West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I have read elsewhere that the Class 33 derailed at BL and blocked in Flying Scotsman. Can anyone confirm?

 

That sounds expensive..

 

There's never a good time for a problem like this to occur but this is exceptionally bad luck.

Jonathan Jones – Pratt, Chairman said ‘’Unfortunately the decision was made to suspend operations due to a trackwork incident yesterday. There have also been concerns with staff welfare and ensuring they are working in safe conditions given the extreme weather temperatures. This was a difficult decision to make and I am aware there are disappointed customers at this special time of operations on the line. Our team has been working extremely hard to overcome the challenges but given the excessive heat currently being experienced it has meant no work can be undertaken to the rail during daytime hours, causing the operational issues to be prolonged. Our teams are working exceptionally hard to try to resolve the issues and will be working overnight this evening, when temperatures will have dropped, to fix the current issues. We expect services to operate as planned tomorrow and will be offering additional operational services with Flying Scotsman on Sunday 13th to allow those who missed out on Friday the opportunity to still travel''.

Class 4o D213 moved from Crewe to Taunton today to take over the English Riviera Express to Kingswear tomorrow. Was this a coincidence or had the rostered steam loco been trapped at BL alongside Flying Scotsman?

Just a thought. <BJ>

 

Given the current weather I suggest that there is a perfectly innocent explanation

 

The WSR Flying Scotsman specials are running today as normal. The trains that were scheduled to run yesterday will now run tomorrow (Sunday). <BJ>

 

That's good, hopefully minimise any loss of income - very fortunate they had Sunday available to do this.

 

The NRM and Northern Steam have been most helpful with allowing us to turn Sunday into an operating day rather than a static day as planned.

 

Excellent news and recovery of the lost revenue will have a major impact on the balance sheet for the event. A group of us were due to travel on a service train today which is a shame but perfectly understandable in the circumstances.

 

Another example of how well the Railway is being run.

 

The announcements after the event were good, once made, but I hesitate to suggest that the events around a derailment should ever be used to argue that the railway in question is well run.

 

I made no mention in my post about the derailment. Whilst very unfortunate, I doubt that it will be declared the result of human error.
I was simply congratulating the Railway on the speedy and efficient way in which they (and their partners) not only rescheduled the FS trips but also ensured that the excursion on Saturday went ahead.

 

And mine referenced the whole context, not just the (excellent) recovery. Same statement, two differing perspectives.

 

Indeed I only happened to watch this by chance and having seen a post earlier that security were being employed I had to watch long enough to make sure it was not some bloke wearing a high viz. Having seen it was "security" I did wonder what the point was. Maybe they were better elsewhere on the line.

 

Amended Blue Timetable today. An all diesel service. It rained in Somerset and more forecast today. Steam loco shortage? Never happened in Mr Forster's time!

 

''Even the weather has become dark and heavy, replacing the blue sky and intense heat of one week prior and allowing the WSR to plan for a return to steam haulage for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week, on account of the rain that is forecast between now and then''.

''The ongoing concern about the weather has again resulted in the planned YELLOW timetable being scaled back to a BLUE timetable for Tues/Weds/Thurs 22/23/24th July, but the rainfall that is forecast on Sunday and Monday should allow a return to steam operation on those days''. <BJ>

 

If Somerset had a similar amount of rain to that we had in mid-Cornwall yesterday and overnight I’m not at all surprised that there’s no steam today. And a quick check of the BBC weather app suggests that Minehead will have no significant rain today during the Railway operating hours.

 

Looking at the various WSR webcams, the weather is dry with occasional sunshine. We need a week of steady rain to protect the fields and linesides. <BJ>

 

Indeed we do an the most important part is "a week of steady rain" or maybe two, not downpours where most of it runs off or a few light showers where most of it evaporates.

 

Also bear in mind that he line is 20 miles long so a heavy downpour in Minehead might be light cloud in Bishops Lydeyard