West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Too long since I was a WSR guard so I can't comment on current practices, Steven, but your post reminded me of being issued with a list of nearby houses with telephones, the list to be used in the event of an "stopped train incident". No mobile phones back then of course. Guard expected put down dets and then to go find the nearest house on the list, knock up the owner and request use of the phone. Is that list still in use on the WSR?

Mind you, back then, the likelihood of an assisting engine was very remote as we only had one and that would be on the stranded train. Assistance then more likely in the form of a fleet of taxis and/or minibuses and/or staff/volunteer cars. Thank goodness things are a lot, lot better nowadays.

Steve

 

P

Actually coverage by 3 Mobile, EE and Vodafone it patchy along much of the WSR route.

 

Send a telegram??

My usual quip

When were the last telegrams sent on the Railways?

 

That list doesn't exist any more. Nowadays, guards take a company-provided mobile phone with them, although, as Yorkshireman points out, reception cannot always be guaranteed, then that list would be useful!

 

It will depend on the railways rule book but if assistance is coming then the driver of the assisting locomotive will almost certainly have been told the approximate position of the failed train and will have been cautioned before entering the section. In my book, proceeding at caution means being able to easily stop within my line of sight and I wouldn't be going into any curves that I couldn't see were clear with any speed. You may have been told the location but, from experience, I don't take it as being gospel. (I was told the failed train was at Bridge 35 when the reality was it was at bridge 32.)

 

Apart from the risk of being given the wrong information, there must be places where there are fairly long stretches between 'landmarks' such as bridges, signals etc

 

That's why all railways of any length are required to have mileposts (and 1/4 mileposts).

 

On the KESR all locations are referenced to the lineside pole route. Pole 247 is at Bodiam LC. Roughly 10 miles from Tenterden LC to Bodiam LC, so an average spacing of six times less than quarter mile posts.

 

I remember once during the August peak, a driver decided that the fact water was exiting the boiler into the firebox faster than he could put replacement water into the boiler with the injector meant failing the loco there and then might be a good idea! We were just south Yorfalls Crossing, which is itself the location of the Up Distant for Levisham. It is also the location of an Emergency Phone, the NYMR's solution to very poor mobile coverage which actually long predated mobile phones (and an attempt to use a Satellite phone which nobody liked, partly perhaps because nobody used it properly!), and in Yorfalls case, I knew this had just been installed - or so I thought!

I walked back to discover a brand new, pristine phone post - awaiting the fitting of the actual phone! Looking around, and knowing the walk wasn't too long, I saw a gentleman watching proceedings from the neighbouring Forest Drive (now closed to the public). 'Can I help?' he asked. I think he may have had an early car phone, but there was no signal, so he offered to drive me back to Levisham. You should have seen the look on the fact of the Signalman when the Guard of the last Down Train to depart reappeared in the passenger seat of a large car, being driven down the Forest Drive! Efficient recovery duly followed!

Steven

 

Here, here. 2 out of the four occasions I have had to assist another train it has been in winter and at night. Given the difficulty of spotting the train at all, the inevitably approximate location and the prevailing (awful) rail conditions, not to mention the 1 in 60 gradient, 10mph was plenty until I had hit the first detonator, at which point speed was reduced further. To be of assistance you first need to arrive, and second not compound the issue by clouting the failed train.

 

Looking ahead to the Autumn Steam Gala in a couple of weeks, I see that the QB will be offering breakfast on the down run, and a hot lunch on the up trip. However it is not clear from the published timetable which departures this refers to.

For forward planning purposes, is anyone aware of which trains will include the QB set over this weekend? My apologies if I've missed anything obvious.

 

So, are these intrusive modern signs , like the one on the signalmans boardwalk going to be removed now FS has gone? As others have said, total overkill & ruins the look of the railway.

 

I am not sure what your point is or was however the WSR rule book is very clear on the procedure to bring assistance to a failed train from either the front or the rear.
Such a move would be agreed by all involved before any assisting engine entered into a blocked section, please be assured, we don't make it up as we go along!
Jeff

 

It occurs to me that the otiose sign at Minehead might actually be a hazard to the Plc. Consider the following scenario: a member of staff does something stupid and gets hurt by a passing train. Said member is then approached by a firm of ambulance-chasing lawyers who sue the Plc on the member of staff's behalf for negligence. The lawyers point out that there was no notice displayed warning the member of staff about the possibility of being hit by a train. The Plc replies that was no need, that the MoS was PTS trained and they can't have signs every 10 yards along the track. "Aha", say the ambulance-chasers "then why do you have that sign at Minehead where only PTS trained staff can see it, then?"

 

It is a silly point to make. Protection is applied before assistance is summoned.

 

Benchpressing - WSR style

WSR RAMs had prepared 3 more 10' 3-support GWR 'shirtbutton' benches, one for Minehead and two for Williton, so a day out in the van....

1. Delivering a new one to Minehead and collecting an old 2-support 'scroll' one,

2. Delivering two new ones to Williton and collecting 3 old 2-support ones, and a non-Railway bench ex-Doniford. (P.S. No need to adjust your set - the lamp posts at Williton are in undercoat...)

3. Delivering the 4 redundant 2-support benches to RAMS. These, with a bit of jiggery-pokery, will provide 2 more 10' 3-support 'scroll' benches to complete Watchet's set.

4. Delivering the non-railway bench to Llangennech in South Wales, whence it has been sold for use in a private garden.

This last allowed a photographic record of the furthest Welsh the WSRA van has ever got. I would have liked to include a train but at 18:00 it was over 2 hours to wait for the next (and last) train of the day.

Thanks to all who worked / helped to make this possible.

The only move left in the Great Bench Reshuffle is the two new 'scroll' benches for Watchet.

Robin

 

West Somerset Railway - Then and Now # 70

Watchet 1987 / 2017

The first 10 to 15 years of the present WSR were hard graft. Resources (bothmpeople and financial) were scarce, train services were sparse and unreliable, and there was much to do. Here the Watchet station master, John Green, is holding a jumble sale to raise funds for station restoration on Easter Monday. The WSR Journal comments that he was pleased to have raised £100.

Today well-equipped stations (such as Watchet) with shops and cafes, can raise funds more easily, given the better passenger flow available to sell to.

If some of us who gave our time then are critical of money apparent spent without full thought (witness the recent influx of new crossing signs, some in very odd places), then forgive us, please.

1987


2017

 

Not necessarily - mobile phones make it possible to report the situation whilst protection is being put in place. Some rulebooks now acknowledge this possibility having been updated accordingly.

 

And do those modified rule books permit the assisting locomotive to enter the blocked section before it is confirmed that protection is in place? If they do then that seems to me a foolhardy approach that will almost certainly lead to an incident at some stage if generally applied to most standard gauge railways where stopping distances can exceed the range of visibility at even quite low speeds.

 

Are you quite sure about that ?