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West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by gwr4090, Nov 15, 2007.

  1. RailWest

    RailWest Part of the furniture

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    Not really, as surely people could visit the Museum and yard at WD (and provide income!) regardless of the status of the WSR, unless perhaps the Plc decrees otherwise?
    Surely tho' a question best directed to the S&DRT ? www.sdrt.org
     
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  2. JBTEvans

    JBTEvans Well-Known Member

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    Maybe its to help them out with time, rather than having to search each location on google maps. Some people will put villages etc that don't indicate where they are from to a wider audience.
     
  3. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    upload_2020-7-16_13-57-45.png

    this appeared on my linkedin feed and I thought it quite interesting . Maybe we should all reflect on where this forum along with us individually sits and also the preserved railways we are involved with/supportive of
     
  4. Robin

    Robin Well-Known Member Friend

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    Exactly so. As an example, a paragraph from the Charitable Trust report in the latest SVR News published a few days ago (my emphasis in bold):

    "The Railway has used the unexpected quiet time of enforced closure to bring forward some carriage overhaul work, and the Charitable Trust has been able to fund the cost of materials and labour on several of the Gresley teak carriages including 24506 (the Pigeon Van),43600, 52255 and 7960 (the Kitchen Diner Composite)."
     
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  5. 242A1

    242A1 Well-Known Member

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    If the WSR supporters who have balked at the need for change for so many years now would only look at how much more successful the SVR model has proved to be. It is a case of the horse having gone off far away and the stable door is squeaking in the cold breeze of the inevitable.

    To obtain the benefits of the funding that is available you have to have put in place a structure that allows you to do this. Ask yourselves a question. How much better would the financial status of the railway be if it had made these changes?

    Back in 2018 the passenger numbers for 2017 were reported as 189,539 and this represented an increase over the 2016 figure of 186,603. The railway was aiming to regain the 2009 figure of 200,000 and with good reason, they needed the income. They still do but 200,000 is not happening this year. Would the extra 10,000 or so passengers cover the reported weekly losses of £12,000? The simple answer is no.

    So where is the future? Volunteers have set about working on the line to reduce the months of more recent neglect, which is good. However the PLC does not appear to be active in any way which would allow the railway to deal with the reactivation issues that face the line in sharp contrast to many others. Neither have they taken any steps to try to redeem the negative impact of their peculiar actions on various bodies the result of which has made people refuse to donate to the line. Rather they have deliberately made matters worse.

    All the railway can hope for is the appearance of some wealthy benefactors but should such appear no reforms will take place and the whole cycle will replay itself. The chance of someone being prepared to fund the line, with the current board and structures must be zero.
     
  6. malcolm imps

    malcolm imps New Member

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    More info very soon Steve ok ;);) IMG_8049[1].JPG
     
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  7. Lineisclear

    Lineisclear Member

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    That's fine Robin because they are all projects ( presumably) within the objects of the SVR Trust. I'm pretty confident you and I would agree that what the Trust couldn't do is just underwrite the general wage bill.
     
  8. D1039

    D1039 Guest

    Hi Steve

    Clarification received - yesterday’s SVR press releases are correct. The SVR Charitable Trust gave assistance in submitting the application for the emergency funding from the National Lottery. Under normal circumstances the National Lottery would not fund a non-charitable organisation, but the current circumstances are not normal! The PLC is receiving the funding directly and the money will go to funding salaries and making IT improvements, which is what the emergency funding is intended to do.

    How this may affect the WSR or other railways I don't know. As @Sidmouth mentioned upthread there were rules about the emergency fund, one thing he and I both recall is a mention of money going to previous grantees. You'd need to read the fund rules.

    I hope this answers the questions :)

    Patrick

    P.S. From Facebook I see the SVR staff and volunteers have today completed the second, extended bit of relaying and the track is joined up again. The usual welding, ballasting and S&T will still need to be done. It's the longest relay the gangs have done, a terrific job. Keeping it on thread they've also posted up a picture of a tamper delivered by road from...Williton.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 16, 2020
  9. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    John .I don't think anyone is disputing that a charity doesn't pay for operational costs . The point that is being made is that funding specific projects which may use contracted staff contributes to covering the wage bill whilst also supporting the charitable objectives in delivering a beneficial project
     
  10. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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  11. Robin

    Robin Well-Known Member Friend

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    Absolutely. The trick is to target the charity money at areas that meet the charitable requirements and do the most good for the Railway as a whole, which in turn eases the strain on other areas of the business. Skeleton staff were kept on in both the Carriage Works and Boiler Shop with the help of the Trust and other support groups (the GW(SVR)A and the 4150 Fund off the top of my head).
     
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  12. Steve Edge

    Steve Edge Member

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    Much appreciated, Patrick. That clears up that bit nicely. I won't jot down what I'm thinking at the moment ;)

    EDIT: so that's where it went.

    Steve
     
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  13. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    The survey is welcome. However, it is a couple of months after some others did likewise, and poorly designed. Similarly, the positioning of what a railway I’m fond of will be doing over the summer is completely absent, with none of the normal smoke signals of getting ready.

    That pattern fits too much else, and from an organisation that has behaved poorly in many ways recently. It should be no surprise that many are underwhelmed and frustrated, especially when poor performance seems linked to the management approach that has engaged in that poor behaviour.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  14. JBTEvans

    JBTEvans Well-Known Member

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    Not all other railways have put out surveys.
    I didn't think it was poorly designed. It asked about why a visitor would like to visit. It asked if they were holidaying or a day trip, which could be why the distance and where you are from were both asked. What precautions people wanted to see were asked for.
    The smoke signal is the survey.
     
  15. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    We will need to disagree, then. This is a smoke signal coming out after other railways have already started operating, which suggests a less than urgent approach to getting ready for reopening. And you need to look at my earlier posts for detail of why I'm underwhelmed by the way the survey's been put together; suffice to say it seems quickly thrown together and designed to lead respondents to particular conclusions, but without really generating meaningful statistical information to underpin any conclusions.
     
  16. JBTEvans

    JBTEvans Well-Known Member

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    I couldn't disagree with you more. They have left open ended questions so that people can write what they want to. Not giving them four options and pick the best fit.
     
  17. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    You need both, you need to avoid loading questions to lead towards answers, and you also need to ask questions that might get you answers that are contrary to what you are thinking of. It's a pity, because it wouldn't have taken that much to make it a good survey.
     
  18. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

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    I think it makes clear they haven’t come up with any concrete proposals for reopening. If they had, the questions would quiz on those plans to gauge public reaction to your potential plans. It might be nice to have a free for all but it dilutes the opinions on the subjects that matter. The SVR had a plan and their survey reflected it which is also a sign of good leadership with a clear path to reopening.

    There is also usually an any other comments section in most surveys for any suggestions.
     
  19. JBTEvans

    JBTEvans Well-Known Member

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    The SVR were amongst, if not the, the first railways to put out a survey.

    Maybe the WSR have decided to look at other railways responses and what they are saying they will do and adapt a similar approach. Why reinvent the wheel ?
     
  20. Paulthehitch

    Paulthehitch Well-Known Member

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    If West Somerset is like certain other areas with the benefit of a tourist railway then the WSR is missing out big time.
     

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