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West Somerset Railway General Discussion

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

  1. Piggy

    Piggy Member

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    I don't think he's 'still' a Director as it's a temporary arrangement because he was unable to start his new post as GM due to the Covid19 outbreak ...... and will be required to relinquish his board position on becoming GM because he cannot hold both positions simultaneously.
     
  2. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    I understand that one of the last Pathfinder tours trips with a Western when they were still in service ran into cattle near Gloucester damaging the loco vac pipe.

    Fortunately in a shed in an adjacent house was a man with a lathe who turned a bung to allow the train to continue
     
  3. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

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    OK, I will try my best from what I remember, as others have already said, in the past, up to only a few years ago, the railway was home to engines that nominally were over the BR(W) Restriction of the line, Halls, king, and several visiting engines, but these were I understood given dispensation to run by the various heads of department, visiting engines off the mainline have also been over the limit, for the line at times.
    The permanent way, only has a set life and has to be renewed over time, and many railways, are now finding the BR era track they inherited, or purchased second hand, now is life expired, in need of replacement, Ballast also needs to be dug out and replaced, it all costs a lot of money, money the past management for the best part of 10 years plus, has found it hard to find and what ever renewals have been done were not enough, to the point where axle limits had to be decreased last year, uprating the line to accept heavier engines also means extra work on top of what was needed as your increasing the load factor also and structures have to be checked and examined in line with this, this is why I was making the assertions that there would be more work needed, as your not just repairing to the old standards, but to accept a higher axle loading,
    Plus as railways come under the remit of the ORR, does work done have to be examined by one of their inspectors and signed off as being safe and of fit construction before it can re open to the fare paying public , or is it just a paper exercise, ie your " responsible person" fills in the paperwork, sends it to the ORR, they stamp it and file it, and god help you should they need to do an inspection at any time, if it hasn't been done to the letter? and they find it.
     
  4. Wenlock

    Wenlock Well-Known Member Friend

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    As far as I know, track renewals or replacements are the responsibility of the railway's own responsible person to sign off as fit. The ORR don't come down and check before its used, but you'd better have the correct paper trail certifying everything if they make a random spot inspection, or (God forbid) a 'for cause' inspection after an incident.
    So the railway's responsible person for p/way needs to document everything and make sure he/she is able to prove that on paper the track is fit for purpose, with references to the appropriate standards documentation. If the railway does not have a suitably qualified person to do so, then they would have to hire someone in on a consultancy basis which could be rather expensive. The ORR do not provide such a service for free.
     
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  5. The apparent lack of such a responsible person on the WSR at the present time is almost certainly the most significant barrier to reopening with passenger trains, now and in the foreseeable future, whatever any survey concludes.
     
  6. Ian Monkton

    Ian Monkton Member

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    Close! According to Six Bells Junction, it was the 'Western Finale' on 12/02/1977 run by F&W Railtours (Pathfinder in its previous life) when damage to an air pipe on D1023 was fixed by blocking the leak with a 10p coin!
     
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  7. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    Isn’t that an Awdry story too?
     
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  8. Robin

    Robin Well-Known Member Friend

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    Another classic MacGyver fix; Class 40 40024 failed during an SVR rail tour in April 1984 owing to a loose contactor causing a poor electrical connection. The trip continued after the offending contactor was wedged in place using a handy copy of SVR News!
     
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  9. Steve Edge

    Steve Edge Member

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    Well that's a fine way of not answering the question. I didn't ask for your view of the cause. You earlier implied "much work was needed" and I simply asked you to list the works still outstanding (before the line could be re-opened) as you seem to know the line very well.

    EDIT: Thinking again at your comments, perhaps you are not referring to the work necessary for reopening. If so then sorry for pushing you. There is, as I understand things, a small amount of work to be completed before the line can be signed off for reopening. There are a number of other works, I believe, that need to be done but these do not affect normal running as things stand.

    Steve
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2020
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  10. Forestpines

    Forestpines Well-Known Member

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    I might be misunderstanding your wording here but he's listed as a current director with Companies House.

    Any requirement that the GM is not a board member would be one the board have decided to impose themselves, presumably to limit the GM's authority and influence. The previous GM was a board member.
     
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  11. staffordian

    staffordian Well-Known Member

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    I assume from the tone of this post that Martin's assertion that the track isn't in great shape is way off the mark.

    As someone who clearly knows the line well, are you saying it's now ready to go and the worries expressed about maintenance backlogs and huge sums needed to bring it up to scratch are unfounded?

    Great news if so!
     
  12. Steve Edge

    Steve Edge Member

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    Not at all.

