West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Much depends on how desperate the buyer is, and how they assess value.

 

For all the questions being asked about whether £3 million is a bit excessive, at least the WSR is looking at getting 7821 back in workng order. Spare a thought for 7808 - the first Manor to be preserved , the only member of the class to be bought direct from BR and for a while in the 1970s, a main line performer. Of all the nine preserved examples, 7808 looks by some way the least likely of this popular class to return to steam. (I hope this doesn't count as thread drift)

 

7808 is in a similar condition to 7821 and will require a very large cash injection to return it to working order. It's been assessed on several occasions. A stumbling block was the reluctance of the GWS to enter into a realistic "fix it and use it" agreement.

 

A type of agreement which is probably now beyond realistic given the sheer expense and risk involved in returning locos to full working order for a time limited period of use.
As a prominent member of the movement has remarked...."in twenty years time the locos then still running are likely to be the ones running now...". That is a statement more about locos being properly managed & funded in a business like way rather than perpetually relying on the begging bowl.

 

In an ideal world I would agree with your sentiments. But....cast your mind back a few years and the WSR was on the point of financial collapse. The WSRA had to pump money into the company to allow the wheels to keep turning. Have a look at the accounts. They are still spending on the 4561 overhaul and have also taken on 80064. Success is more likely for a loco appeal than one for sleepers and rail. No infrastructure and you can't run trains! It's all about priorities.

 

Not long now until the 50th Birthday celebration event.

 

Was it not free at BA ? I don't recall.....

 

Probably. I don't think 'the Tardis' had been put up that early.

 

According to the latest info that I've had from Minehead, apart for the 10am 'special' and other trains with Victor on the Saturday, there are no 'side attractions' planned at any of the stations. I find that rather strange, it seems to me to be something of a missed opportunity to highlight all the progress in recent years at places such as Washford etc. I know such things take time and resources, and of course there will be the Spring Gala in due course, but I am rather surprised by this apparent low-key approach on such a significant occasion (notwithstanding the events in the morning).

 

The 50th Anniversary Weekend has always been intended as a 'lower key' event if compared to a full scale Gala. We very much do not have the volunteer resource within the Gala Planning Team to deliver two large events back to back.

The theme of the weekend is to remember the Railway in the 70s, of course with the focus on Victor as you have mentioned. The highlights of the event are some of the recreations of various reopenings / early years operations.

We will have the following on both days -
- Vintage Cars at Minehead
- A small WSR memorabilia display in a Coach on Bay Platform at Minehead
- '6435' on display at Minehead in 1976 reopening position on shed
- D7017 on display (mornings only) in 1976 reopening position in Bay Platform
- 2996, 7812, 9351, DMU and D7017 (afternoon only) all in use

Saturday
- 10am MD-BA-MD recreation train. 2996 hauled and fully decked out in bunting as 1976 (my mum is currently well into bunting production!!). Special Ticket holders only (excess will be on sale this week)
- Recreation of reopening train to WN with 2996
- Recreation of when passengers changed trains from Steam to DMU (and vice versa) at WN
- Recreation of reopening to Stogumber with DMU terminating there

Sunday
- Recreated works train with Victor
- Two trips to / from WN for Victor
- Two trips to / from BA for Victor
- Victor and D7017 double header

I appreciate that some of the above has not yet been publicised but it will be soon.
Our visually 1970s era timetable can be viewed here - https://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/uploads/50th_anniversary_ptt_a4_v3_compressed.pdf

 

>>>> The 50th Anniversary Weekend has always been intended as a 'lower key' event if compared to a full scale Gala. We very much do not have the volunteer resource within the Gala Planning Team to deliver two large events back to back.....

I can quite understand the rationale behind that, though with the publicity so far about the occasion I had gained the impression that it was going to be something more than appears to be the case. After all, it's a "once in 50 years" event - I was there at the 'first', and the WSR have kindly invited me to the 50th, but clearly I won't be around for 100 I would have expected (say) something based around BARM as BA was as much an important part of 1976 as MD, and no doubt DR could have much to show off as well.

 

3 million to overhaul 7821 is a tidy sum.

I suspect the main contributor to this cost is X amount of years of paying the engineering staff wage bill. The cost of the materials is probably only around 5-10% of the total amount.