WSR 2018

Dates for WSR Galas in 2018:

• Spring Steam Gala - Thursday 22nd to Sunday 25th March,
• Diesel Gala - Friday 8th to Sunday 10th June,
• Late Summer Weekend - Saturday 1st to Sunday 2nd September,
• Autumn Steam Gala - Thursday 27th to Sunday 30th September,
• Winter Steam Festival - Saturday 29th to Sunday 30th December

Steve

 

Be interesting to know why the ASG has changed weeks.

 

Bit of a shame the spring gala has gone back to March, I enjoyed the April event this year. The weather was much better, the countryside that bit more spring like and made for a nice long weekend with the family. With the East Lancs and Severn Valley also having galas in March, I will be forced to make some choices next year.

 

At the Stakeholders' Meeting yesterday (28th October) the reason given was to avoid clashing with other events on the usual weekend. I presume that means else where in the country!

 

I see on
http://www.wsr.org.uk/news.htm

Foxcote Manor to spend 2018 on the West Somerset Railway

Dave Horton, WSR's Head of Mechanical Engineering, is pleased to announce:

The WSR is very pleased to announce that we and the 7822 Foxcote Manor Society have signed a deal for the locomotive to operate on the WSR for the whole of the 2018 season. This and the S160 will significantly help to bolster our fleet for next year. We welcome 7822 and its members and supporters to the West Somerset Railway.

31 October 2017
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Plc

 

It also means that the WSR Spring Steam Gala takes place the same weekend as the Swanage gala. A great shame as many on here like to attend or even volunteer at both events.

Stef.

 

There will probably be some travelling from a distance who would see this as a bonus - they can attend both in the same weekend!

 

Swanage will probably have the bigger problem - all the available guest engines will be in West Somerset!

Steven

 

But Swanage will have a good selection of Bulleids again.

Stef.

 

That is jumping the gun a little isn't it ?
There is a shortage of locos that lines can spare , doesn't mean that they will all go to one place over the other,
There is also other reasons tofavor going to one gala over another, Timetable,loco turns etc.

 

I was having a little tease of the way that WSR Galas seemed to mop up available/desirable locos - and also the way that many who post on here seem to go for the guests, not make an annual (or twice annual) visit to enjoy the home based as well!

(Apologies - should have added Smilie! )

Steven

 

Also would that be swanages first steam gala with trains onto the mainline? If so there will be a lot of ppl wanting to get new track under their belt!

 

Steam into Wareham?

 

WSR galas are a little stale same hourly timetable that shows a lack of ambition, visitors are the only reason to visit,

 

I don't think they've used the old hourly timetable for a while now. The SSG and ASG this year had a number of interesting part-line workings especially on the Thursday & Friday.

 

You obviously haven't looked at the timetables for the last year or so. Thursdays and Fridays have included some runs which turn back at intermediate stations, however this does tend to increase the frequencies to greater than hourly. The Autumn Gala this year used a 55 minute frequency timetable on the Saturday and Sunday, but late running ensued. I spoke to the person who compiled this timetable and he was disappointed, blaming the lateness to a large extent on the TSLs present at the time. When these are dealt with, a 55 minute frequency will stand more chance of success.

A number of times on other threads of Nat Pres, when asked for a better timetable from the people who are not content with the present one, the reply has been a deafening silence.

 

No I haven't because of how dull the last gala I went to was, the lack of communication over loco allocations and the apparent unwillingness to even attempt to make up anytime when the time table slipped for any other reason then speed ristrictions,

I might give the WSR another try, but will have to see if theres any improvement on a few fronts first.

You may of found a deafening silance becaue ,Any communication unless its positive doesn't get a response and instead of asking what the punters would like, they just carry on reguardless and wonder why people get upset,

 

Not how I recall the two galas I've been to. Certainly the 2016 S+D one had loco allocations in advance, and a couple of times when time slipped some nifty work in the signal boxes meant trains passed at different places to regain time - which nearly caught me out once at Washford! :O

As to your last paragraph that's just untrue. I specifically remember @Robin White asking for suggestions and genuinely asking if anyone could come up with a better timetable, and unless she got PM'd, I don't remember any getting posted.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

It's a shame that you didn't attend the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Closure of the Somerset and Dorset Railway. It was held over two weekends in March, 2016 and proved a great success. Many believe that a gala of that type will never be bettered.

At a WSR steam gala the loco allocations can be found in the souvenir booklet that can be purchased a week or so before the event. That would have solved your problem. <BJ>

 

I've been to every spring gala since 2002, and only missed 3 autumn galas in that time and I've never found any of them to be dull.