West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Good question! When I asked the same of a local councillor, he said it was originally planned to be 2012....:-(


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I took my two oldest sons to the SVR yesterday. The biggest difference from the WSR was the quality of the coaching stock. While the only MK1 we travelled in was a FO from Bewdley to Kidderminster the generally higher standards were striking, and IMHO is an area that WSR needs to get working on as a matter of urgency.

 

Rather than be so cynical you can check the facts here

www.roadworks.org.

 

The A358 is shown to be closed from 7pm to 7am On Monday the 15th May for 5 nights while the final coat of tarmac is applied. Presumably just landscaping to do.

 

Before we leave Blue Anchor, try this 'then and now' pair from 1909 and 2017...

Robin

1909


2017

 

At the risk of being controversial, something's happened to the roofline of the waiting shelter in the century between. And I think fashions have changed...

 

Firstly a big thank you to Robin for these.

There are generally however two significant changes between then & now, and these apply equally to the 'Big' Railway.

1. More trees - I am told that this is mainly down to the impact of Myxomatosis on the rabbit population which has allowed significant tree growth.
2. The wonderful 'tidyness' of the track & trackside, hardly a stone out of place and immaculately cut tracksides. Certainly in 'steam' days there was a need for both the railway & surrounding landowners to cut back vegetation as it was a fire risk but none the less it was beautifully done.

 

Has anything changed ?

 

Personally I do feel the WSR stock do look a bit shabby from the outside , in my experience the condition inside has been more than acceptable , especially with the cheerful TTIs and helpful buffet car staff .

 

(1) fewer chalets and lamps but more hedge.

(2) shorter booking clerk but more clutter.

Robin

 

BA
Replaced Waiting shelter
Lamps have wandered a bit
but
Original SB
Original Ticket Office
Original Goods Office - now Ladies (what an odd-shaped roof it has)
Original spear fence?

Depending on the criteria, I imagine BA is in the running for the Least-Changed-Since-Built award.

Thanks for all the transportation notes; there's little reference on the web sites & nothing about the bus service that I can find.
Car or bus - add 10-15 mins to your journey time.

Crowcombe bees were in fine fettle on the webcam this morning. Is honey a good addition to bread pudding?

 

As an SVR member the 1st class compo I travelled in on Saturday was in need of a bit of work, trust me not everything is perfect on the SVR!

 

The lamps have gone-and-come as they were replaced with the very tall concrete posts to wind a pressure kerosene lamp up to and then replaced again with electric lanterns on GWR posts in preservation.

I think the 'ladies' has always been a ladies and is the rather strange shape it is as it was squeezed in as an addition in a restricted space.

It would have to be the 'least-changed-since-1905' award, when the second platform, signal box etc were added.

Robin

 

And the name board seems to have migrated from one platform to the other, unless there are boards out of shot in both pictures.

 

There are.

Robin

 

Theresa or James?

 

Is there a book in your wonderful collection of then and now photographs Robin?

 

In a sense, there already is, as most of the 'thens' are taken from Ian Coleby's excellent line history.

Perhaps an illustrated lecture?

And maybe a point. We have such wonderful heritage on the WSR that we take it for granted. The way we treat the incomparable Dunster Goods Yard, or install things like the modern light over the ticket rack at Dunster.....hmmmm!

Robin

 

Rather have good clean stock than cheerful TTIs!

 

Some coaches on any heritage railway may be a tad shabby, inside or outside. But on the whole, the WSR stock is smart and clean. A credit to those who clean and maintain the stock. A report of anything not right or below par would be welcomed by the Railway who (in my experience) do welcome and respond to quality feedback (in the case of coaching stock, the coach number would help a lot). Thanks.

Steve