    Steve
     
  13. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    Here's the thing over the track. We all know that there is no requirement on any company to tell a bunch of people on here what their plans are to get the railway going again never mind the wider public. However, if there is an underlying problem then it is hard to understand why something specific through a news item doesn't appear explaining the issue, what the lockdown has done to delay repairs and then describe what will now happen and to what time frame. Common sense suggests that this is just good PR.

    If nothing else it will help all those closely associated with the Railway to understand the situation and maybe even provide them with a clue as to how they can help. It would also help to refocus this thread, remove a lot of this harmful speculation and be good for morale.

    The fact that, on the face of it, there is so much silence and lack of clarity will immediately trigger further mutterings. It's almost incomprehensible to understand why any Railway would wish that state of affairs to continue. Even if there were a problem that is so intractable that it would have a devastating impact on the Railway, to keep it under wraps will do nothing to help resolve it.
     
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  14. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    Not only the above, but something of a kick in the teeth to those who donated to the track appeal not to provide some feedback.

    And, yes, I appreciate a lack of people available to do that given the effect of Covid and consequent furloughing - though I do see feedback from other railways I’m connected with.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  15. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    The slow fund raising for the WSR might be due to little feedback to donors on what their donations have already achieved. As 35B says it is a kick in the teeth for them. Other lines that appeal for funding track work are usually pleased to show their efforts here or on other social sites. That, I am sure, pays off with further donations.
     
  16. staffordian

    staffordian Well-Known Member

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    Absolutely agree. Just look at the innovative and well publicised appeals which the A1 Steam Trust have launched and indeed continue to launch and publicise. Huge amounts can be raised if good news story's are released showing what previous donations have achieved.

    I very much doubt we'd have a ten year or so old Tornado, a second almost built and a third planned if they'd simply said give us some money, we want to build a new loco.

    There is much truth in the old adage that success breeds success
     
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  17. 6960 Raveningham Hall

    6960 Raveningham Hall Member Friend

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    I assume you’re not a regular visitor to Steve Edges excellent WSR.org site then.
     
  18. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    Now and again. But one WSR soap opera is enough for most people. :D
     
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  19. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    I think it helps to put a reminder up here though, even along the lines of "More photos of rail replacement - see news item on wsr.org.uk ..." You have to work to get news out, not assume that people will go and look for it.

    On comms in general: there is a fine line to be trodden between the "everything in the garden is rosy" school and "everything is broken, we need help with this appeal". Too often though recently I think the WSR tends towards an official view of "everything in the garden is rosy" - witness the triumphant crowing about last year's £300k profit - which then makes the constant appeals baffling: if you made such a big profit last year, why are you having an appeal now? (And I realise Covid has changed the economics). A degree of candour about the true situation makes the appeal easier to support; at the moment there are just somewhat vague numbers.

    It is the sort of area where you probably need to think about getting a consistent message together across media - WSR TV would be good, along with newsletters and so on - to lay the groundwork.

    As an example:

    "The WSR has 23 route miles of track to maintain, of which 20 miles is in regular use through the season That is equivalent to about 3,600 sixty foot lengths of rail and about 43,000 sleepers, all of which have a limited lifespan. There are [??] bridges which require inspection and from time to time will require structural repairs. There are 8(??) sets of points that are traversed by every train in each direction receiving high wear and tear. The wear and tear on the line varies from place to place according to the curvature and other factors, but we estimate that on average sleepers and rail last about 40 years, and much of our track is about that age now. So we need to replace about 1/2 mile of track per year, and with rails costing [£x], sleepers [£y] along with the need for ballast and machinery, that replacement is likely to cost [£z] per year just to maintain what we have.​

    Because of an accrued backlog going back many years, we really need to spend more than that to catch up. That programme is likely to take many year, however, for this year, our plan is to [xxx], and over the next three years we plan to [yyy]. But all this is over and above what we can fund from our revenues from operating trains - which is where we need your help [plug for appeal]"​

    etc etc.

    Clearly you won't do that overnight - it's a sustained effort. But you do have to draw people in to make them feel (as donors) that while there is an issue, there is nonetheless a plan, and they can be part of the solution. At the moment there is a vague request for an ongoing £1/2m p.a. for track work, but for unspecified reasons while at the same time last year the company made a stonking profit! Why should I donate to a company making such outrageous profits?

    If you look at other railways that are successful with appeals - and you have a very good example right now on your own doorstep high up on Exmoor - they seem to be those that can tell a compelling story about where they are going, and specifically how the appeal will help them get there.

    Tom
     
  20. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    Strange isn't it that the 'excellent WSR.org' site is not officially supported by the PLC. How confusing that you have two sites doing the same thing. Is that normal?
    Why is it necessary for anyone to post a blinding statement of the obvious? Is that normal?
     
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