Excursion trains and motorcyclists bring visitor boost to Minehead

TWO of the busiest days of the year so far were experienced on Saturday and Sunday by the West Somerset Railway as it welcomed 1,000 visitors on excursions to Minehead.
With the sun shining and its own steam trains also running with excellent loadings, the railway’s staff and volunteers had a busy build-up period and weekend which also provided an economic boost for other local businesses.
Saturday was enlivened by the arrival of two excursion trains from the national main line network.
Two Class 67 diesels worked a special from Altrincham on behalf of the Mid-Cheshire Rail Users Group, which was making its second trip to West Somerset.
The second train was a First Great Western local excursion from Westbury, Bath, Bristol, and Weston-Super-Mare, which was a charity fund-raiser for the Railway Children charity which helps orphaned and homeless children who live at railway stations in the developing world.
First reports suggested the special train, where First Great Western staff worked for free, had raised more than £8,000.
On Sunday, there was a return by the members of the Westland Vintage Motorcyclists, whose 2008 visit was in total contrast to last year - exchanging the hottest Sunday of the year for the wettest.
The bikers began their day with a snack breakfast at Bishops Lydeard station at 8 am before riding to Minehead, some by WSR trains and others on their own machines. The railway also ran a special train from Minehead to Blue Anchor and back for the club members, who, after spending time in Minehead, continued their ‘Spirit of the 60s’ day out with a run over Exmoor before heading back to South Somerset and Dorset.
WSR general manager Paul Conibeare said: “We had to do quite a lot of stock movements and shunting before the weekend.
“This was to clear enough space in the sidings at Minehead to allow us to welcome the trains and then keep their stock stabled while the passengers were enjoying themselves in the town and our own steam services were coming and going, bringing in more visitors.
“However, when we saw the platform full of happy faces it felt a very worthwhile exercise and a nice foretaste of the busy summer to come.”
The next special event on the Minehead Station platform will be on Saturday, May 24, when the railway will host a jazz evening featuring the Tone Valley Jazz Band. Later in the summer, the first of the year’s two steam-hauled excursions to Minehead will arrive.

• Our photographs show (TOP) two excursion trains and platform full of people at Minehead on Saturday. Photo by Martin Southwood; (BELOW) the First Great Western charity train passing through Crowcombe Heathfield. Photo by Cameron Walker.
  

New curator takes over at heritage railway museum

A NEW voluntary curator has been appointed by the West Somerset Railway Association for the Gauge Museum, at Bishops Lydeard Station.
Ian Coleby, who lives in Taunton with his wife and teenage daughters, has been a volunteer signalman on the West Somerset Railway for 25 years.
He has been a railway enthusiast since childhood and recently published a book ‘The complete history of the Minehead Railway from 1848 to 1971’ after more than 20 years of detailed research.
Mr Coleby said: “I am honoured to be appointed as curator of the Gauge Museum.
“I have been interested in the history of the railway and the local community for many years and this appointment provides the ideal opportunity to build on that.
“I look forward to building on the good work done in the museum in the past and developing it in the future.”
The Gauge Museum and visitor centre is based in the old goods shed at Bishops Lydeard station.
It houses a collection of historical railway artefacts and archive documentation connected with the history of railways in Somerset.
The goods shed was built in 1862 and thus provides an ideal starting point and interpretation centre for the many visitors to the railway throughout the year.
It is open whenever WSR trains run.
The museum is looked after by a small team of dedicated employees but new faces are always welcome.
Anybody who is interested in helping should contact the curator at Bishops Lydeard Station on 01823 433 856 or museum@wsra.org.uk.

• Our photograph shows Ian Coleby standing alongside a Great Western Railway 1897 sleeping car, which is one of the Gauge Museum’s significant exhibits. Photo courtesy of the WSRA.

