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West Somerset Railway General Discussion

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

  1. Lplus

    Lplus Well-Known Member

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    Grinding them up is pretty effective too....
     
  2. Robin Moira White

    Robin Moira White Resident of Nat Pres

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    I always say that I am a glass-half-full person. Given that in a 5-minute video MB didn't deal with potential Santa trains, Minehead level crossing, the delayed Bond Film and the likely effect of Brexit on the wider heritage railway sector and the world economy generally, are they also lost opportunities? Or is that a glass-quarter-full approach, Richard?

    Or might it be thought a good (if small) thing to note the WSR plc and WSRA working together to bring news about the Railway (including the WSSRT) to a wider audience. I cant think it deserves the 'mushroom' comment.

    Or perhaps we shouldnt have bothered? To bring you this took, by my count, about 10 hours of work by a number of volunteers. *Sighs with exasperation.*

    Robin
     
  3. echap

    echap New Member

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    I did not realise the delayed Bond film featured the WSR........

    Seriously, it is good to see more news coming out of the railway. I guess it is difficult to know the best way to get information out but this seems to be a positive development and I look forward to more similar videos.
     
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  4. 5801

    5801 Member

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    Hand weeding is much the most effective way of controlling vegetation in ballasted areas, but it stopped being done on the national network because it was both labour-intensive and unsafe. With a supply of volunteers and no trains running, both those objections fade away, so the work done now will both improve the condition of the track and the drainage, help the environment, and save the WSR money on weedkilling treatments in future. A thoroughly sensible and worthwhile exercise, in my view (but I would expect nothing less from Mr Brown!)

    Stuart J
     
  5. Paulthehitch

    Paulthehitch Well-Known Member

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    Some places are.
     
  6. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    Presumably there are not many birds in West Somerset and few strong breezes or winds. The ballast on my garden railway needs weeding often - albeit mainly seedlings - but breezes and birds drop seeds on the tracks. Due to the warmth of ballast seed germination is quickly achieved. I will be interested in how long you are able to maintain a weed free line (without chemical usage); it can be rather like the famed painting of the Forth Bridge, i.e. continuous.
     
  7. Gladiator 5076

    Gladiator 5076 Part of the furniture

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    I do not know lines should handle weeds but I understand latest research shows that bees (of course in serious decline) take chemical weedkiller back to the hives. One in a hive apparently it leads to the death of all in the hive. Long term of course no bees equals shortage of food, although I guess we will all be dead by that time arriving.
     
  8. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

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    That is correct Tom, I work for a wholesale nursery and one of the things I do is buy in chemicals for production. It’s illegal for someone to buy products for which no one working there holds the correct spraying licence. Looking specifically at round up, that is also tightly controlled in a commercial environment these days which a railway would fall under.
     
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  9. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    I hand weed my allotment , give it some rain and a week and it worse than ever so I don't envy anyone trying to weed 22 miles of track

    I am constantly split with the WSR

    Admiration for those who are trying to keep the WSR going , who are weeding , who ran the living history weekends , who are tidying stations ready for a reopening day

    Frustration with the board and the actions especially in relation to 88 and the S&D Trust , and in a way that the same people on the ground who could be most vocal are not . before anyone pounces on me I get why , its a hobby and most don't want the politics , heck I don't in my personal time
     
  10. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    It is unfortunate that because of the many and varied justified criticisms of the WSR and the current Plc board in particular, we get so used to it that anything emanating from the WSR ends up being looked at through a particular lens. Sometimes that too is justified, it was reasonable to view the bus running out of fuel in context with other things, whereas on another heritage railway we probably wouldn't. However things like this video, and trying to manufacture something out of companies house not being instantly updated, really seem to be taking things too far in my mind. Calm down folks, not everything the WSR needs criticising to within an inch of its life. All this sort of thing does is diminish justified criticism on the things that really are problematic.
     
  11. RailWest

    RailWest Part of the furniture

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    Surely pulling them from the ground up is what the volunteers are doing already ? :)
     
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  12. RailWest

    RailWest Part of the furniture

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    Is the new title going to be "Weed another Day" or "You only weed once" perhaps?

    Incidentally, my walk to the pub for lunch today (the long way around - about 7 miles over the hills ) took me along the path beside the AVR. Sitting on the platform at Avon Riverside for a while for a rest (and get a stone out of my boot!), it occurred to me that there had been not a weed in sight along their trackbed......
     
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  13. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    The video editing isn't great. At one point the transition from one subject and location to a different one is very abrupt. At another point a woman weeding the track seems to be waiting for the camera operator to give her the OK to resume work: that bit could have been edited out so that we would just have seen her hard at it.

    But that is a minor whinge. It is good that one of the PLC staff has shown his face and told us a bit about what's going on and why.

    Edit: I was mistaken about the abrupt transition. See my post #29587.
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2020
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  14. Ploughman

    Ploughman Part of the furniture

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    Now, how do tomatoes get into the ballast?:):)
     
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  15. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    During Covid, I'm not sure;)
     
  16. Roger Thompson

    Roger Thompson Member

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    Volunteers on the GWSR have been advised that a part time permanent way manager has been appointed, presumably a rare paid appointment. His name is Andrew Young "who comes with a wealth of experience". I guess this is the same man who was Head of Infrastructure at the WSR until earlier this year.

    Sent from my SM-T590 using Tapatalk
     
  17. ross

    ross Well-Known Member

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    Really! That is worth note. The last time I walked along that stretch, admittedly some time ago, weeds were very definitely in evidence. Well done AVR. And WSR, obviously
     
  18. RailWest

    RailWest Part of the furniture

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    Well, to be fair, there were quite a few along the edge of the raised cycle-path on the south side of the run-round loop at AR (only visible from the platform!), but the actual track was fine.
     
  19. Keith Sims

    Keith Sims Member

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    With the talk of buying and using"over the counter" herbicides, can I remind everyone of my previous posts regarding the need for training and certification for the use of pesticides (which includes herbicides (weedkillers))! Please keep safe!
     
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  20. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    earlier on there were over 12 hours without a post on the thread . In a way it was bliss . Until there is something worth discussing shall we try again ?
     
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