West Somerset Railway General Discussion

No it's not.

There is no 'storytelling' at Washford as we could do at Dunster.

No Goods Shed, no cattle dock, no loading bank, no lorry or horse flat transferring goods. No horse shunting.

It's about using the artefacts to tell a story.

Easy to have a dull collection of 'things'. It takes that sprinkle of magic dust to tell a story. The Viking Museum in York isn't bad, if a bit dated now.

Or visit the Bayeux tapestry and watch the audience spellbound by the audio commentary about a 100 yard long teacloth on a wall.

Vision. Imagination.

Robin

 

You don't need to target the mass market all the time, there needs to be things for enthusiasts too otherwise they'll lose interest. Whilst they are the minority in terms of passengers, a railway relies on a hell of a lot more than revenue from passengers, and I always think it's a fallacy to forget this.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

Dreams are all very well Robin. Reality is something else. To compare it with The Viking Museum is just fantasy.

 

If only one thing has remained a constant since Sir Henry Haydn Jones drew his last breath, it's that our movement attracts many extremely imaginative and innovative minds. There's a ways to go yet before anything so much as firms up, let alone gets underway, but Robin's suggestion is a great starting point.

 

I for one fully support yours and others views on this, attached is my submission for the Southern Gateway project back in March, the bit titled 'Project Elements' numbers 4 & 5 covers Dunster and some ideas about how to use both it and BL for education/history displays/goods trains. I'm not going to claim that these were all my ideas as many people around the railway gave me their opinions when I was writing it. This should also be viewed as a great opportunity to get the infrastructure team a better and more defined base with better facilities so their role is easier.

 

Why?

Think how LITTLE there is to do to bring Dunster to life.

Ribin

 

There are other markets than the mass market. Some are potentially lucrative, but demanding - such as the film market. (How many railways can present a really good vernacular country station with minimal intrusions?) Others are essentially a long-term play: attracting school parties by some tie in to the national curriculum is a revenue stream in its own right, but how many of those children then go home and pester their parents for another ride on the train? To capture that market, you have to have something educational to show.

Given the existence of an educational charity on the railway with a remit to go beyond the bare bones of operating a safe, cost-effective railway, it does seem like an obvious opportunity with many of the key structures already in place - the key issue is therefore to solve the operational issue of a base for the p/way department.

Tom

 

I think the WSR has the same problem as some other railways - it is run by a PLC to make money. Heritage is an afterthought, rather than a vision and sadly I think that has permeated through to the enthusiast side of the railway, which is why there don't seem to be many (hardly any) groups restoring "non-essential" historic rolling stock . Unless the PLC can see £££ as a result of redeveloping Dunster it is a lost cause, particularly if requires expenditure to relocate the PWay Dept. (although from what I can see from the photos, most of that could be done in an afternoon with a JCB and a big bonfire!)

 

A very few places do use "historic" rolling stock day in day out. Rather more could if they so chose.

PH

 

Indeed. Nothing wrong with a Plc having income amongst its very top priorities of course. The WSR needs a body with the skills to run and efficient, safe and profitable railway service. If there is a problem (my constant repetition on this topic would fail every time on 'Just a Minute'), the WSR is currently utterly driven by the Plc. And so @61624 is quite right. Beyond locos and rolling stock (yes, unlike some, I count Mk1s as heritage) and to some extent buildings, heritage is well down the priority list, unless it can bring in the lolly. A change to a charitable trust with a well-performing commercial arm would (a) relieve the Plc of the responsibility for non-safety, non-operation and heritage things and (b) allow the Plc (in its rol as the commercial wing to a charity) to do what it does best - run a safe, profitable railway. The charity can then plan such things as a classic heritage timepiece at Dunster Goods Yard. And goodness knows what else as there is plenty of scope on the WSR. Let's not knock the Plc but rather encourage it to embrace a different structure.