Railway's spring steam gala beats inclement weather

DESPITE some less than inspiring weather at times the first weekend of the West Somerset Railway’s Spring Steam Gala was a success with lots of happy faces enjoying travelling behind a fleet of the giants of the steam age.
The railway had hired in no less than seven ‘guest’ machines for the gala and these joined forces with six engines that are normally resident on the line to make up a happy ‘baker’s dozen’ for visitors to see, ride behind and photograph.
Among the stars of the show for many were London and North Western Railway ‘Super D’ number 49395, a heavy freight locomotive whose restoration was largely funded by Pete Waterman and ‘Black 5’ 45110 which was one of the engines that was in service on the last day of British Railways steam on August 11th 1968.
Other attractions along the 20 mile line between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead were book signings, museum openings and art exhibitions.
As is often the case with WSR galas, many local accommodation providers reported ‘full houses’ as visitors flocked from all parts of the country to take part in one is traditionally one of the first major events in the steam enthusiast calendar.
WSR general manager Paul Conibeare was pleased with the first weekend.
He said: “We were sorry that the weather did not allow us to show Somerset in spring at its very best but pleased with the number of people who turned-out to enjoy themselves and to give our 2008 season a very good start.
“The gala will resume on Thursday, March 13, and continues to Sunday 16th, after which we will have a one-day break until the Easter programme starts on March 18.”

• Our photographs show (TOP) three ex-Great Western Railway Prairie tanks numbers 5542, 5553 and 4160, and (MIDDLE) visiting London Midland Scottish Railway Engine 45110 from the Severn Valley Railway waiting to leave Minehead. Photos submitted.

Town motorists braced for railway turntable return

A LONG-awaited locomotive turntable will be delivered to the West Somerset Railway, in Minehead, next weekend.
It is due to reach the Minehead station on Sunday, February 10, and highways authorities have warned of traffic delays on the A39 while it is transported.
The turntable forms part of a controversial £6 million Somerset County Council industrial development alongside the railway station.
It should reach the town by 10.30 am after an early-morning journey which has been timed to minimise disruption on the roads. Installation is due to start the following day.
As preparatory work for the installation continues, historical evidence of the former Minehead locomotive shed and the people who worked there has been emerging from the diggings.
WSR general manager Paul Conibeare said: “We will not be rivalling ‘Time Team’ for the range or excitement of the discoveries, but the diggers have been turning up a range of artefacts from the shed site, which was closed and demolished in the 1960s.
“As expected, engineering bricks and items of track work have featured, but the biggest engineering relic is the original central mounting pin on which the former turntable was mounted.
“A new pin will carry the replacement turntable but we will preserve the original for future visitors to see.
“On a smaller scale we have found plenty of evidence of the former locomotive staff and other lost bits of Exmoor, including a beer bottle from the long-closed Arnold and Hancocks, in Wiveliscombe, a milk bottle from D Dansie, of Minehead, and another bottle about which we would like to know more.
“It is a half-pint one and stamped into the glass is ‘Bray Valley Clapworthy’ and we would be curious to know what it held and who produced the contents.
“Once the work is complete, we plan to have a display case on the station to house these small items from the past of Minehead and Exmoor.”

• Our photographs show (top) a bottle being uncovered on the turntable site, and (below) the former turntable central mounting pin. Photos submitted.
  

Thomas the Tank Engine cancelled after paedophile scare and rising costs

THOUSANDS of parents are set to be disappointed this year after a decision by the West Somerset Railway to axe the popular annual ‘Days out with Thomas’ weekend.
The weekend traditionally featured visits by the children’s favourite Thomas the Tank Engine and some of his ‘friends’.
Last year, advance tickets for the ‘Thomas’ weekend at Minehead Station sold out and around 3,000 people packed in to enjoy the event.
But now HiT Entertainment, the promotional company which owns the rights to Thomas the Tank Engine, has hiked its fees for granting the West Somerset line a licence in 2008.
In addition, the railway was faced with having to employ tougher and more expensive measures for Criminal Records Bureau checks on all its staff and volunteers.
The new CRB procedures were ordered after the cases last year of two steam railway volunteers, one in Hampshire and one in Gloucestershire, who took part in Thomas the Tank Engine festivals and were later found to be paedophiles.
One of them sexually assaulted a young ‘Thomas’ fan after being allowed to work on the trains without being properly screened first.
After that case, the Heritage Railway Association issued new guidelines to all its members, and at least one Devon railway will now not even allow staff or volunteers to help children on and off trains for fear of assault claims.
This year, the West Somerset Railway will instead organise a ‘family weekend’ to be held on July 5 and 6.
WSR general manager Paul Conibeare said the company had ‘looked long and hard at the implications’ before deciding to drop the ‘Thomas’ event.
Mr Conibeare said the ‘family weekend’ could potentially attract a wider age range to than just the ‘Thomas’ fans and could involve the whole of the 22-mile line rather than being ‘Minehead-centric’.
However, he said the railway was looking for ‘good ideas’ and suggestions as to what could be achieved at each station along the line in order for the weekend to be successful.
Ideas were needed before the end of January in order to allow sufficient time for the initiatives to be properly marketed.
Mr Conibeare said any ideas should be ‘achievable within the existing restrictions on budgets and staff availability’.

