West Somerset Railway General Discussion

#7464 & #7477.

Take the first one for example. You said, 'Now this argument is getting to the reductio ad absurdum stage.' You seemed to mean, 'Now this argument is getting ridiculous'.

(It's possible that you were simply pointing out the rhetorical technique Robin was using, for the benefit of those struggling to keep up. If so, you were correct).

We are, of course, straying a long way from WSR operations. I apologise to anyone who finds reason and rhetoric tedious for leading the thread down this bunny hole.

 

How about using this combination of font, colours and material?



(Other wording available according to the precise location).

Tom

 

Presumably it would be perfectly possible to produce a sign which meets early 21st Century requirements but can look as though it came from the late 19th?

 

Fine for me. It avoids the pitfall of implying there is some sort of right of way Would need to be repro. of course to avoid the attention of the light fingered.

Paul H

 

Indeed it does. And my comment is less a criticism, more an observation of how the trade off between “authenticity” and “practicality” sometimes works.

In this case “practicality” has seen the facilities you describe developed, and the station evolve into a railhead. At that level, it works, and retains a “country station” feel in the process. Other railways have done significantly less well in that process.

But, and it’s an important “but”, there is an important “something” that for me as an occasional visitor has been missing. Seeing that picture clarified it for me, and it is to do with the asymmetry of the station as the younger up side has developed ahead of the original down side. The feeling, to this observer, is no longer that of an organic whole. Nearly, but not quite.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Completely indecipherable to me. How can anyone in 2017 be expected to work out what that means?

 

Absoluely agree. Given the purpose of a railway - moving people and goods - is also part of the heritage we care so much about, I guess the station does a pretty good job whilst retaining a fair old nod towards the "old". Especially so, given the huge increase in passengers. In a way, it is rather nice that the Up side of the station, with its newer features, is used by most visitors as that helps protect the fabric of the original Down side facilities. The Down side platform has always been shorter than its upstart companion, so perhaps, in a cheeky moment, we can excuse the modest (!) extension of the latter and pretend the GWR might have done the same

Steve

 

It was quite deliberate!

 

Certainly habit forming.

Best wishes,

PH

 

I SOOOOO agree with that.

I SOOO enjoy reductio ad absurdam (except when trying to get predictive text to let me type that...). It is otherwise known as being a sarcastic ba*****.

My favourite was when the ill-fated and poorly managed Child Support Agency was having difficulty getting absentee fathers to pay child maintenance and it was suggested that their driving licences should be taken away until they complied.

And then one MP quipped that perhaps then unpaid motoring fines should be dealt with by having the children taken away...

I have no position of influence on the WSR but, IMHO, the several nonsenses perpetrated by the Infrastructure Department recently certainly merit the 'TW3' treatment.

Robin

 

When I am home later, I will re-post the sketch of my suggestion for the further development of modern day Bishops Lydeard, as part of the Station Farm consultation of which much was heard in early 2017 but appears to have died a death with Steve Williams' resignation as a WSR plc Director.

I was critical of a number of aspects of that plan but we do need a plan, and we do need to better meet the needs of visitors at our principal terminus.

There is a considerable body of WSR option that believes we have stagnated for the last decade. Hard to argue against that.

Robin

 

Actually it is "absurdum" (he says pedantically)

With apologies!

Paul

m

 

Excellent. I have seen an example of the left hand plate many years ago, well before we needed to get cautious about fakes. It gives the lie to comments about the language not changing. Incidentally. there is a Facebook page dealing with railwayana fakes. Very interesting and worrying as fakery seems to be extending into non-ferrous things such as worksplates.

By the way, are you absolutely sure about the "lavatory paper" one? It is not quite as scatalogical as some undoubted fakes are but the Victorians went to sometimes absurd lengths to avoid referring to such things in public.

Paul H

 

I think the main point about these new signs is being missed. Namely, it is not what they say which is the problem, it is the style and position of the signs themselves, together with the unsympathetic manner of their installation. They stick out like a sore thumb. When building the goods store at Crowcombe, the planning process was lengthy and had to take in the heritage nature of the site. Why the heck didn't these signs?

 

Which is my point. A traditional sign would meet the requirement completely.

Tom

 

Yes but.........
Gentility is not what warning signs ought to be about.

PH

 

Despite this they got the roof pitch wrong!

 

Why are you equating traditional with gentle?

These new signs are red. So make the signs from cast iron and paint them red too. And while you are at it, mount them on something other than a stainless steel post, an old piece of rail, for example.

 

Exactly, Tom.