West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Interesting. My own experience of steam sanders is that when the valve is opened there is plenty of condensation & asthmatic effects before anything starts to happen sandwise. Result the rails can, briefly, be made more wet. Also they seem to be either on or off without any ability to otherwise control things. The valves are sometimes awkwardly placed along with the blower valve on LMS locos (amazing that a designer would put that directly above the firehole) but sensibly positioned on BR Std ones. When prepping a GW loco we would see how far the sand lever needs to be open to allow just a trickle of sand, possibly making a mark as an indication. In the end I suppose it depends what you are used to.

 

I wonder if and when 9466 will ever make the move to WSR?

 

If and when the WSR regains its ability to take locomotives of a higher axle load I expect. Perhaps @malcolm imps might have some idea about how progress towards achieving that is going? (Please let's not have yet another discussion about whether the WSR "needs" "red route" status!) When does 9466's boiler ticket expire?...

 

Well I believe that an agreement has been signed for her to be resident at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway until the expiry of her boiler ticket in 2025/6, so probably not until after then!

 

The WSR plc board now have 8 or 9 days to deal with the considerable mess they have created over their own making over the 10th February 2020 'Notice to Quit' in respect of Washford and the SDRT.

Many are looking at this with all the implications with considerable interest and concern.

It is up to you, JJP, to do the right thing morally and ethically, with of course your board, and do what you can do to avoid the consequences of the mistakes made by you and your board in February last year.

Cheers,
Julian

 

Please explain, what is the mess and why the time limit to deal with it?

 

Wasn't a new lease sorted in November to allow more time to move?
http://www.sdrt.org/images/files/news/press_release_wsr_sdrt_06-11-20.pdf
"The West Somerset Railway PLC (PLC) and The Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust Ltd.
(S&DRT) can confirm that they have opened discussions regarding a new 10-year lease for the Trust to occupy the Washford site."

 

I’d take more comfort from a press release stating that they’d signed such a lease.


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"Opening discussions" isn't, IMHO, the same as actually signing a legal document confirming renewal/extension of a lease. Almost like "agreeing to a meeting to agree to hold a meeting". It doesn't resolve the issue.

 

Not just signed, but properly executed, and signed sealed and delivered as befits 2 companies.

 

Indeed


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Just thinking along the lines of things that could have / should have been done:- Can anyone tell me what happened to the March deadline for the support grants to be used?

Obviously, with the lockdown, there has been no opportunity for any major works to proceed and I would hope that even those faceless wonders in Whitehall would have recognised this and moved the deadline but does anyone know officially what is happening?

 

I gather that the GF at Washford is now signed 'out of use' until further notice. Does anyone know why please?

 

GWR sanding valves contain multiple vertical slots in the sand space. The reason being that if the sand is damp at the bottom, dry sand at the top will still make it's way through, thus making the sanding devices more reliable. If all slots are all working and the sand store is full, you only need to crack open the sanding lever very slightly and sand will be taken from multiple points in the store. If the sand supply is depleted, a slightly larger opening is required to get the same feed rate. Further more, on the mainline, the idea was that you would increase the rate of feed the higher the speed, obvious when you think about it, but not possible on a midland engine with steam sanders. There are two reasons why a GWR loco can dump a serious amount of sand if the lever is opened fully, firstly less chance of the valves being clogged, secondly, for braking emergencies, again not possible on Midland steam sanders. As is often the case, the GWR had the more elegant design, but is required a little more knowledge and skill.

Drivers should know what the minimum setting is from testing the sanders on shed, not much different to knowing what the minimum regulator setting is to get the snifting valves to lift.

 

Any more news on the progress of the relaying at Doniford ?

 

The owner of the locomotive has, in the past, paid scant regard to signed agreements.

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Smells dodgy then !

Bob.

 

I'm not aware that the deadline for using the funding has changed. Given where we are in the pandemic, organisations should by now have been able to develop covid-secure ways of working, so I don't think there is necessarily a reason why an organisation shouldn't be able to substantially deliver what they committed to by the original deadline - any delays would presumably then be a matter for negotiation with the relevant account managers within the DCMS.

There is I believe a second round of grant funding available from the same source that will cover the period from April onwards.

Tom

 

But only if you have completed on and spent the first one by the deadline is my understanding.

 

News from the Mid-Hants Railway.

''One notable success has been to agree in principle to the move of much of the collection of artefacts and rolling stock of the Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust to join us at the Watercress Line. The old S&D, of course, was jointly owned by the LSWR so we have common cause there, and both lines are/were single track diversionary main lines. We have yet to agree the timescales for the move, but we hope that we can make fast progress, not least because the S&DRT’s artefacts dovetail beautifully with what we have and will enhance our overall visitor experience immensely. This is what it is all about in the new environment, great visitor experience. This makes good publicity and encourages repeat visits which enhance our reputation and drive up revenue''.

It appears to be a Mid-Hants gain and a West Somerset loss. <BJ>