We are lucky to have both which means a well run business and happy volunteers. It seems to me that we now have a very happy and content volunteer set.
Ian C

 

Thank you. I trust you’ll pardon some surprise, but I am also pleased at this state. I now hope, given past history, that (a) this has been achieved through positive change rather than fear, and (b) that the cost control is not building up further deficits for the future.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Messrs Maunsell and ikcdab, are you able to answer a question please?

I try desperately try to refrain from posting on this thread, but I can't help noticing amongst all the good news from the WSR (and to be clear I am a shareholder who loves the railway, having been present at each stage of the re-opening in the 70s and a supporter ever since) that no-one associated with the current management seems willing to comment on how the infrastructure, which was apparently in such poor condition and needed millions to repair it, is obviously no longer of concern with the line being in better shape than it has ever been?

As there do not appear to have been the track renewals etc. on the scale we were told were urgently needed then I can only conclude that either there's been no progress or for some reason, the position was severely mis-stated a few years ago. Which is it please?

 

I remember in the very distant past my University Professor suggested that as Chemical Engineers we
would be able when meeting a Mechanical Engineer claim to be a Chemist, when meeting a Chemist
claim to be an Engineer. ( When meeting a Chemical Engineer head for the Pub ). As far as I
remember he had no advice as to how to approach a Civil Engineer.

I have no inside knowledge but I think there have been some very ‘conservative’ opinions from WSR Civil
Engineers in the past. I remember some years past being taken by a Civil Engineer to a location on the WSR
where supposedly the embankment was slipping. I naively asked why the purported location was
not pegged out. Silence.

I also remember some strong claims wrt individual loco axle weights and subsequent line limits.
.I asked if as well aa weights multi- cylinders locos, cylinder layout, length of cylinder stroke,
degrees of balancing etc had been taken into consideration. Again silence.

I am therefore unsure as to the value of some past assessments. I am convinced that a combination
of a better understanding of the nature of Railway Engineering, recognition that the WSR is a 25mph
Railway, and specific requirements for remedial work identified and undertaken has led to the
current position.

I suspect there is more work to be carried out in the near future. I am sure the Railway would welcome
donations.

Michael Rowe

ps I remember the 1910 L&NW Civil Engineers insisted the Claughton 4-6-0 design was lightened,
hence the use of a smaller boiler and a basically unsatisfactory design. Various tests c 1927
( if I remember correctly ) established that the four cylinder design was actually self
balancing and the previous concerns wrt weights ( ‘hammer blow’ ) were without merit.
Some Claughtons were given a larger boiler which revolutionised their performance,
albeit too late as the Stanier revolution was on its way.

 

Thank you for taking the trouble to reply, Michael.

 

Thank you also. I mean you no discredit when I say that I wish such information would come out officially, rather than need to be pursued through unofficial channels.

 

That all seems to make sense and to provide a possible explanation of why the backlog of maintenance is (perhaps) much less serious than previously reported. However, if true, it implies some serious management incompetence in accepting and publicising the figure for the amount of cash that was supposedly needed. Have some member(s) of the management team at that time since departed and thus become suitable scapegoats?

 

When this subject has cropped up before I mentioned that, when the NYMR first started running to Whitby 10 mph limits were placed on bridges 45, 46 and 53 for steam locos due to ‘condition’. After a couple of years these restrictions were removed but nothing had been done to the bridges. At the end of the day much is down to subjective opinion which is a moveable feast.

 

I assume that it would be possible to work out how much track needs relaying etc each year on any line.

I understand that a lot of track is still BR & some GWR

 

All depends on the amount of wear that is present and the rate of deterioration per year.
This will vary with every railway including Network Rail.

 

There's was still some 1954 rail on the Welsh valley lines up until the recent transformation Transport for Wales have been doing. I saw the data!

 

I imagine that virtually all of the track is BR and GWR - there are definately many chairs stamped GWR. Doesn't mean to say that it hasn't been relaid, packed, tamped, ballast cleaned and renewed, rails turned, sleepers replaced etc.

 

It’s 2019 since I last rode the WSR. I did the GWSR one day and the WSR the next. I distinctly remember noticing a difference in ride quality between the two and I have to say that the WSR was the better although neither were what I’d call bad.

 

Probably one for a fresh topic, but I wonder where the oldest operational track is in the UK, not including sidings? I remember the Caledonian Railway Brechin had a mile or so of turn-of-the-century Caledonian track in its running line a few years ago, but I think it's been replaced now.