Spa Valley Railway - Latest News

@Jamessquared As a very long term user of SE water for my water supply I would correct your words 'is simply failing' to 'has now failed'.

I hope the Government, who are now taking an interest in what is happening, step in asap and nationalise the company. IMHO there is no instant magic wand solution, but a strong management and a quickly put into action recovery plan will no doubt be costly, but at least in a company now owned by us the fact that we cannot live without a steady water supply will take priority.

Bryan

 

I wish I shared your confidence in the effect of change. While the top table may change, the majority of staff will not - including those on the ground whose work has failed.

I've worked around a number of organisations that have had changes of ownership, and the consistent theme is that what happens in the boardroom frequently has limited effect further down the organisation. That includes organisations privatised before the majority of employees' working lives started, but where practices like "waiting out" and an inability to make decisions retain very strong echoes of the public sector organisation that they used to belong to.

I have no doubt that a very hard kick up the backside is absolutely required, but much less confidence that a change of ownership will have any serious effect on its own.

 

My elderly aunt and uncle in East Grinstead haven't had water for nearly a week now.

 

Your prejudice against the public sector is very deeply embedded; you must have had some dismal experiences at a formative age. I worked for both private and public sector organisations and found strengths and weaknesses in both, but there was no obvious polarity.

 

I write as I find, because my experience in large organisations is that those behaviours are deeply embedded, and make significant change very difficult to achieve. I have not encountered those behaviours in private sector organisations in anything like the same way, nor have I found them tolerated.

I have no defence for South East Water's management, and part of the genius of the capitalist model is that an organisation's failure can cause those who fund it to lose their money outright - an incentive whose power is easily overlooked.

But I do not believe that nationalising them will, in and of itself, cause performance to improve. It might, done right, enable dramatic change but my concern is that a change of a few names will not lead to addressing deep seated issues.

 

The positive news is that the supply is still on at Tunbridge Wells West, the Bulleid is full, as is our tanker wagon, so there is hope yet for an uneventful weekend. In any case, we can phone up one of the water delivery companies and get it brought in as we did at Christmas and have done before. Contingency planning is something we're rather good at!

 

Read "Slide Rule", by Nevil Shute Norway (one of the most influential, on me, books I ever read).

Noel

 

Whereas I worked for a company that was nationalised and then became privatised. Light years between the two organisations and fair to say that most staff cared about all facets of the business far more in the private world. Before just lots of it doesn't matter the government will pay.

 

Read it years ago! It's probably still on a bookshelf somewhere, unless my wife has donated it to the Lions' bookstall.

 

Had that as a set reader in 4th year at grammar school. Right up my street. Much more readable than the Thomas Hardy we had to read for O Level the next year.

 

Back to the operational Spa Valley Railway.

I had really hoped to add a photo of 34053 working this weekend to get this thread back on track.

But I've managed to get myself up to my armpits in designing the maps to go with a Whitsun week 1972 car trip I made to Germany for steam.

Very late nights (01.00 hrs again this morning) is leaving me quite tired, and the need to not lose the plot as I work from all sorts of old and new documents etc is keeping me at home.

Bryan - I must plan better to keep my UK steam trips on the boil - B

 

His fiction is well worth reading too. 'On the Beach' is probably the most terrifying novel I've ever read - and it's not a horror!

 

Caledonian Railway No. 828 is back in traffic after passing its annual boiler exam yesterday. The loco will be running on Saturday, 24th and Sunday, 25th January, along with the Class 25 25185. First time since October for 828, which has been in the shed during Polar and has had a heavy maintenance period. The Bulleid will now go through a washout and various jobs before running again in March.

 

Is it possible for someone to give me some information on what's happening over the weekend of 14th and 15th March, please?

I know that the full line is closed and there'll be a service using the Class 09 and the Queen Mary Brake Van, but how far will this run and how often, please? In particular, will it be possible to go as far as High Rocks Halt so that I can have (obviously if they're open!) lunch in the High Rocks Restaurant?

I'll also be interested in visiting the Model Railway Show, but I'd like to be able to do all three things if possible.

Thank you.

 

It is yet to be decided. We’ve no idea if High Rocks is open yet but shuttle trains will stop there in any event. The trains will go a little way around the corner to where the bridge will be.

 

Thank you; I'll keep an eye on the website.

 

Me latest upload from Spa highlighting this weekends running with 828 & 33063 if anyone is interested:

 

You may or may not be aware that we're currently replacing Broom Lane Bridge, the most significant infrastructure project we've ever undertaken. A blog detailing the progress can be found here: https://broomlanebridge.blogspot.com/

The aim is to have the new bridge installed and the line reopened on Friday, 3rd April. We've not closed during this time, though. We've had Steam Driver Experiences running on the 2 miles of track between Tunbridge Wells West and the bridge, plus the next two weekends are events in our engine shed, all raising money for this vital project.

If you are able to support our appeal in any way and donate, we'd really appreciate it. https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/spvr-broomlane

 

Good to see the bridge work is ticking along nicely. Will there be anything special to commemorate the first train over the new bridge?

When I rode the line back in January, the brochure mentioned a bridge reopening gala

 

We're not 100% sure yet. I've not planned anything just in case it goes wrong!