• Another regular feature on the West Somerset line which will not go ahead in 2008 is the Sunset Specials which for many years have run on Wednesday evenings between Minehead and Blue Anchor during the high summer.
  Although passenger numbers on the railway reached a new record in 2007, the Sunset Specials failed to carry sufficient passengers to make them commercially viable.
  Commercial manager Martyn Snell said: “It is a great pity that numbers on this particular service have dropped as they have.
  “We have to be realistic, particularly bearing in mind how much time we ask our staff to give to all our train services.
  “We have identified one that is not working well and have decided to stop it. Who knows, it may return in a slightly different guise, but certainly not during 2008.”

Government asks WSR chairman to help preserve the nation's rail heritage

WEST Somerset Railway chairman Chris Austin (pictured) has been appointed to the Railway Heritage Committee, which preserves nationally important and historically significant railway records and artefacts.
The three-year appointment was one of six made by the Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly and announced by Transport Minister Tom Harris.
Mr Austin said: “The railway has had a profound and beneficial effect on society over almost two centuries, and continues to do so in helping to meet today’s transport needs in a sustainable way.
“So, I am delighted to be appointed to serve on the Railway Heritage Committee, where I can use my railway experience to support the proper conservation of this rich heritage.”
Mr Harris said: “The Railway Heritage Committee continues to ensure that our important railway legacy is not lost to the nation.
“The members’ range of experience and knowledge will enable them to be strong champions of our rail heritage and help drive forward the work and profile of the committee.”
Mr Austin is director of public policy at the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), supporting the railway through closer links between train operators and key stakeholders and strengthening ATOC’s understanding and articulation of rail and transport policy issues at national and regional levels.
He was previously an executive director at the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), where he helped develop the Government’s community rail strategy until 2005.
Mr Austin has more than 40 years of experience of the railways, working at British Rail in a number of key management roles, notably as director of policy and Parliamentary affairs for the British Railways Board.
He was awarded the OBE in January, 2006, for his services to the rail industry, a month after the West Somerset Railway – Britain’s longest preserved line – was awarded Independent Railway of the Year.
The Department for Transport sponsors the Rail Heritage Committee to identify those railway records and railway artefacts of future value to the nation and of general public interest, and for research and scholarship, to ensure they ultimately reside in good condition in appropriate locations.

