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Rother Valley Railway

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by nine elms fan, Nov 4, 2012.

  1. Fireline

    Fireline Well-Known Member

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    I am given to believe that the whole project is paused.
     
  2. Robin Moira White

    Robin Moira White Resident of Nat Pres

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    Whatever the position in Somerset, I am pleased to say that the K&ESR Board appears to be a strong one, with a powerful skills mix to help the Railway’s volunteers and staff move forward positively in what, it is to be hoped, will be an interesting few years.

    Robin
     
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  3. Breva

    Breva Well-Known Member

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    When I worked in a bank the head of IT was appointed head of payments. The chap was a computer man, and had no payment experience. But experience of the job was not considered necessary for a manager, who was there to manage people.
    Weird.
     
  4. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    Of course not knowing anything about the subject when you start doesnt necessarily prevent you from managing it effectively, in the same way as knowing it inside out doesnt stop you making a pigs ear when you manage it
     
  5. Robin Moira White

    Robin Moira White Resident of Nat Pres

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    Very true.

    Robin
     
  6. DragonHandler

    DragonHandler Well-Known Member

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    Well sometimes. When I was at work we had two managers who had no shop floor experience at all. One was OK as an admin manager but kept trying to implement processes that wouldn't work, and got annoyed when we explained that we weren't going to follow them because they wouldn't work and explained why they wouldn't work. The other was a spreadsheet jockey and as long as the figures in his spreadsheets matched up at the end of each month he never realised that we were running rings round him. :)
     
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  7. Robin Moira White

    Robin Moira White Resident of Nat Pres

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    Railway Operations is a fascinating game of three-dimensional chess. You do have to know the rules and some, at least, of the moves if you are to stand any chance of playing it successfully.

    Robin
     
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  8. threelinkdave

    threelinkdave Well-Known Member

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    Say like adding a MK1 coach to a Standard gangway set and knowing it has to go between two coaches which have pullman adaptors not just dumped on the end as that has no adaptors
     
  9. Robin Moira White

    Robin Moira White Resident of Nat Pres

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    That would be a pretty specific example. Why does it come to mind?

    Robin
     
  10. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Probably very specific to the SVR, I can't think of any other railway that has so many carriages in "normal" use that use standard gangways and is the sort of railway that add coaches on to rakes and take them off in the blink of an eye according to demand.
     
  11. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Absolutely. When it comes to operations especially I do wonder whether we take full advantage of the experiences on other heritage railways. On a number of occasions I've known suggestions dismissed as "too difficult" yet they are not too difficult elsewhere, if only folk would look beyond. One such suggestion did end with me rather impertinently writing a new timetable to prove a point ... :rolleyes:
     
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  12. Robin Moira White

    Robin Moira White Resident of Nat Pres

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    A mixture of BS and Pullman gangways is certainly not ideal. The reason why the Pullman Car Company adopted 'Pullman' gangways was the habit of the company to reform rakes regularly. By contrast fixed rakes were much more normal among main line companies.

    Robin
     
  13. Robin Moira White

    Robin Moira White Resident of Nat Pres

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    I was (forgive the language) a bl***y good operator, and could make the trains run better for the Big Railway's customers. That career was taken away from me by an act of serious discrimination at a time when trans folk were not protected as they are now. I have made a good life in another profession and had the opportunity to contribute to our society through my military service but it pains me that a skill I have is not fully deployed for the common good and that even recently prejudice has caused me to be passed over in favour of those less able. But no one said life was fair and self-pity serves no-one.

    Robin
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2018
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  14. Hirn

    Hirn Member

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    The Rother Valley Railway web site - rvr.org.uk - declares planning permission secured some
    time ago. The planning web site -Rother Districr Council, ref: RR/2014/1608/P - has nothing
    new since the late summer.

    Apparently the exact details of the conditions attached to the planning consent in principle
    are being spelled out & settled. These seem to be principally ecological - and at times
    pleasantly practical: owls need some tempting new alternative nesting boxes and to see if
    there are any nightingales, listen for them. Implicitly a lot of really important things on which
    there is nothing are not at issue.

    Having all this carefully agreed in detail might stand things in very good stead later.
    It is not clear to me wether or not a time limit which includes a time to begin the work
    implies a prompt grant of the full permission with the conditions detailed explicitly.
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2018
  15. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    Planning permission for what? The website says "As parties will know this is now in a public enquiry with a decision to be taken in the second quarter of next year (2019)."
     
  16. threelinkdave

    threelinkdave Well-Known Member

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    Simply that our Ops Manager, a through and through railway man anotated the operating instructions for spare coaches with the gangway types should we have any failures.

    I agree that using adaptors is not ideal but in the limited, dining train,we dont have a GWR kitchen so need to use a MK1 with adaptors on the two GWR dining cars
     
  17. threelinkdave

    threelinkdave Well-Known Member

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    The SVR may also be one of the few to have spare coaches should any fail in service on the santas
     
  18. Miff

    Miff Part of the furniture Friend

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    Planning permission for reinstatement of the Rother Valley Railway from Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, to Junction Road, Bodiam was approved in March ‘17. Planning permission for the other parts of the route was granted several years previously. As @Hirn says there are environmental and other conditions which must be satisfied but nothing insurmountable.

    A Transport & Works Act order is also required to build and operate this railway. It will need to include compulsory purchase powers if agreement cannot be reached with the remaining landowners. That’s what the Public Inquiry will be about.
     
  19. Robin Moira White

    Robin Moira White Resident of Nat Pres

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    In the post today...

    Robin

    1F8382D9-4116-4CC6-B306-DD547CDBB2F8.jpeg E1B7396A-99EF-436A-BE5D-205DBD9A1430.jpeg
     
  20. Mark Thompson

    Mark Thompson Well-Known Member

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    Many thanks for the heads-up, Robin.
    Though June seems an awfully long way away, right now, at least the date is finally set, and an interesting choice of venue, hard by the very worst bottleneck on the A21 :)
     

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