West Somerset Railway General Discussion

A freight train loaded with GWR tender frame and wheels being returned to MD. Now that's interesting and not just because its a real freight train !!!!

 

Hmm, yes, but delayed first up train from B.A. by 23 mins, was it that urgent to get it to Minehead

 

I would have thought the NYMR was in a financial position to be able to provide one accessible retention toilet per train (in the accessible coach, I believe they have these). Maybe this is already planned?

 

Subject to the same rules. Network Rail's line, Network Rail's rules.

 

What do they use on that route these days?

 

The NYMR doesn't have any coaches fitted with retention tank toilets yet, they will be in the "fuss-free" coaches that will also provide disabled facilities. They are to be provided under the "Yorkshire's Magnificent Journey" project, which is planned to be implemented over the next 5 years and is only just getting underway. It will entail a fairly major rebuild of the coaches concerned and is unlikely to be a quick fix. I believe that the NYMR are trying to get toilets installed at Whitby, but it isn't their station to do with as they like.

 

Class 150s or similar, I believe. I think these probably have retention tanks.

 

Not only are the alterations required to fit Mk1s with retention tanks fairly extensive, there is the often forgotten cost of the facility to discharge these tanks. This will need too be large enough to accept 7/8 coach sets and possibly more than one at a time as they will need to be emptied often.

 

That is probably part of the reasoning behind having only one train per set equipped with retention tanks and all the toilets on other coaches locked off. Personally, I think two toilets per train is too few but I'm not an NYMR manager. The present manager wasn't around when there were complaints because the teak set only had two working toilets. Maybe the lesson has been learned and the fuss-free coach will have four cubicles.

 

Tender frame - work completed at WN AFAIK Frame back to MD (....and yes on the railway a bit of a win there I think).
Late running - yes but timetable back on schedule by the midday / early afternoon services.
Coming back in the dark (first time this year) was fun!

 

Nor would I but neither am I convinced that it is worse than the previous regime(s) which led the WSR to its current state. Since the shareholders endorsed their strategy at the EGM the current management are entitled to a chance to prove themselves.

 

I would have hoped that by now, October 31st, a firm date and location would have been determined for the now overdue AGM for the plc or is there something we are not being told? As we were toldat the EGM it would be December why do we not know the date?

The lack of information regarding the situation in the plc financially and what we face regarding the infrastructure is very much of concern and does not lend itself to further support. PR and Communication is most certainly not something at which the WSR excels!

 

Interesting - the photo isn't dated but I was in a similar queue there back at the end of August - standing opposite the green sign on the right. I had been visiting my son and family in Sunderland. The whole day was a disappointment and the number of visitors in Whitby is destroying the attraction. Having previously travelled the Pickering/Grosmont section of NYMR, this was a chance to travel the Grosmont/Whitby section. The train arrived at Grosmont with standing room only and we stood to Whitby. The toilet nearby in the corridor must have been retention given the number of people using it all the way to Whitby. The narrow platform at Whitby was dangerous with doors opening into faces as several hundred people tried to walk to the exit. Having given up on the town due to the crowds and the grand children becoming frightened, we returned to the station by 12.45 to wait for the 14.00 - the queue had already started and others commented it was too busy to enjoy. We did get on the 14.00 and returned to Grosmont. My son posted on Facebook - the only time to go to Whitby is on a very wet Wednesday in March. You might see something of the town - he does work as a senior manager for a national bus company and does visit there by car occasionally... Numbers on trains might be good but is the overcrowding slowly eroding the attraction - 'killing the golden goose?'

 

When the Plc announced that the AGM would take place in Minehead on 14th December they stated that shareholders would be informed of the venue and other details during November. Patience!

 

When did the plc announce it would be December 14th or was I asleep at the EGM?

 

It’s what in modern parlance you’d call a “luxury problem” though - I suspect given a choice, most railway managers would rather be worrying about how to accommodate all the passengers than worrying about where they have all disappeared to.

Tom

 

It also highlights a challenge for Minehead and the WSR to emulate that success. There was a time after collapse of the fishing industry when Whitby was a very depressed town and it still needs further investment but through successful grants and a can do attitude much has been achieved over the last few years. The NYMR running to Whitby was not without its detractors, some of whom are still vocal, and it has been grant money which rebuilt the station and will massively improve NYMR facilities elsewhere. Maybe people in West Somerset should look at what has been achieved in North Yorkshire and learn from it. But I keep forgetting West Somerset is different.

 

I think this could be a case of 'be careful what you wish for'. Heritage Railways are a tourist attraction, not the Northern Line during rush hour, and irrespective of what a company's terms and conditions might state about not guaranteeing a seat, I would be very unimpressed, if having paid £55 for a family rover I would then have to stand for an hour-and -a-half, and would certainly not return. There has to a balance between bums on seats , and bums not on seats, blocking gangways, stopping people getting to toilets or the buffet.

 

All very true, which is why the NYMR are moving to standard formations of 5 x TSO (soon to be 6?) plus 1x BSO and 1 x TSO. After that, the next recourse is the blunt instrument of increasing the price. I'm quite in favour of the latter, otherwise it's a case of running harder to stay in the same place.. Even if money was found to increase capacity on the NYMR, it would be a lot harder to persuade Network Rail to do the same for the Grosmont-Whitby section of the EVL.

 

Indeed I now only attend galas on day where I think I have a good chance of getting a seat (if I want one). Gone are the days I would be prepared to stand from say Kidderminster to Bridgnorth and back. I would expect to be able to have a seat on a regular service day without having to queue at a station to make sure I get one. For commuting may be one thing to stand, but not what I expect from a leisure day out.