Steve

 

Whilst you are right that the general public is the greatest part of the audience that doesn't mean that they are totally disinterested in anything other than a simple train ride. This is not a mega million £s project it is a fairly simple inexpensive improvement to an already good railway so its not a big new WIBN. Remember that Dunster is in an area where folk are looking for attractions to visit particularly when seaside activities are curtailed by the weather. There is an apparently successful boat museum in the old goods shed at Watchet so provided the Dunster project was a low budget, volunteer staffed attraction whats not to like?

 

It's a while since I visited Washford, but it was to be honest a museum. Interesting, worth a brief stop, but not enough to make me want to stop there with the kids.

Now, shift things a few miles down the line, do something with some activity (not restricted to static exhibitions), and work in a decent and carefully timetabled bus link to Dunster village, and you start to have a more interesting proposition.

It may well cost more than it earns, but it would signal a clear intent about showing a broader view of the railway's history.

 

It's the old chicken and egg situation. Without the vision and imagination of those who brought the WSR (or any other line) back to life, there'd be no cash cow for the evil PLC to operate and without some calm heads with the depth of knowledge to steer this (or any other) line through the choppy waters of economic reality, there'd be no secure base for the feral lunatics of the volunteer base to play trains.

Alternatively, it can just be kept in mind that heritage lines carrying many tens of thousands of carefree happy punters in safety, year in and year out, are complex entities and their very nature demands a symbiotic relationship which works not only for "us and them" (as seen from any perspective), but for the line in question and all the artefacts which come with it. It's incumbent on all sides to make it work.

On the whole, though there's always scope to improve things on every line, the heritage railway sector does this reasonably well.

 

Quite often families with young children who just want 'a ride on a steam train' ask for a return Minehead-Dunster, as it is the cheapest option, but in the interest of good customer relations I feel it kind to point out that when they get there there will be quite a long wait until they can get a train back - this will usually be well over an hour. Not easy with kiddies. Usually they don't like the idea of the walk to the village [Kylie won't walk that far] or the walk round to the beach, though we have little maps we can provide them with. Sometimes they decide to do something else - a longer ride if they have the money, or no ride if they don't. If there were some additional exhibits at Dunster, besides those in the station itself, provided they were going to be open every day, then we might encourage the 'we just want a short ride on a steam train' market, but I think it would have to be kiddie-friendly and we may sell less Watchet returns!
By the same token, anyone doing a journey break on a Rover might need entertaining for two hours.

 

Some interesting thoughts and much to chew on. A couple of questions, if I may:

Would any of the proposed alterations to running lines impinge on NR signalling arrangements at the network boundary? Thinking back to the example of the major resignalling project around Worget Jnc. any neccessary changes here are liable to be involved and expensive.

Could the shunting movements suggested be carried out by diagrammed train engines or would this approach require a dedicated shunting turn? If the latter, would that give scope for any additional (hopefully remunerative) attractions?

 

TBH , I have similar vague recollections of DMUs with a box van in tow passing through Watchet , 1965ish .

 

You mean uninterested surely?

 

Probably the first thing to do is to work out where the PWay folks would like to go.
NFW, WN & WT are all possibilities, in my opinion, each with their own constraints.
Surely there must be an acre or so of, basically un-usable for conventional purposes, land somewhere along the line - isn't there?

Then, at Dunster, could the cattle pen be re-created in some form? Then one might consider a small petting zoo, pony rides to complement horse shunting. (Maybe not every day).

I know it's done occasionally - a MD-DR shuttle - the Dunster Donkey - would it be commercially viable in between service trains to reduce the long layover &/or make DR more of a year-round destination?

 

If "Dunster Goods" was well presented and explained, it could well capture the imagination of many children. Interactive displays in vans? ( Logistics then and now - delivery by horse and cart from the local station or van from regional distribution centre? Exceptional loads - end throw and centre throw of long loads? The list could be quite extensive...)

As a parent, for many years I doubted how well general school groups could be interested in anything technical. Visiting CERN in Geneva a few years ago changed my mind with Swiss and French school groups absolutely captivated by displays on sub atomic physics and how the experiments were conducted. Two hours at CERN seemed right for a school group, but with technical knowledge (my wife's degree in physics) three hours disappeared.

Cheers, Neil

 

no why?