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West Somerset Railway General Discussion

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

  1. Another Yorkshireman

    Another Yorkshireman Member Friend

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    Oh dear. One of the most uplifting posts on this site in recent years and people are still grumbling.
     
  2. nanstallon

    nanstallon Part of the furniture

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    There is no perfection in life. Let us be glad of some positive publicity for the Railway, rather than finding fault!
     
  3. nine elms fan

    nine elms fan Part of the furniture

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    Its the British way a good grumble and a good queue, works wonders. :)
     
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  4. DragonHandler

    DragonHandler Well-Known Member

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    Many railway TV programmes are not made for us railway enthusiasts and gricers, they're made for the general viewing public and can be a good introduction to the world of railways. The YouTube video in question gives a very positive view of the WSR and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, I did think the background music a bit 'bouncy' but then that's the culture of YouTube video channels. If we want to encourage visitors to the railway this is the style of presentation that will encourage them to visit far more than a video that has no soundtrack other than the sound of a loco working hard up a gradient.
     
  5. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    You may prefer to watch trains and listen to music instead of hearing the locomotive working and the noises that are generally associated with a working railway; I do not. My post was thanking MellishR for his comments.
    Not everyone is able to travel far and wide to see and hear railways at work and I suggest the more restrained, non musical type of films serve them very well. NP is full of very good videos made and posted here for our enjoyment. Most avoid muzak! Also there are some very fine videos featuring railways worldwide, that feature real railway sounds. The video may be aimed at tv audiences, so is Thomas and Friends. :D
     
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  6. nanstallon

    nanstallon Part of the furniture

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    Makes a change from Brexit!
     
  7. Mike Birch

    Mike Birch New Member

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    The people behind "All the stations" are both railway enthusiasts. I believe that the male presenter used to work for the BBC and his lady friend works at the London Transport Museum (I am sure that someone will correct me if I am wrong). The "Muzak" was a specially commissioned piece written for a previous series and it is then amended to the theme of the next film - it appears for less than half this film and there are some excellent shots without it. They appear to have the ear of very senior railway people (the Chairman of Network Rail appears in their films on a regular basis), have at least 60,000 followers and they really know how to fund raise.
     
  8. mvpeters

    mvpeters Member

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    There is a quotation somewhere on one of these forums attributed to an 'average' visitor to the WSR, that says they are looking for:

    A comfortable ride, somewhere to sit & a nice cup of tea.​
     
  9. AnthonyTrains2017

    AnthonyTrains2017 Well-Known Member

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  10. DragonHandler

    DragonHandler Well-Known Member

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    tracker and Triumph 2500S like this.
  11. Ron Sidewater

    Ron Sidewater New Member

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    I've just watched this again because I hadn't even noticed the music first time round and to find out what the fuss was about, but it certainly didn't detract from the enjoyment second time.
     
  12. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    I'm sure that many people are so used to having "music" playing wherever they go and whatever they are doing that they filter it out without even noticing that it's there. On the other hand would they notice, and if so would they care, if it were absent? I find it at best distracting and at worst intolerable, especially if, like much modern music, it's more percussion than melody. Even for the kinds of music that I like, I choose when to listen and don't want them in the "background" (so-called, often more like the foreground) when I'm doing something else.

    I accept that the video is good publicity for the WSR, but would it be better or worse without the music?

    Anyway that's more than enough of this digression.
     
  13. misspentyouth62

    misspentyouth62 Well-Known Member

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    This thread does make me smile though - or maybe weep?
    I do not understand why a heritage fan would want to complain openly to the big wide world because their world as they see it, is not perfect.
    A steam gala with a token heritage diesel - deep joy. Close eyes if the diesel offends whilst enjoying the steam (or other way round for diesel fans :) )
    Steam videos with background sound - turn the volume off and use some imagination if the alternative is just too intolerable.

    I have been right about one thing though, there's something about West Somerset that is 'different' to other locations, I just can't put my finger on the reasons though. :)
     
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  14. 1472

    1472 Well-Known Member

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    That is why quite a few of us travel some distance, passing other railways en-route, just to be able to volunteer on the WSR.
     
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  15. free2grice

    free2grice Part of the furniture Friend

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    As someone who produces railway films I find that a little sound is better than none but music that is inappropriate or too loud is a real no no.

    Just a thought :).

    Meanwhile back on topic.... <BJ>
     
  16. misspentyouth62

    misspentyouth62 Well-Known Member

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    Yes, I can agree to that.
    However, why would I want the world to know that I'm so enraged that I decided not to watch rather than just turn the volume down and tolerate the wonder of the film footage? There may be many that are happy or otherwise more tolerant.
     
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  17. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    The problem with turning the sound down is that one then misses the real sounds and the commentary.
     
  18. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    On behalf of those who can't travel "far and wide" ...... might I offer a heartfelt Thank You for a well considered post. :)

    Speaking as one who finds much accompanying music (from 'please continue to hold, your call is important to us' to the anodyne 'playlists' interrupting lobotomized presenters and adverts on too many commercial radio stations) is an often irritating distraction, when it comes to broadcast programmes, surely the measure of their effect has to be simply "Did it result in more bums on seats?" ..... If the answer is a "yes" ..... I can happily live with it!

    It's most encouraging to see so positive a reaction to the mainline connection at BL and let's hope it proves a resounding success. While our primary interest here is the WSR, it may be interesting to keep an eye on outbound journeys originating from BL.
     
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  19. misspentyouth62

    misspentyouth62 Well-Known Member

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    Indeed so. So miss the show completely because all is not perfect?
     
  20. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    At least many of the more recent 'railway' offerings on tv, such as those by Chris Tarrant, do not have unnecessary music, just factual interest. Which make them interesting to watch, by choice, rather than something simply to pass the time away.
    There may be many reasons why those of us who do not have a radio or tv on 24/7 (that's the way we have lived most of our lives so far) dislike an excess of music not to our liking. Many shops and workplaces seem to have it as background noise - better than road traffic I guess.
    However, one man's meat is anothers poison they say.
     

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