West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Thanks for that clarification. I don't have access to the official figures, I was going on my observations over the last 18 years. I expect the ability to book online has changed things quite a bit.

 

As a L&BR volunteer also, I would hope so, even if there is a 'conflict of interest' Bear in mind however that any longer run is still several years away.....

 

True, it remains to be seen if the WSR raise their £1M and still exist before that happens.

 

Yes, the first part was my own point of view, the second that of a parent, also me.
If no-one is going to be paying steam prices to ride a diesel, how can running diesels help the cost/income disparity ? I agree that the WSR could charge as much for 10 miles of steam as for 20, but what then? A supplementary fare to travel the rest of the way to Bishops Lydiard?

 

So? It's still better than having no seats that offer you a view from the front of the train. The fact that there are a limited number is irrelevant, there are only a limited number of "facing forward, window" seats, but that doesn't stop people using the other 75%.

 

Yes, but the point of view that you quote is of a parent who is a railway enthusiast, which the majority of the parents travelling on the train won't be. If the railway can charge roughly the same amount for ten miles of steam traction as it can for twenty, then the cost of a ticket Minehead to Williton behind steam can only be slightly more than the cost of a ticket Minehead to BL, with Williton - BL in a DMU. Fares should not be based on what the service costs to operate, but what the passengers are prepared to pay. Most passengers are prepared to pay a premium to travel behind a steam loco, so that's what the railway should charge. What makes people grumble is when they have paid that premium and, for some reason, the train appears hauled by a diesel loco.

 

GWSR comes in at £70 for a family of 4. DFR is £40. PDSR £65 (Depending on where you are in the West Country as to 'other lines you could drive to')

Think about the non-railway tourist rivals as well. For example Longleat which is the other way but a family of four comes in £120 and for that you get

• Longleat Safari Park
• On-foot animal attractions including Koala Creek, Jungle Cruise and Family Farmyard
• Main Square adventure attractions including the Longleat Railway, Rockin’ Rhino and the Hedge Maze
• Longleat grounds and gardens
• Special seasonal events across the Park

So for a family group of different interests I would suggest that Longleat represents better value because there is more variety. If someone really wants a train ride then there is the miniature railway.

Wookey Hole comes in around £60 for a family of four.

So if after a couple of days out your wallet is feeling a bit lighter and you want a train ride and a cheaper afternoon - as people have said LBR or ESR are cheaper, M-Shed is free. Etc etc Plus all the different things in Bath, Bristol, Glastonbury, Wells etc

My sense is that the WSR basically falls between numerous stools. It is too long but it doesn't have an NR connection. It is expensive but it doesn't offer the above and beyond value that somewhere like the SVR or FR do, or its price point rivals locally. It doesn't have an obvious place to develop as a mid point journey to break and secondary spend.

 

Will it? It's 20 miles along the coast, on quite a tough piece of road, and drawing on a different catchment.

 

Indeed. But the trouble with a DMU is that you have that dozen or so seats that are better, then a lot more that are significantly worse. And if you're trying to appeal to 6 TSOs worth of punters, the dozen are far outnumbered.

 

Surely if you've got 6 TSOs' worth of punters to appeal to you run a steam service? DMUs work best when they're moving people around the railway who are already there, without having to pay to operate another steam train. If folks have caught their steam train from BL to, say BA for a bit, then want to catch the next train to MD, it doesn't matter if that train is a DMU or steam. But it makes it more doable to operate a "string of pearls" if you're operating a frequent enough timetable to actually do more than a round trip without being stranded somewhere for hours.

 

I’d argue it would draw on a lot of the same catchment. People holidaying on the East Devon coast for example who wanted a ride on a steam train. Both WSR and LBR would be feasible options and a similar drive.

 

Really? significantly worse than the equivalent seats on a TSO? In what way?

 

All the above posts are predicated on the survival of the WSR. Feasibility of operations can be discussed if and when that occurs. I know many have discounted the " Okehampton option" but where else is funding coming from to ensure a safe and enduring railway?

 

Have you ever sat in a 1st generation DMU? Low bench seats, typically laid out in a 3 x 2 arrangement; no contest in comfort terms to a TSO seat.

And where they are full height, that means my dozen falls quickly as far fewer have the opportunity to see forward.

 

Depends on what class. The 103s were low density 2+2, along with all else which once trod the Cambrin Coast line. I'd agree the HD 3+2 layout was no more attractive on DMMUs than t'was on the 4EPBs of my native Saarfeest Lundun.

 

Unfamilair with either, I take it we're talking high backed seating? Whether hauled stock, DEMU, DMMU or EMU, I always find 3+2 (or worse yet, six a side compartment) seating distinctly claustrophobic. From a heritage point of view, it's a pity the damned things are historically highly significant. Still, you can't get a coconut every time!

The only thing worse is compounding such seating with barred droplights. In days of yore, the perennialy filthy 2EPB operated NLL services, between North Woolwich and Richmond (Surrey), featured those and boy, were they ever a fugly sight, what with their two-tone "brake dust and random grafitti" livery. Honestly, I can't recall seeing a remotely clean one, any more than the preceeding reeking DMMU wrecks running the pre-spark up service to Tottenham Hale. At least the old North Woolwich station itself, which must've looked rather charming in it's heyday, had an excuse for looking like a bomb site, as that's just what a large part of it had been!

 

What happened to the Park Royals?

 

Now at Helston, their site says it hasn’t worked since 1991


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