West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Therein is the problem. If you regard the posts here as giving a representative and accurate view of the WSR then you are quite wrong. The reality is that since the EX6+1 were removed most of the organisations work harmoniously together. Have you ever visited the WSR for a day or two to get a first hand view of how the reality is? How many of the stations have you visited and talked to the staff? The fundamental problem has been poor leadership of the parent organisation not the smaller parts. The signs are that the Chairman is getting to grips with it. Provided he can unite the board and take harsh decisions hopefully he will succeed. Certainly the stream of ill informed comments like yours will not improve things.

 

Must be a problem with routing through our work network then, as I cannot access it through Chrome or Firefox, however I can access it through 4G on my mobile.

Apologies


Keith

 

The money pledged is small beer compared with the money raised by other heritage railways. Employing professional fundraisers is a first step but will take time. Don’t believe a lot of what you read on here.

 

Well there seems to be quite a number of WSR volunteers who do/have posted here, including Ken, Mike, Moira, Barrie, GWRMan, Ian Coleby, Frank, Rodney and probably more that I've missed (apologies to them!). I think that is a fairly broad brush of different areas of the WSR and I don't see any of those people painting the glowing picture of a railway in harmony that you seem to be.
Bearing in mind that the WSR will, in one way or another be looking for funds from the wider heritage community, do you really think it's reasonable to expect potential donors to carry out the inspections/conversations that you've suggested? No, they'll base their decision on information they can get easily, such as Nat-Pres and the railway monthlies.
Or maybe the WSR doesn't need any funds from anyone else, especially anyone who might not live in Somerset...

Keith

 

It's probably fallen foul of some access rule on your work's server.
I had trouble accessing some sites via the company's server, but as contractors we had our own ADSL line so we could access whatever we wanted.

 

Not an altogether happy example given that 80135 is still not running, and there are strong vibes from North Yorkshire that are impacting the latest fundraising appeal. Which reinforces the vital importance of getting Tom’s points right.


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I don’t regard what is posted here as fully representative, but it sends some clear signals. One of those is that structure is an issue, and does not currently drive unity, but creates boundaries and friction points.

I believe in and welcome what you and others have said about people working together; my wish is that this becomes embedded in the formal structure of the WSR so that it becomes the natural way of working.

It is clear from many posts on here that there is significant bruising and organisational distrust to be overcome.


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Of course posts on NP are not wholly representative of the WSR; many of the stations and smaller groups seem to achieve good results in a quite harmonious manner without the acrimony that the larger ones seems to attract.
The majority of those posting here have years of experience with other railways, most of which are well run, profitable and progressive. It is because of those experiences, I believe, the WSR set up is, to a certain degree, incomprehensible to many here.

 

For those particular replies, understood.

In general, I think the 'in confidence' approach has far more downside than upside, though. If they're willing to tell every shareholder who asks (let alone every T,D&H who's interested), the information will surely escape. And if they aren't willing to be open with that information, it's inevitable that this forum will be filled with incorrect assumptions, etc, etc.

Noel

 

Not sure that many railways are profitable in the normal sense. The WSR plc actually reported a minor profit in its accounts in 2017 and a significant profit in 2016 but the reality was a significant loss in each year after stripping out donations and accounting adjustments. The SVR and Bluebell both absorb large amounts of external finance. The Talyllyn (which is a fairly harmonious railway) for instance is hopelessly unprofitable but the important point is that the membership are happy (or at least prepared) to wrap the losses. That is easier said than done for a standard gauge line which is three times the length of the Talyllyn. One assumes JJP, as part of putting all bad news on the table as early as possible, is going to (or has) produced a projection showing for the next five years: this is what the [current] service will cost, this is the surplus/loss from operations, this is the capex we need, and the shortfall is x. Therefore you volunteers, members, shareholders and supporters need to come up with £xxxk per annum. For comparison, in the five years to end-2017, the plc absorbed £1.8m in cash more than it generated, funded by shares (£0.2m), donations etc direct to plc (£0.63m i.e. £0.85m for these two items or £170k p.a.), bank loans (£0.35m), use of company cash balance (£0.61m). Locos always attract far more attention than they deserve and deflect attention from more important issues. Livery debate anyone?

 

Well did they? This poor chap has been waiting for an answer for several pages worth of drivel. At least a tidy train achieves something useful.

 

Tidy trains were planned for Jan, Feb and Mar. I don't think any actual dates have been set.

Steve

 

A couple ran in December. Photos were on wsr.org.

 

Current scrap trains are booked to run 19th and 27th Jan from Minehead which you had to do a course to help on, and tidy trains booked to run are 20th and 26th Jan from Bishop's Lydeard.

 

How about answering the question? How many times have you visited the WSR and did you visit several stations and talk to the volunteers?

 

I form my views based on what is posted here. I accept that it is a distorting lens, and try to sight off for that.

However, what I notice consistently is that:
1. Internal issues arise that express themselves between organisations, not within.
2. Your position that organisation has no bearing is a minority view amongst what I'll describe as the "internal" posters.

My observation, consistently held, is that it is generally easier to obtain and then maintain coherence when the organisation reinforces unity that it is where there are boundaries that cause friction. In the good times, it makes things easier; in the bad times, it reduces the opportunity for factions to cause trouble. I also observe, that in all the discussion about structure, I have heard of many other structures, but never one like the WSR. As a model similar to that at the Bluebell, as outlined by @Jamessquared, has been moved towards by other railways (the GCR comes to mind), that suggests something to me.

This is not to argue that all at the WSR is a bed of thorns - it self evidently is not, including on my all too rare visits. Nor is it to suggest that all would be a bed of roses if the WSR organisations changed - it is not a panacea. Whether, how and when to make change is a matter of judgement.

 

I think that as someone who visits a few times a year, I am struck on visits to other railways - SVR, K&ESR, Bluebell that unlike the WSR which has a slightly BR circa 1980 ambiance - which isnt that bad, they are much 'smarter' in terms of their overall condition and of course far better equipped.

There is a large measure of 'nothing succeeds like success' on some lines & the WSR needs to join that club.

 

My view is based on many years of regular involvement and first hand knowledge. Your admission of having had no personal knowledge just confirms that you views are totaly biased and of little consequence so you are added to my ignore list.

 

An acquaintance of mine who over the years helped raise several million pounds for charity was always keen to note that you should be careful when talking to strangers, because you never knew which of them might be pondering making a will or a major donation and be dissuaded by encountering rude or aggressive views.

Tom

 

No personal knowledge might enable an unbiased view, based on the evidence available although perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between your view and @35B s.

My own view, inevitably biased as it may be by my own knowledge and experience, is that non-WSR people will continue to comment on the WSR’s troubles for as long as WSR insiders choose to share them in this public place. The fact that they still do suggests to me that communication between at least some of the WSR institutions, not necessarily individuals, is still not good enough. Once that’s fixed they’ll stop.