Last Chance Hotel?

All change at the WHHR.

James Hewett is no longer the company chairman :dance::dance:but he remains commercial manager.:tsk:
Martin Owen is the new chairman.
Christopher Boulter is he new deputy chairman.

More details to follow.......

 

From what I remember you have made some comments about how the FRCo. has a large part to blamein the past, yet you didn't even understand the situation? The WHHR want more than just the occasional excursion, they want to run a 5 train a day daily service on a stretch of track they do not own and only built half of, this was turned down by the FRCo. 2 years ago, and an alternative package similar (within the current operational relms of possibility) to what you think they want, presented, they haven't replied to this, they still want what they can't have.

Hungary?

 

Of course.

...but the FRC board not only have to run a railway, but remain profitable and protect their workforce. In the current economic climate, and with so many unknowns regarding the 40 mile railway, quite rightly the enthusiast point of view has to take a back seat - this means that however much everyone wants to see Russell on the WHR, the potential benefits of a WHHR deal have to outweigh the potential risks - the initial proposal didnt, so the WHHR need to either radically change it or come up with another. Until they do, nothing is going to change.

Spud - regarding the Pickering carriages, i wasnt aware the WLLR charged a higher fare. If they do fair enough, but they werent purchased for commercial reasons so i dont see the relevance.
With regards to the WHHR proposal, i'd suggest you seek it out. What they want is, in effect, an extension of their railway to Pont Croesor - i havent heard any suggestion that the FR would oppose one-off or occasional services, but that isnt what the WHHR are asking to run.

Chris

 

Hey what!? No no!! I mean all I ever wanted was for the WHHR and FR to get along...the impression you get is that the FR were the ones being stubborn and I may have not liked their comercial desires more then their willingness to co-operate with the WHHR...but I don't blame anyone...just want to see more heritage on the WHR! But that said I see everyones point of view and I have said before that the WHHR shouldn't expect much...don't blame someone for not knowing the full story...I do see the FRs perspective on it more now.

Its like give and take, both sides need to give over it...well the FR don't, not really...they don't need to, but the WHHR NEEEEEEDS to if they want to get anywhere, and it would be nice if the FR did reach a compramise?

Maybe the two groups should just merge? At the end of the day, they both just want to preserve the WHR! (Runs for cover)

 

I am glad that there has been a change of committie for the Whhr this should see some changes in the attitude of the organisation and i so dearly hope that things will begin to move in a postive way!
Spud i suggest you stop being so nieve and think before you post what has seemed recently on this forum and others very much like utter drivel!

 

I meant specifically...obviously

 

Whats that supposed to mean? Sorry I am not as valuable a contributer as you...

 

Unlikely. The former chairman of vice is still pulling the strings and one gains the impression Owen is more of a hard liner than Hewett. More of the same I fear.

 

In the absence of any information whatsoever, almost 24 hours after the meeting, I was replying to a question about how the AGM went.

FRCo has no comment to make on management changes at another organisation and it does those who claim to want reconciliation no credit to try to put words into either company's mouth.

To say 'you wish for there to be no resolution and you do not wish to see WHHR stock running on the WHR under any terms' is a complete fiction and helps no one.

The FR's stance remains that its preferred option is cooperation between two organisations which have complementary offerings.

 

Going by what i've seen on this site, there seems to be a lot of people getting a real kick out of this dispute. Last chance hotel ? Put up or shut up ? This is not a debate, more like some kind of perverted slanging match. The title of this thread is in itself nothing more than a provocation.

 

Baldwin, as it was I who chose the title of the thread, let me explain why.

I have just spent a week in Porthmadog and was amazed how this dispute has polarised many residents of the town, from those in the Chamber of Commerce to those who serve on the Council. Much of what I heard were opinions which were poisonous defamatory and untrue which clearly had their origins at WHHR. The railways of Porthmadog play a real role in the local economy and such a dispute can only, in the end, harm all of those involved. FR/RhE seem to have kept their heads down and I applaud this.

James Hewitt has indeed made enough scurrilous remarks, both by circulated emails and to all those who will listen. This behaviour can do nothing but harden attitudes and goes nowhere. The title suggested that the WHHR AGM hopefully would put in place new officials who could enter into new negotiations in a more constructive manner.

Personally, I do hope that one day I will be able to take a special behind Russell or even a Baldwin on the RhE and I really do wish the WHHR well but not at the expense of character assassinations of FR/RhE personnel who have presided over the most exraordinary restoration in recent preservation history.

Let us not forget that if the FR/RhE had not undertaken this project, the prospect of heritage trains through Aberglaslywn would not ever have been an issue in our lifetime.

Human nature being as it is means we all enjoy a good fight and this one, from the sidelines is entertaining if very sad.

 

This thread is very close to being locked again with posts being reported to the team. We already have a few threads to do with the WHR, WHHR and FR in the bin.

Please keep posts within the forum rules.

Thanks, Neil.

 

I personally don't enjoy a good fight and neither is this dispute entertaining, i imagine that there are many who would agree with me, sad it is, that's for sure. What you did not explain clearly, is why it is the last chance, the last chance for who ? this is why the title is so provocative. You are not alone in fueling this dispute i know, but you were well aware of the implications when you started this thread, which is made only too obvious by your personal attacks above. The time has come to stop this dispute, the only way forward, is for a full public enquiry with independant arbitration.

 

Baldwin, you miss the point entirely. The use of 'last chance' is simply that the more the dispute becomes embittered the less chance there will be to find resolution. I am not aware of making personal attacks other than stating fact with regard to statements made by James Hewitt. To suggest a full public enquiry and arbitration shows clearly a lack of understanding of the actual situation.

If WHHR feels that they have been legally wronged, there is nothing to stop them from going to court.

 

11th paragraph refers:
http://www.caernarfonherald.co.uk/caernarfon-county-news/local-caernarfon-news/2010/07/01/fresh-starts-and-new-regimes-for-gwynedd-chambers-of-trade-88817-26759804/

 

Who do you suggest would pay for that?

Money wasted on a public inquiry would be better focused elsewhere.

 

If i am wrong please let me know. I had the impression when you started this thread that last chance was meant for the oncoming WHHR AGM ? You did make a personal written judgement about Mr James Hewitt. I don't believe you are being responsable and above board. I have the impression that this thread just like many others before it, are out to fuel a dispute which has long passed being sickening. As for the lack of understanding, to ask for a full public inquiry with independant arbitration with the intention to come out of this impasse, is i believe being resposable, i only wish that your contribution could be as equal.

 

I don't believe, in these circumstances, that anybody has the power to order such an enquiry.

 

You talk of impasse and the need for an expensive public inquiry but surely the crux of the whole issue is, as an earlier poster suggested, the fact the the FR Co has very little, other than a (valuable) heritage perspective, to gain from this relationship. The WHHR has everything to gain by operating their trains to Pont Croesor and potentially abstracting some business that may otherwise have gone to the FR Co.

It looks to me like the FR Co really do hold all the cards and the WHHR will only harden attitudes by continuing to take an all or nothing stance. Surely a foot in the door and build from there would be a good strategy?

 

Not being a Welsh lawyer i would suggest local gouverment.