Surely one of the most ludicrous suggestions I have heard recently - how would you even contemplate getting a railway to the top of that hill?

https://www.devonlive.com/news/local-news/sun-seekers-could-soon-catch-1595611

Whew! I am sure the inhabitants of Sodor were worried for a moment!

When they say "yellow snow warning" ..... ?

The title of this thread immediately grabbed my attention, so I am slightly disappointed to find out that it does not, in fact, refer to designated station calls where everyone gets out for a spot of communal exercise.

Trains into Minehead are controlled by the signal just before the crossing, operated by the Minehead signalbox - when the signal is switched, the road lights/barrier sequence starts, and the signal aspect does not actually change until the barriers are completely down. Trains out of Minehead are treadle-controlled - the platform starter is cleared in advance, and the train has to pull past it to reach the signalbox, where it picks up the single-line token. Almost immediately afterwards, it hits the treadle to start the road light/barrier sequence, and by the time it reaches the "crossing-clear" indicator light, the barriers should be down. So, as far as I know, the signalman has no control over the barriers for departing trains. In the light of that, you could say that without additional protection, full barriers might represent a tenuous safety hazard, because there is no "escape route" for a vehicle on the crossing.

As a daily user of this crossing, I am surprised to hear that there have been "numerous instances" of people driving round the barriers. I have only personally witnessed one example of this; on finding one morning that the barriers were obviously stuck down in front of me, I dutifully turned round and availed myself of an alternative route (no more than a half-mile detour), but not before I had witnessed several cars ahead of me steering round the barriers, which was obviously completely irresponsible - if the culprits ended up in court, serve them right.

As for queueing on the crossing, I certainly have witnessed this; but surely the extended barriers would make no difference to this problem - if cars are occupying the crossing, then safety dictates that it should not be possible to lower the barriers, which in turn will prevent the railway signals from clearing (at the same time as catching the offenders on camera). I do not know if any obstacle detection system is currently in place - perhaps someone can enlighten us?

I think most cases of this queueing are careless, rather than reckless - motorists, who may have been queueing from a mile back on certain days of the year, creep onto the crossing anticipating that the car in front is about to clear the far side of the crossing only to find too late that it has come to a halt less than a car-length the other side. Perhaps it would be a good idea to extend the box-junction markings ten yards either side of the barriers to allow for momentary lapses in concentration?

If that is the case, then I apologise to Lord Adonis for accusing him of making the letter public (though not for writing the whingeing letter in the first place). My assumption that he was responsible was based entirely on the title of the thread as I fail to see the point of a "stonking" letter that was not intended for public consumption. In that case, who exactly is this mysterious Mr "No 10" who has "leaked" this confidential letter, and how do they justify a breach of confidence that would not be tolerated by those of us with real jobs and responsibilities? Presumably "No 10" is either a euphemism for the prime minister, who will pretend to know nothing about it if the going gets tough, or is a maverick accomplice of the prime minister who has done this off their own bat. And what would be the point anyway? We are used to them finding any old excuse to say Bad Things about The Other Side, but in this case, as I understand it, they seem to be stirring up bad publicity about someone on their own committee.

I do detest this sort of public whingeing. If you are going to resign, then just do it and move on - there is no point in writing a letter to your employer about it. That is, if it is a genuine resignation, rather than a "if you don't give me what I want, I'm going to resign - OK, then, see you - hang on, I didn't really mean it; you're supposed to say 'please don't go; I'll give you whatever you want'" sort of resignation. And for goodness' sake, just keep it between yourselves - this current fad for making your letters public in a cringeworthy "I'm going to get my friends onto you" sort of way is something I would hope most of us had grown out of since the toddler-having-a-tantrum-in-a-supermarket" phase.

Perhaps the thinking is that, for a small difference, you may wish to buy the flexibility of traveling on an earlier outward train, in which case a return journey may be possible. Whether that is a sensible option depends on the likelihood of you changing your plans, and a comparison of the single, day-return and period-return fares. An algorithm for computing this would be so complicated that it is probably best to just offer all the fares and let the customer decide. 

"The last time we met like this, you were a Virgin"

15 spare cabs ... 2 seats in each ... obviously trialling their new passenger service.

Funny that there is no mention of this on the Transport for London website : http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/lightning-strike-cancels-trains-as-plymouth-is-bombarded-by-heavy-rain/story-29768786-detail/story.html

Barking?

A word of praise to First Bus, alias Buses of Somerset, for their positive attitude to the challenge of this bank holiday. On a day when the scheduled (Sunday/Bank holiday) service would have seen the Taunton-Minehead buses bursting at the seams, they were running relief direct Taunton-Butlins buses in parallel with the normal service. Furthermore, they delegated a member of staff to Taunton railway station to guide people on to the correct bus and even help them with their luggage. Not only did this provide extra buses, but the Butlins customers were spared the normal tortuous meanderings of this route, while those of us who live in the area enjoyed the comfort of a vehicle not stacked to the ceiling with the holidaymakers' luggage. Winners all round, so well done, First. Incidentally, I earlier the same day witnessed their railway counterparts conducting a well-organised operation at Reading station to deal with the exodus from the pop festival there. 

Would it really? I suspect that the limiting factors just as much as the track geometry are the signalling system (as far as I know the remaining distant signals are all "fixed") and the presence of several unbarriered (at least one without even warning lights) public road crossings. An "express" train would also need either a clear run, or timing to coincide with an opposite "express"; otherwise it would just end up waiting at the end of the single-track sections.

A regular year-round service would not be possible unless GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)/Network Rail between them organise (or pay WSR for) the manning of the signal boxes at the time they would normally be closed, and undertake overnight track maintenance to replace the current out-of-season maintenance. Therefore any regular through trains would be limited to the summer season, and here the suggestion that spare capacity can be guaranteed is very questionable. On any of the "gala" weekends the line is operated at , or very close to, maximum capacity, and on other weekends any spare paths are regularly taken up by visiting charters. Away from weekends there are often stock/training/maintenance trains to fit in.

I believe that Mr Mendoza and others in his group should be concentrating solely on the one aim that seems to me to have a realistic chance of success, which is the extension of some Taunton-bound trains to Bishops Lydeard, possibly to an independent GWR platform. Transfer from there to a WSR service would hardly be onerous, and once this aspiration is realised, then by all means start pursuing grander plans.

A Bishops Lydeard service could also, at different hours, serve a completely different market, namely as a park-and-ride for West Somerset commuters to Bristol and beyond.

At the same time (apologies for straying into "bus" territory, but relevant to this subject, particularly as the bus belong to First Group), we really do need buses that are adequate for holidaymakers. Struggling past the suitcases and pushchairs on a summer Friday-afternoon Minehead-bound bus is a bit of a nightmare. And can not at least some of the services be scheduled to miss out the lengthy detours to Lydeard and Watchet? Perhaps someone who cares to step into the shoes of the late-unlamented Webber Buses could offer such an "express" service?