West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I used to note the numbers of the coaches on incoming excursions when I was a Guard on the WSR, and the most recently that I've seen a Mk3 working through to Minehead was on the Rail Blue Charter on 9th July 2011 which actually contained 6 Mk3s! There may have been more through since, but I would not have worked on those.

 

When I lived in Somerset and Wiltshire I rarely heard cider referred to as scrumpy ,only when I was in the more holiday type areas where cider was referred to as scrumpy . in the words of that well known man from Nailsea " Drink up thee cider ."

 

Nectar of the Gods .

 

Only if it comes from Normandy. (No I'm not being devil's advocate; it's an honestly held personal view.)

PH

 

On the WSR I'm happy with a bottle of Thatcher's , thank you very much .

 

Indeed! Take your pick of dozens:
http://cgibin.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?h=Picture+search&q=hst

Steve

 

I'm sorry to burst the conspiracy theory but the track has been tamped several times since an HST last ran to Minehead. This may have moved the rails closer to the platform edges at certain points or increased the cant which decreases the clearance to the platform edge. I understand that a survey will be done sometime soon.

 

It's good to hear that you enjoyed your journey over the WSR with the Western. I do find however that there are certain railways where diesel haulage is not so appealing. Those railways are where the route is as flat as a pancake. After an initial blast out of the station the diesel simply coasts to the next stop. <BJ>

 

I am led to understand that GWR were wanting to keep the set's paint job in good condition so were quite risk averse & did the gauging themselves. Other operators may have been happy to rely on the WSR - who appear to have got it right

 

If they want to keep the paintwork in good condition, then they need to get Network Rail to cut back the vegetation which touches the trains in places on the mainline!

 

I can think of two occasions in the last few years on when I a main line service has had a whack from surrounding vegetation

 

is the pre-bookable diesel service for the antiques roadshow 2moro the DMU?

 

Yes

Steve

 

are heritage railways allowed to ask network rail to use there yellow trains to gauge lines?

 

Yes, and Network Rail are allowed to charge the heritage railway whatever they want for the service!

Network Rail infrastructure trains have visited the WSR in the past, more often than not at the request of Network Rail for training purposes.

 

Just to add to Ian's fine answer - lots of yellow trains here:

http://cgibin.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?h=Picture+search&q=track+recording

Enjoy

Steve

 

Hope all goes well with antique roadshow event 2moro and shows our Wonderful local railway to the world and you get good weather.

 

There was live coverage on the local BBC news tonight. Sadly the forecast is wet for tomorrow though most of the AR sets appear to be under the canopy. The Hawksworth Saloon and the sleeping car are lined up on platform 1 next to the sets. I am not sure if the S&D coach will be there as well. I am sure that it will be great success even if it is damp.

 

Which means the WSR gets free gauging data as well. It is good that NR and the WSR have a mutually beneficial cooperation with this and the NF operation.

 

May I just pass on my good wishes to all involved with BBC's Antiques Roadshow tomorrow good luck and I hope it is a huge success for all involved.

Paul .K