Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

My personal view for many years has been that if each separate group has the same person at the top it is not necessarily the best situation and definitely does not guarantee continuity, and can very much promote the wishes of one person,luckily now we are slowly seeing changes and forgive the pun, a totally different train of thought that ultimately needs to spread throughout the L&B family,id rather see a board room in discussion with different views needing to be hammered out rather than a board room full of nodding donkeys

 

I completely agree. And as the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day

 

If the only possible opportunity to travel behind a recreated Manning-Wardle were to travel to Devon, then that is what people would have to do. Then they would get to visit the recreated L&B, and do that 'adding to the local economy' thing that all railways claim. If, however, one got the notion that sooner or later an itinerant Manning Wardle would turn up at the local narrow gauge line, then one might not bother with Devon at all, and just travel behind Exe2 at some other location.
The M-W might earn steaming fees, which it seems are not enough to cover the wear and tear incurred, but the host railway would get the earnings and the benefit of offering this 'unique' experience.
Surely better if the recreated L&B locomotives stayed on the railway whose character the originals helped establish, and the L&B kept its usp of being the L&B.
However, that being the case, it might be better to proceed slowly on the loco-building and prioritise building more L&B, rather than just WB, for the public to ride on.

 

How many devoted manning wardle fans do you think there are?

And how many of them will come more than once if ticking off MW haulage is their aim?

 

What is more, with due apologies to the good folk at Bideford, the L&BR is the only operational heritage railway in North Devon - and NG to boot

What we need however is the incentive to get visitors to come to North Devon without getting 'distracted' at the WSR on the way and then failing to go any further west. Still a struggle IMHO when you compare the two 'offerings' and their ease (or otherwise) of transport links.

 

I really like the L&B, I think that Woody Bay is one of the great achievements of the heritage railway movement. But having said that, the different, and seemingly many, components that make up the enthusiast bodies of the L&B are one of the regrets of the movement. These bodies are quite disgracefully argumentative, destructively so, quite incapable of working constructively together as this latest bout illustrates all too readily.

 

Here it is!

Planning: EXM/26/172/FULL - Online Register

Check out the Aerial Overlay of Parracombe (under Documents) for the track layout!

 

I thought "the latest bout" was move to much more co-operation.

 

What 'bout' are you talking about exactly, and where? I feel things are going rather well at the moment...

 

PE Planning Application.

In Item 11 of the Community Involvement document it is stated that "The pedestrian gate will normally be locked with no access permitted except when trains are operating. The guard on the first train of the day will unlock the gate and the guard on the last train of the day will lock the halt."

OK, fine, but.... elsewhere it was stated that the last of the five trains of the day would run "dependant upon demand" or words to that effect - I've lost the reference at the moment. So how will the guard of the penultimate train know if the last train will or will not be running and so he/she should or should not lock the gate?

 

I'm sure there are many possible solutions,but I take that to mean that the railway will schedule the 'last train' on days where demand is likely to be heavier, and not on quieter days - not on an 'as required' basis at the time the last train was due to depart.