West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Went on it today with my two youngest (5 & 6)

Had a great time

 

RE: External condition of Passinger stock, its one thing to say you want them to look authentic, but we are all in the leisure market, and joe public, ie wife husband and 2 kids will not put up with tired looking coaches, its first impressions, you go through a booking office that is clean and well presented, walk out onto the platform, then you see your train, Now, if the coaches look un cared for, ok they may be good inside, but faded, tired paintwork, give what kind of impression? already you have been marked down in the eyes of those about to travel, where as stock that is clean and looks cared for, with a decent paint job, will present a far better image,, we like to see clean locos, but dont seem to give a second thought to what the passengers travel in.
The QB stock, ok whilst Mk 1's in Pulman livery are not historically right, if done right need not look to bad, On the MHR, the watercress belle is Mk 1s, but they are fully lined out and on the QB, you have half a job done, it needs the lining out to complete the image, and to break up the umber,
As regards repainting coaches, is it possible to take 1 coach out of each rake and repaint one at a time and the overhauled coaches, into Maroon as its the easiest livery to do in a short time, until you have a full rake, then do the same with a rake of blood and custard, and so on? do you need to run as many coaches as you do, could you run with shorter rakes to free up coaches so you can have a programe of rolling coach refurbishment?.

 

@Martin 1656, yes you could possible do that space, labour and time permitting. One of the problems we have is that train length tends to be dictated by peak loading needs. There is also another factor which is people don't want to feel cramped on the train, they like to spread out a bit. A lot of our trains could be one coach shorter, but at the risk of making them overcrowded. So if we can solve the space problem then all we need to do is find enough skilled volunteers to do all the painting.
Then we need sheds to house the stock when not in use to help preserve the paintwork.
Your point about the unfinished look of the QB Pullman livery is well made, it offends my eye every time I look at it.

 

I generally agree with both posts above. Pullman livery on mk1s is not everyone's cup of tea but badly done Pullman livery on mk1s is no one's cup of tea. I get that someone else paid for it, but surely the WSRA wouldn't have minded paying aa little extra for finishing touches.

As for repainting coaches, given that all WSR coaches are choc 'n' cream this makes it relatively easy. All you need is one spare TSO that isn't needed in any of the rakes which can allow you to rotate all coaches in and out throughout the season gradually working through them. Special coaches like brakes and buffets can be done in the close season if no spares are available. Whilst a carriage shed is of course desirable, I think it's a poor excuse for not repainting coaches. Virtually all GWSR coaches are in better nick externally than WSR and we have no carriage shed, and on the flip side the SVR's maroon mk1s are in poor condition externally and they do have a carriage shed!

As for maroon being simpler, if you do it properly it certainly isn't! That triple waist line is a pain; choc 'n' cream is much simpler, the different colours make little difference to the time taken. I suppose if spraying it's different, but I'm fundamentally opposed to spray painting anyway.

 

the triple line is lining tape, or at least thats how i have seen it done, but i do see your point about having one colour sceme, as you can mix and match and do it adhoc, but it depends on having the right facilities, ideally that should be in the swindon Shed, with a dedicated team, with a clear programe and time scale.

 

THE DEVIL'S WORK! We do it with paint, by hand - properly! (although most people do use masking tape) it lasts a lot longer and doesn't peel off, and when the time comes for a repaint no need to peel it off which is a horrible job.

 

Alex, your a fellow leftie, you should be well used to doing the Devils Work

 

True, which is why I start the line at the right and go left and everyone else starts from the right!

 

and if that dont get them screaming, when you spin your head round 360 degrees, they sure do then,

 

The thing that always disappoints me arriving at BL is the poor condition of the Tarmac and the toilet block. The disabled parking area is particularly badly in need of being re tarmaced to give an even surface for those who are not good on their feet at the best of times. In fact the whole Tarmac area and toilet block give the impression of neglect and decay. I suppose it is not a glamour project and so is a low priority. The contrast on arrival at Minehead or Crowcombe by road is astonishing.

 

One of our painters used to do it by painting a yellow stripe first of all the top coats. Then double mask that, painting maroon below the bottom mask and maroon about the top one and black in between the two. Remove mask, and all is done! (The cant rail strip was a bit harder!).

Done to either GWR or BR specification, Chocolate and cream - and "Blood and Custard" - both need a yellow/gold and black line separating the colours. Some versions of GWR also had lining part way down the Black (our G W Saloon does).

On Blue/grey, the white line between the two colours is meant to be tape!

The type of cleaning fluids used and regularity of leaning can also affect the look of the paintwork.

Steven

 

Interesting technique for the maroon there Steve. So whilst you're panel painting is the only protection from painting where the black goes the masking tape on the thin yellow line?

After the whole coach is in undercoat grey, we usually mark where the whole of the line goes then tape over. Then we paint the whole thing in maroon, and after that take the tape of leaving undercoat grey and we then mask each colour individually.

 

Unfortunately the car park and toilet block are the responsibility of the local council rather than the WSR.

 

Thanks for that. I was aware that the main car park and toilet block were but what about the area directly in front of the station? This includes the staff car park and the bus stop. Is that also the responsibility of TDBC?

 

I think SCC or WSR will be responsible for this area, as this will form part of the railway land.

 

I did note that the coaches were a bit 'tired' externally, but the hauled stock was fine inside.

The boys liked the DMU as they could look out of the window without getting smuts in their eyes, but it is due a little TLC

having said that however the toilet's were in very good condition

 

Absolutely, internally the coaches are fine. I thought the DMU looked quite respectable from the outside, although it did have an awful lot of runs!

 

I've just come back from the Isle of Man . Not only do they not use dreary Mk1 s ( I know they are the sensible choice ) but authentic genuine 19th and early 20th century stock and very good they look . One of the reasons they look so good is that they are able to stable their stock at night . Because the IOM railway is much reduced from when it had 4 terminals , now only 2 , they still have the infrastructure of earlier days . Yes I was enchanted with the railway .

Paul . K .

 

Since the IOM is all narrow gauge, I think they would find it very difficult to run Mk1s anyway!