West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Pickering to Whitby is a long time with no toilets available on board. Good luck to seniors and young children who need to go "now".

 

I wouldn't do that trip with young kids, while if I knew my bladder would struggle, I'd give it a miss.

 

It started off as a typo ........but it made me laugh...... so I kept it in.

 

I believe the majority of traffic originates from the BL end not the Minehead end!

 

Take an empty bottle, you may laugh but as they say "any port in a storm"

 

It is likely that most visitors arrive from the east/north via the M5 simply because of population distribution.
Wherever they come from, the planner will realise that they can park at BL, ride the train, take wife/kids to the seaside for a few hours, eat lunch, ice cream, and ride the train again- an "everybody wins" scenario. The alternative would be hard to sell.
If you have a railway where the route goes from a car park at one end to a tour of the sheds at the other and back-that is great for the enthusiast, but not great for a not very interested spouse, and generally requires several weekends of gardening

 

That is of course true, however given that many railways somehow manage to survive without the beach at one end I suspect this isn't the be all and end all, and the WSR could cope temporarily with running over only part of the line. I do not support permanent truncation of the line, but trains over any stretch of the WSR would be better than nothing right now!

 

The NYMR, at least, have realised that short journeys is not what Joe Public wants. The original thoughts were coloured by lack of toilet facilities precluding the longer ride but have not proved to be a success.

 

But what does the NYMR know about running a railway! I'm sure Paul will be able to quote a "man at the end of the platform" to prove you wrong... When we first started planning trains again, we ruled out on train toilets, despite concerns over the length of the journey. However the position evolved and we've ended up having all toilets operational as usual in the end, although I believe passengers are being encouraged to use land based facilities where possible.

 

Not all railways go to the sea. Absolutely true, but your railway reckoned it made a major win getting to Broadway, because Broadway is somewhere nice. Shall we go to Honeybourne-its got the big railway, and its more furtherer. No, 'cos its not as wife friendly as Broadway and more furtherer isn't necessarily more betterer. but, but, but

The "somewhere to somewhere", or at least "nowhere to somewhere" logic is regarded as sound. Minehead is a somewhere, Bishops Lydeard isn't

 

Running longer journeys is less what "normals" want as what gricers want.

 

Can't argue with that.

 

I could've worked that one out in a second.

 

Are they seriously having no toilets?

 

And the proof of that statement is?

 

That’s interesting, I’ll remember to tell my non enthusiast wife that she wants to travel 5 miles out and back rather than go to a destination. We considered visiting NYMR this summer but decided against for several reasons, amongst them the nature of the rides and the inability to walk between stations.

There is no one pattern for a heritage railway, and it is perfectly possible to make a success of a long one. However, that relies on good judgment in setting a strategy and then delivering it. Coming back to the WSR, I suggest the current problems lie in that corner, and current management deserve some sympathy for having to address 40 years of built up problems, even if they then forfeit that sympathy through their manner and poor recent decisions.


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Regarding the distance factor it was noted many times that perception by passengers of how things appear to them is what matters. The Dartmouth line is short but has a noteworthy destination i.e. Dartmouth. Boarding at Paignton or Churston many passengers see a long train and great steam engine that is going to haul their train and take them on a journey - the length of which does not seem to be a consideration. I know purists frown at some locomotive naming but it is quite interesting how many people see a locomotives name and refer to it - shades of Thomas I guess! The alternating scenery soon catches their interest and when they pass along the east bank of the River Dart interest - and excitement of children - is raised as they look forward to the crossing the river by ferry and their day out.
As 35B points out that every line has its differences and operational requirements but each needs to emphasize its selling points; avoiding an 'our' railway' ethos and encouraging a partnership attitude with their customers. The 'my railway' is not a good sales technique, which may account for some failures past and present.

 

This may well be true in the same way that the original A303 wasn't designed to carry the traffic is now does. However, the minehead branch was significantly upgraded in the early 1900s and again in the 1930s. Bridges and crossings were kept up to spec by the gwr such that it was perfectly capable of handling 12 coach trains at 40 to 50mph. It did this frequently during the summer seasons.
Ian Coleby

 

Precisely - and similar opportunities exist in West Somerset.