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West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by gwr4090, Nov 15, 2007.

  1. Downline

    Downline New Member

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    On one hand, its great to see the railway planning to run galas once again, no doubt a great morale boost and a sign of a return to 'normal life' for the volunteers , staff and supporters of the railway.

    But on the other hand, the railway are short of cash, claiming numbers are going to be down, etc etc. Can they really afford and justify running a gala this year if the numbers do not stack up, as currently being claimed?

    But at least some company will benefit out of it by running there heritage buses, no doubt paid significantly quicker than other suppliers, I suppose...
     
  2. Flying Phil

    Flying Phil Part of the furniture

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    I, and I'm sure many others, read this thread on a regular basis with a mixture of amazement, frustration, resignation and ......hope.
    Yes, there are huge problems, both historic and current, but there are so many people involved, with their varying interests, skills and motivations - to have a vibrant WSR going into the future.
    It must be remembered that managers/directors do change and mature, as do all of us. We all make mistakes and often learn from them.
    I know that many people want things to happen quickly, but often it takes much longer, indeed "patience is a virtue".
    Having watched and participated in the Railway Preservation movement for over 50 years it is fantastic how it has grown, matured and given so much pleasure to so many people and generations. The WSR is part of that movement.
     
    Steve, Mike West and jnc like this.
  3. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

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    That seems to be the logic, doesn’t make a huge amount of sense to me either.
     
  4. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

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    On a normal running day the numbers don’t seem to stack up, not sure if the same applies to a gala.

    I think it’s positive they are trying something different, but, if the events record a loss, surely questions will be asked as to the wisdom of running the events.
     
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  5. simon

    simon Resident of Nat Pres

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    Seems a low risk gala as it is mainly the home fleet. Something to be applauded I'd have thought.
     
  6. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

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    Possibly yes. Is the home fleet plus a guest enough of a draw?

    The last Gala with four guests (October 2019), brought in 3,658 passengers as a reference.
     
  7. ross

    ross Well-Known Member

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    How can you say that there was not an adequate programme of renewals?
    So, assuming that the PLC are competent and capable as is claimed, then the current situation of being unable to operate to Minehead must be exactly what these detailed plans called for.
     
  8. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

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    I was mainly going by the Plc's statement that £500,000 had to be spent on the track per annum for the forseeable. Given that track renewals have not had that sort of budget to date, that implies there is a backlog to sort out.
     
  9. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    I have been told £10000
     
  10. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    That was quite a few months ago, I'd imagine it's some way north of that by now.
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2021
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  11. jnc

    jnc Well-Known Member

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    I think you're seeing in part the inevitable result of the attitude expressed by too many of the 'management' of the WSR to enthusiasts from outside Somerset, which seems to be 'you're neither a customer nor a shareholder, so take a hike'. That attitude, while somewhat plausible for an 'ordinary' business, is incompatible with the seemingly-now-realized position that the WSR does need outside 'stakeholders' - even if they don't occupy roles that exist in an 'ordinary' business. But that, and the foul taste left in many mouths by actions such as the treatment of volunteers who challenge the 'management', the ousting of the SDRT (who provided benefits to the WSR at little cost to that organization), etc, aren't directly the whole problem.

    The real problem is that those failings (which seem not to have been, in advance, obvious failings to those who committed them - if not, why did they do them), plus others, like letting the Seaward crossing fall through the cracks, the failure of the second relief application, and a host of others, have convinced many (too many) that the current 'management' of the WSR just aren't up to the job of successfully running the line. Worse, they can't, or are un-willing to, recognize that (and some combination of the WSR 'culture', and the baroque organizational structure, makes it impossible to force a change). In short, they're going to put the line on the rocks sooner or later, no matter what. So one's effectively left with the choice of either i) banging one's head on the wall fruitlessly, or ii) sitting under a tree, and watching the crash.

    John Steele Gordon's truly wonderful Scarlet Woman of Wall Street on the Erie Railroad contains some very on-point advice from a very similar situation. Jay Gould, then in charge of the Erie, was having trouble raising funds needed for capital works (in part because of his previous shenanigans to retain control of the Erie; even though, under his guidance, the Erie had finally turned a profit recently). He asked the prominent broker William Butler Duncan what to do; Duncan's advice was pithy: "Change the Board of Directors, and put in some strong names that people have confidence in!" Hard to improve on that, for the WSR.

    Noel
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2021
  12. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    Because yes, I really really want to give my money to an organisation that is claiming to be in a dire financial state but hasn't said what it wants my money for or what it will do with it, but which does have enough money to spend a five figure sum on persecuting its own volunteers.

    Sorry, but not sorry, the PLC can jog on. You reap what you sow.
     
  13. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

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    It’s hard to be confident when the same mistakes are made again and again.

    I am critical of the marketing & PR. We have the news of two galas being planned. The only place the press release (which is quite vague in detail), is on what is an unofficial website. While I accept the explanation of why tickets haven’t gone on sale yet, where is the information on the website or Facebook page? It isn’t!!! The only reference at all is the dates in the calendar, no details, just the date. It’s completely absent from the events page.

    SVR announced their Autumn gala this week, the difference is like comparing chalk and cheese.

    The thing is that it’s obvious stuff, yet nothing changes. It doesn’t inspire confidence that this board are the people to take the railway forward and tackle the difficult issues it will face if it cannot or refuses to understand the basics.

    I’ve said before I do not want to see the railway close, I don’t want to donate to an appeal where my money ends up with the creditors either though.
     
  14. 1472

    1472 Well-Known Member

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    With a foot in both camps I have to say that the WSR ASG announcement seems more sensible to me in that it reserves the position until the post July 19th CV restrictions (or otherwise) becomes clear.

    The SVR announcement has come in for considerable criticism by being too early in detail & therefore selling the current fixed offering which is very much not what much of the enthusiast market wants.

    You would hope that gala organisers have a plan A & plan B depending upon the restrictions which prevail at the time. I suspect that most folk simply want freedom returned as quickly as possible now and shy away from booking events which appear unnecessarily constrained.
     
    Derek Riley likes this.
  15. 1472

    1472 Well-Known Member

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    Trains do call at Watchet as illustrated here for the red timetable: Red Timetable 2021 V2 - West Somerset Railway (west-somerset-railway.co.uk)
     
  16. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

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    That misses the point, right or wrong (which is an entirely different subject), the SVR have a plan, they have advertised it on social media and the website. Over in Somerset, the only acknowledgment is a press release on an unofficial website, surely you agree it isn’t hard to put some basic details on the website, the basic information is already in the press release.

    If there was such an aversion to putting this information out there, it makes you wonder why bother to issue the press release in the first place and not wait until July 19th?

    That hasn’t happened though, on the basis the release has been put out, personally, I would be ensuring there was some information on the website. I would also be using social media to get the event into peoples minds in the first place.

    The July 19th date can be used to an advantage, as with the release of more information, you can have a second opportunity to put the event into peoples minds, something that can be further exploited by announcements of guest engines etc. The trick is to keep the events in peoples minds, especially important with social media - if it’s not appearing in news feeds it gets forgotten.
     
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  17. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    The SVR offering could yet be changed if restrictions ease and the SVR feel that they can operate differently. Personally, I was underwhelmed by what was on offer and the form of the publicity - scant, and self-apologetic.
     
  18. daveb

    daveb Member

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  19. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

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    I was going to say the version I looked at didn’t have that in a few days ago.
     
  20. Breva

    Breva Well-Known Member

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    Well put Noel. Particularly apposite, as it comes from someone outside the immediate area.
     

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