West Somerset Railway General Discussion

the SVR wagon Dept is volunteer run. Working out of a Goods Shed.
With enthusiasm and the right people with a shared idea ,anything can be done and done well.
on occasions rose tinted eye protection is required.
anything is possible.


nick

 

I was on the "Steam Engine Man's Taster Course" (Eng. 3850) on Saturday (18th), many thanks to Nelson (driver) & Pete (fireman) for their excellent instruction & patience with us, a thoroughly good time was had by all. Many thanks also to the guard & signalman (sorry, names not remembered) for staying behind as we were late back to BL.

DJB.

 

EXACTLY!

 

The Mink which Ryan Pope is restoring on Thursday Evenings with volunteers is a GWR 813 Fund vehicle.

Info:
http://gwr813.org/16307.htm

Nick
GWR813 Fund

 

Sad to see the rust starting to appear on the inspection saloon and filler already "pushing" off of screw heads. We need covered storage for historically significant coaching stock. I can't help wondering how the stock survived back in the day when it was presumably exposed to the elements for very long periods of time?

 

I suspect being in regular service helped. Whereas with many items of heritage stock stored outside, they may spend several months over the winter hardly being used and without the benefit of being kept warm (via steam heating) and well-ventilated (by virtue of regular use). Which allows moisture to built up and do its worst.

I think those lines that have invested in undercover storage are seeing the benefits in reduced routine maintenance. As an example, I believe the IoWSR used to need to re-varnish their four wheelers every other year, but no longer need to do so now they can be kept indoors when not in use.

Tom

 

Would be helpful if the WSR had supporting charity who could apply for lottery grants to build some covered accommodation........;-(


nick

 

This web page is the best for loco allocations - http://www.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/r-roster.cgi

To give more detail;

7828 1015 MD - 1235 BL - 1425 MD - 1620 BL.

4936 1025 BL - 1230 MD - 1435 BL - 1625 MD.

4160 1105 BL - 1525 MD.

D6575 1145 BL - 1320 MD - 1415 WN - 1715 MD.

3850 taking over incoming railtour from 70000 at 1245/1320 BL - 1715 MD - 1822/1855 BL.

There will be some adjustments to the timetable to accommodate the railtour, mostly services being retimed by 5 or 10 minutes later in the afternoon, except the 1715MD diesel service which will leave MD at 1755.

There is also an internal private charter in the evening which will be worked by 4936.

 

Bluebell springs to mind; .com and .co.uk but I agree, it is daft.

 

Al,

The first one is the official website operated by the WSR PLC and is only supposed to give information to the general public (ie. non-enthusiasts) about timetables, fares, events etc. and does not carry any news or photos.

The second one is an unofficial site operated by a long-standing WSR volunteer and supporter and is there to give news, latest photos etc. It is usually very much up to date. The owner of this site gets his information from various sources, and is much more aimed at the enthusiast. I suggest you explore this site, there is a lot about the history of the WSR, and, very importantly, links to the webcams at BL and MD!

 

yes it would but look at the shambles that is the wsra,would you give them any money,or anything else come to think about it?

 

A bit like all those entirely separate GWSR blogs?

Bottom line is, there are different audiences and often it makes sense to keep information aimed at those different audiences separate. The majority audience is for regular visitors, who need quick answers to the key visitor questions: when is it open, how much does it cost, how do I get there, what facilities are available? Getting to those answers quickly may be the key determinant about whether a family visits or goes to some other attraction. That's an entirely different demographic to enthusiasts who may be interested in the minutiae of historical details or updates on restoration projects.

It's not impossible to combine both in one website, but equally it's not daft to keep them separate either. It does take a bit of co-ordination though and some kind of information management process to ensure that information is not duplicated or, worse, inconsistent.

Tom

 

I have run wsr.org.uk since 1998. There was an official website at the time but the Plc were not keen on new technology back then and it was very much the work of one rather foresighted man who had a million other tasks to do. Since then of course the Plc has taken an increasing interest in the web and what it an do for its commercial activities. Which is how it should be.

Whilst wsr.org.uk has always been unofficial, it is not unknown for the Plc to use it in preference to its own website for particular, targeted announcements.

wsr.org.uk also publishes information from the many WSR groups and bodies, which the Plc chooses (rightly in my view) not to indulge in. Along with a regular supply of pictures from a host of photographers (in 2011 I invited 900 individuals to a group photoshoot!)

Because there always has been a risk of duplication and, as Tom points out, inconsistencies, I have a fine working relationship with the Plc's commercial department and loco department. I am extremely grateful for their past and continued help with a regular supply of information. Thus I am able to show train times and loco rosters. I know a great many "ordinary" people read wsr.org.uk so I put a lot of effort into maintaining accuracy, whilst trying to show information in a more friendly way.

There will always be the occasional hiccup but generally we all seem work well together. The bottom line is (a) getting people to travel on the line and (b) getting new volunteers.

How long I can keep wsr.org.uk going is really down to age. I once promised myself I'd give up when I reached state pension age. That is now just a few weeks away...

Steve

 

Ah, but that's different! In all seriousness though, there is only one main website for the GWSR (I happen to think it's one of the best around, but them I would, wouldn't I ) all our other blogs are clearly on one small aspect, with other websites covering the whole railway. Currently, if you search bluebell railway, you get both websites and it's not immediately obvious which one you want, same with WSR. With us, all our other sites are either blogs or Flickr sites, much clearer IMHO.

 

The site Steve runs is an invaluable resource to those who have a particular interest in the WSR. It's mixture of pictures and news items is invaluable in keeping us all up to date. I tend to think of it as our newspaper, but it's also much more with a wealth of historical information and even gradient profiles and route info for the real enthusiast or for those needing to study for route knowledge etc. I hope Steve continues to support this invaluable resource for as long as he is able.

 

The ongoing "Joke" on the WSR is if the ops dept want to find out whats going on along the railway , it is to check Steve's site!
I hope Steve can keep it going for as long as possible.
Robin F

 

The most important thing about Steve's site is that he researches his topic before going to print & that he is very prompt at keeping up to date. I wish he was still running the WSRA web-site, at the moment it gets updated every month or so whether it needs it or not.

DJB.