West Somerset Railway General Discussion

You can read Al's post in many ways. Why the report? Well, I can see through a five bar gate.

 

Is the report because it was made by a moderator or would the criticism have been acceptable if made by a contributor. The mods do tend to get involved on this site.

 

I have been contacted by a true friend of the WSR who has asked me to share some interesting news on "88". It has been stated that not only will 88 return for overhaul but will remain until 2030.

https://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/news/detail/august-newsletter-the-platform

There is also a link on Mr Edge's excellent website where pictures can be found of a gleaming "88".

 

And how many pages of rubbish an ill-informed speculation has there been about this loco and the WSR reneging on its liability to overhaul it?

 

A lot can happen in two years, an example can be seen in the signing of a new lease between the S&D trust and the WSR, two years later an eviction notice, as i say a lot can happen in two years.

 

If other lines, such as the DSR who have few compartment coaches could get moving soon after lockdown to make their coaches conform with social distancing it seems a poor excuse by the PLC that they were unable to do so. Both have paid employees, some on furlough, but maybe cost or know how was the true reason.
Statements from the WSR seem to read rather like political addresses.

 

I share the view of @nine elms fan that a lot can happen, and I'm sure there are devils in the detail. However, I welcome this statement from the WSR plc about their intentions, and look forward in the fulness of time to seeing how they will deliver upon it.

 

‘Foxcote Manor‘ is due to return to the WSR in October.

Is it necessary for the locos planned winter maintenance to be carried out at Minehead or could the work be carried out at Williton? That would allow the locomotive to be stabled at the South end of the line and be available for any Christmas events that may be considered.

(Bearing in mind that the other steam locos are at Minehead and likely to be trapped there until next March when it is hoped that the work at Seaward Way level crossing will be completed.)

 

There is nothing about funding the overhaul or indeed its priority. Given that the PLC have themselves said that they couldn’t fund the overhaul, I am wondering what has changed.

 

Precisely the sort of detail devils I had in mind. But I’m glad that the first announcement has been made to set the ball rolling.


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Yes, I can almost see JJP as a Trump acolyte in the USA elections! He makes about as much sense.

 

It is an argument that does not hold any water. MHR for example is using TSOs.

Again, if the PLC management had been a bit more on the ball, and willing to learn from others, they could easily have seen what lines such as the MHR DSR etc have done and adopted the best practice.

Wrong type of carriages on the line is a poor excuse and another failure of WSR senior management

 

Where there's a will, there's a way. I don't think that there is much, if any, will at the plc.

 

I never quite understood that statement, or why they chose to make it. The agreement as I understand is to have the loco overhauled by 2030. realistically that means you'd want to be starting work by about 2027 at the latest, but the money needs to be available then, not now.

I'm sure that the WSR, like other similar railways, will have indicative budgets stretching into the medium term; and will also have an idea of its medium and long-term locomotive requirements. At some point, it has to overhaul or hire locos - so at least in outline it must be budgeting an amount each year to do so. As with p/way, carriages and so on, if it can't provision sufficient locos each year, it will be difficult to run a service. Which loco is overhauled is almost secondary to recognising that a loco will need to be overhauled on a regular basis, for which budget will need to be available.

Tom

 

I spotted a reason not to run trains that I don't think has previously been put forward in the latest newsletter, paid operations staff. Which operational staff are paid, and what proportion of each operations department do they make up? I appreciate that the P'way issues rely on key paid individuals who can sign things off and the like, but I was unaware the WSR was so reliant on paid staff to actually operate trains. I'm surprised that the WSR can't even run a simple reduced timetable as other railways are doing just with volunteers, even accounting for those who would rather not return to work yet (on my own railway I think that accounts for less than 10% of volunteers in guards/TTIs).

If paid staff are really needed in such quantity to simply run trains then I can understand why the sums don't add up. I'd never understood how they couldn't before, given the WSR has the use of some locos which don't com attached with a daily steaming fee. Overhead costs are fixed whether you run or not, other than the coal bill there can't be that many big ticket items left. Obviously making a profit just in terms of the income being bigger than the coal bill and other similar costs is no good at all long term, but for the short term when the alternative is nothing, it seemed folly to ignore it.

As others have noted the no compartment coaches excuse is still nonsense, plenty of other railways are managing perfectly well.

 

Just on the open carriages, I hesitate to say "nonsense" - it's not long since it was genuinely questioned whether railways could operate a viable tourist operation in open carriages.

 

I agree, I was surprised it was considered viable at the time too, and have no problem with the board citing that as a reason several months ago. But since other railways have proved it is viable, it seems a bit incongruous to continue to peddle it as a showstopper. If the board had been nimble enough, I think they'd have just about had enough time after seeing other railways making their plans public to start their own plans to be put in effect in time to capture some of the summer market.

 

Agreed - Swanage have added plywood screens between seat backs in TSO’s and the Churnet Valley have added Perspex screens - some railways Thankfully have a “can do attitude”