Record passenger year in sight for steam railway with winter gala still to come

THE West Somerset Railway is heading towards another record-breaking year as its main 2007 operating season ends and its volunteers and staff prepare for the annual programme of festive season trains in December.
It needs just 2,004 more passengers to break the all-time record of carrying 203,000 passengers in a year, which was set in 2005.
General manager Paul Conibeare said: “At the end of October we had carried 200,000 passengers in the year to date and had already welcomed more people to our trains than we did in the whole of 2006.
“We are also only 3,000 short of our all time record total set in 2005 with the December trains still to run, reflecting another terrific effort by everyone on the WSR in attracting business to the railway and the area and then offering a good day out that persuades passengers to come back again.
“The months ahead will be very busy for everybody on the line.
“We do not run any regular passenger train services for the rest of November but we are busy with bookings for our pre-Christmas Santa trains and work continues with the Minehead turntable preparation work, the construction of the Norton Fitzwarren turning triangle, locomotive and carriage maintenance, and much else besides.
“We always get a lot of quiet amusement when people ask us ‘what do you do all day when the trains are not running?’
“Our 2008 timetables are due from the printers in mid-November and once they are to hand, mailings to coach and holiday companies will begin as we continue to try to build our success story for the years to come.”
The Winter Steam Festival – the WSR’s final steam gala of the year - returns on Saturday, December 29.
Mr Conibeare said: “We are again keen to build-up on the success of previous events, which has seen it grow in stature and make a significant contribution to annual special events programme and a welcome boost to the railway at the end of the year.”
The gala will again be 100 per cent steam with at least five engines in action and working trains.
For the first time at the winter event, two ‘guest’ engines will be in use, nos 1450 and 662 ‘Martello’, with the remaining engines selected from the resident fleet.
It will be a final opportunity to see ‘Martello’ in service on the line before it returns to Bressingham.
As well as the ‘whole line’ trains between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard, the Great Western auto train - with no 1450 and trailer 178 - and the ‘branch line green train’ with the ‘Martello’ will also both be in use.
Mr Conibeare said: “Plans will again be put in place to ensure the sets of stock are steam-heated overnight to ensure passengers are welcomed by nice warm trains – a very important consideration at this time of year.
The museums in Bishops Lydeard and Washford will be open, as will the Diesel Heritage Centre, in Williton, and the Taunton Model Railway Group’s base at Bishops Lydeard.
A free bus service, operated by Cooks Coaches, will link Taunton railway station, the park and ride car park at Silk Mills, and Bishops Lydeard Station.
Rover tickets for the Winter Steam Festival, which can again be purchased in advance, will be available at the standard fare rather than at special event fares.
An adult day rover costs £13. Senior, child, and family rover tickets are also available.
Tickets can be purchased by telephone from Minehead Station on 01643 704996 and through www.ticketweb.co.uk using a credit/debit card.
The lastest date for advance booking is December 17, because of Christmas posting arrangements.

• Our photographs show (top) locomotive 9351 on Santa special duty at Crowcombe Heathfield, and (below) locomotive 44422 at Bishops Lydeard with a train for Minehead. Photos by Alan Meade.

Steam and diesel trains provide views of Somerset in Autumn

THE West Somerset Railway is offering a mixture of steam and vintage diesel hauled trains for its ‘Somerset in Autumn’ weekend of October 27 and 28.
Three of the steam locomotives will be guests from other lines, namely ‘Stanier Mogul’ 42968 from the Severn Valley, the tiny London, Brighton and South Coast Railway ‘Martello’, which dates to 1880 and is on hire from the Bressingham Museum in Norfolk, while Great Western tank engine 1450 will once again recreate the lost branch lines of the West of England with its ‘auto-train’ coaches.
Six steam engines currently resident on the West Somerset line will also see service, five being of Great Western origin and two, numbers 88 and 44422, which saw service on the Somerset and Dorset line.
The diesel engines will come from the fleet of 1960s machines cared for by the Diesel and Electric Preservation Group.
These will include Class 47 D1661 ‘North Star’, which was added to the Williton line-up earlier this year.
Apart from an intensive train service between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead which will run between 9.10 am and 6.30 pm on each day, visitors will find plenty to do and see.
A free vintage bus service will link Dunster Station and the village while the museums along the line and the Diesel Heritage Centre at Williton will be open to the public.
For those who would like to leave their car at home, Cooks Coaches is running a free half-hourly bus service from Taunton Railway Station (under the bridge, near the Booking Office), Taunton Castle Green in the town centre, and the Silk Mills Park and Ride scheme, on both days starting at 9.30 am.
The railway’s shops will be open for those who would like to do some pre-Christmas shopping.
WSR general manager Paul Conibeare said: “We have deliberately timed the Somerset in Autumn event for the half-term holidays and also for the weekend when the clocks go back to give visitors another chance to see both an interesting collection of engines at work and the beauties of the Somerset countryside from the comfort of our trains.
“Our main season ends on November 1 and then we will be hard at work on maintenance and more planning for 2008 in the gap before our ‘Santa Trains’ start on December 1.”

• Our photographs show (top) diesel engine North Star arriving in Minehead, and (bottom) steam engine number 42968 at Williton. Photos by Claire Rickson.