West Somerset Railway General Discussion

It's little different from the NYMR although granted, Pickering is a tad larger than Bishops Lydeard. The majority of people start their day from Pickering and have to have travelled there by road to have done so. Minehead and Whitby are obvious destinations whereas Bishops Lydeard and Pickering are less so. Both railways also have intermediate stations that are also destinations in their own right. Whitby and Minehead are also similar in that they have holidaymakers staying in them and, if they opt for a day out on their respective railway, they don't have to travel far so are more likely to travel on an earlier train than those starting from Bishops Lydeard or Pickering, who have had to travel to do so. Added to that, most people will start their day after breakfast and, depending how far they have had to travel will, to some extent, determine when they arrive and so, for some, a later train departure is a more suitable one. For that reason, passenger travel originating from inland will be spread over more hours than those originating at the coast.
It's all fairly logical, really.

 

They claim that most start at the Taunton end, yet the diesel diagrams start at minehead, almost like they looking for a reason not to run them.
No one wants to trust the 28 to get them there. and back to the mainlime, without missing on mileage, cutting their nose off to spite their face

 

The large majority of passengers starting their day on the 1015 from BL come expecting there to be a steam engine on their train. This service, and its diagrams for the rest of the day, carry more passengers than the set starting at MD, therefore it means less passengers are disappointed by the motive power on their train. Anyone who can't get to MD for 1000 can get the 1015 BL to WN and swap there, and still get 60 miles of diesel running instead of 80, unless people set their own rules such as not travelling behind steam or only doing the diesel from absolute start to finish.

 

Apreciate the reply but the core issue isn't that the train is later in departing. It is more that not having a starter off MH limits what you can do with the day really as the finish is also notably earlier. If you want to travel the full length of the line you need to stay on the train to do so without a short break at any stop along the way. Appreciate BL may not be for everyone but if you have bought a rover that entitles you to a full line journey which you then can't make it's a bit off putting.

I agree with the comments regarding MH in being a tourist destination already (much more so than BL) logically tends to it being more of a destination than a arrival point for many passengers but would argue that having a bigger gap in the timetable during the day, or having the second/diesel service arrive and depart MH later, would at least allow for a break from the MH end and an ability to cover the full length of the line.

The difference with the NYMR and Whitby are that there are NR services between Grosmont and Whitby to fill in gaps where there aren't any direct NYMR ones. Looking at the offering between Grosmont and Pickering does allow for round journeys from either end with breaks so you can at least explore other stations along the line and complete a full round trip.

The SVR seemed to have this a year or so ago when renovating the shed roads at Bridgnorth in that all services started and ended at KR which similarly left quite constrained journey opportunities from BN. A DMU has since been added which gives a broader range of service through the day but, as commented previously, would arguably say it's not as popular as a steam loco so is probably avoided to an extent.

 

What about th eintermediate stations in particular Blue Anchor & Watchet?

They seemed to generate a certain amount of traffic

My view is that a Minehead to Watchet/Williton shuttle could either be commercially attractive or make the timetable as a whole more attractive.

 

Blue Anchor and Watchet are probably the most popular destinations after Minehead.
There will be Minehead - Watchet shuttles on Wednesdays in June and July to serve the Watchet Wednesday Market. They can be found on the timetable.