Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

Independenttrack survey aims to

boostWestSomersetstandards

ByRobin Jones

THEWest SomersetRailway has
commissionedafullindependenttrack
survey of thecomplete19½-mileroute
between BishopsLydeard and Minehead,
to be carried outby afully qualified
heritagerailwa ycivil engineer.
Themovefollows thelaunch of an
urgentjoint £250,000 appeal from the
West SomersetRailway Associ ation
(WSRA) andWestSomersetSteam
Railway Trusttoupgrade the track
during thecoming winter, replacing
lengths thatare approaching the end
of their serviceable 50-year lives,as
outlined in issue 255.
Problems with the trackwere
highlightedthis year,resulting in the
line being closedforthree months,
the loss of the spring gala and a
temporaryreduction in locomotive
axle loading.Accordingly,the line
agreed to te mporarilyexchange GWR
4-6-0 No.6990Raveningham Hall
with the lighterGWR 4-6-0 No.
Bradley Manor,basedat the Severn
Valley Railway,for the summer season.
However, on July 7, No.7802suffered
abroken pistonrodwhile working the
10.15am passenger train from Bishops
LydeardtoMinehead and it is likely
to be out of actionforaconsiderable
period.Asweclosedforpress,itw as
understood thatBradley Manorwould

be takento TyseleyLocomotiveWorks

forrepair ,with areturntothe Severn

Valley sometime next year.

WSR plc chairman Jonathan

Jones-Prattwho,asr eported last

issue,has just boughtWR0-6-0PT

No.9466fromthe family of the late

Dennis Howells and placed it on loan

to the South DevonRailway, has

arrangedforittoappearat the

WSRA’sSteam &Vinta ge Rally at

NortonFitzwarren onAugust 3-4,

at no cost to the WSR, eitherfor

steamingfees or transportationcosts

from Buckfastleigh. But because of

its weight, No.9466 isrestric tedto

‘red route’operation, which currently

precludes the BishopsLydeardto

Minehead section.

Transparency

Regarding the survey, Jonathan said:

“This is to ensure thataproper audit

and independent evaluation is made of

the work thatiscurrently being carried

out on our track infrastructure, so as

to provide absoluteassura nceand

transparencyfor those people who

kindly supportuswith donations.

“The surveywill also enable usto

clarify all of thecore assets involved

alongthe track inagreaterlevel of detail

than we have today.

“The evaluation will be carried out

usingatraffic ligh tsyste mtoidentify

which of the assetsrequiremost

immediate attentionversu sthose that

can be maintainedover alonger-term

basis.Itwill also help ensureweare

maintaining the WSRto fully meet the

requirements ofthe Government’s

LightRailway Order,bothnow and

into the future.

“One of the key objectivesfor

the railway has beento restor ethe

previous‘red route’status which allows

the heavier locomotives,such as

FlyingScotsman,tomake high-profile

visitsto the line,givingthe railway

much-needed publicityand additional

reve nues.This surveywill enable the

boardtoaccurately assess thework

neededto restor ered st atus to theline.

“The output from this surveyis

expectedtobeafiveto10-year

plan thatcan be deliveredby teams

of volunteers andacoregroup of

paid staffworking togetherto raise

overall standards on therailway.The

boardwill empowerthese peopleto

‘get on with the job’bygiving them

sensible budgetaryguidanceand

being preparedto listen andreactto

supportthe various initiatives arising

from this survey.”

This initiativeisp artofamuch wider

strategy to raisestandards across all

areas of therailway,toa chievebest

practiceinall areas of maintenance

and repair andto restor epride in

the overall operation of therailway

by bringing in new people who

arebest qualifiedto provide the

railway withthe rightlevel of detail

and assessment.

Regarding the track appeal,aswe

closedforpress,£50,492.49had been

raised,plus gift aid.

Mechanical failure

Regarding thedamagesustainedby

Bradley Manor,ajoint stateme nt issued

byWSR chief mechanical engineerBob

Meanley andTerryJenkins,ofo wning

group the ErlestokeManor Fund,said:

“TheWSR dealtwith the situationvery

promptly andrecoveredthe train and

failed locomotivetoBishop’s Lydeard.

“Unfortunately,the locomotivehas

suffered significantconsequential

damage and has been withdrawn

from servicefor an in vestigation and

furtherexamination priorto repair.It

is likely thatthe locomotivewill be out

of servicefor aconsiderable period.

“Wemust stressat this pointint ime

thatthereisnoindication linking the

failuretot he allocatedcrewonthe day

and it appearsto be averyunfortunate

even tofmechanical failure.”

➜Ifyouwould liketodonate to the

track appeal,visitwww.justgiving.com/

campaign/railrenewal

➜Britain’s top20seasiderailways–

specialfeatur e, pages 68-75.

In happier timespriortoits breakdownon July7, on-loanGWR4-6-
No.7802BradleyManorwhistlesasitpasses CastleHill, Williton
with the2.30pmMinehead-BishopsLydeard serviceonthe
West Somerset Railwayon June27.PAULBIGGS

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