West Somerset Railway - Bishops Lydeard to Minehead (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

Has something gone wrong on the WSR^▸ (West Somerset Railway - heritage line between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard) today from about 17-00.
A steam hauled train was stopped near Blue Anchor for an unusual time. Could be seen on the webcam.
Trains often pause briefly at the signal protecting the level crossing, but only briefly until the crossing gates are closed to road vehicles and the signal cleared. And this stoppage was short of the signal.

[Witham Bobby]

Has something gone wrong on the WSR^▸ (West Somerset Railway - heritage line between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard) today from about 17-00.
A steam hauled train was stopped near Blue Anchor for an unusual time. Could be seen on the webcam.
Trains often pause briefly at the signal protecting the level crossing, but only briefly until the crossing gates are closed to road vehicles and the signal cleared. And this stoppage was short of the signal.

I'm not in a position to know anything about the reasos for such a stop.  But the Blue Anchor Up Home signal does protect the gates and also directs into the Up Loop.  If a down train was signalled into the Down Loop, the up train would have to stand and wait.  It is not permitted to signal trains travelling in opposite directions into the loop lines at the same time.  To do that, you'd need trap points at the exit ends of the loops to guard against over-runs.  This situation exists at Crowcombe

[Edited to correct text errors]

[Mark A]

Thanks, you've reminded me of the reason that railway operating regulations ban staff from deploying bird feeders at signalboxes on preserved lines and indeed on the national network.

Mark

[Witham Bobby]

Thanks, you've reminded me of the reason that railway operating regulations ban staff from deploying bird feeders at signalboxes on preserved lines and indeed on the national network.

Mark

I'll edit to avoid the page-3 connotations

For some reason my keyboard skills, such as they are, vanish when using my Mac at work

[Mark A]

Hadn't crossed my mind, but it made me think of an imaginary scenario, the terrible anxiety that the staff at Midford on the S&D^▸ (Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway) used to endure concerning their Whittaker apparatus and a very tame robin.

The apparatus set, the pair of locos on an express from Newcastle-on-Tyne, given the north easterly wind, distinctly heard to leave Combe Down Tunnel and open up, and the blasted robin, once again, without a care in the world, has perched on the pouch containing the token and is begging for the mealworms brought to the box that very morning by the plumber*, who called in again to sort out the leadwork in the ladies loo.

Mark

*Kudos if you can name the plumber...

[grahame]

An update on Facebook on the "Disused Stations" group reflects on the state of affairs that is so sadly friustrating to people who want to take a train journey to/from Minehead, to/from Taunton and the rest of the National Rail network.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1730959503584733/posts/29612784364975539/

That group's set up purely to record and talk about disused stations and not stray off into discussions of why they were closed, should they have been closed, and could they be re-opened so I expect commenting to be turned off soon, but still worth a read ... and updated comment welcome here

[broadgage]

Have just observed that short HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) is stabled near Minehead station, adjacent to the Seaward lane level crossing.
Is just being stored ? or is the intention to use it.

[The Tall Controller]

Bit of both. The WSR^▸ (West Somerset Railway - heritage line between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard) is keeping it safe for GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) by giving it a temporary home, but with permission to use it occasionally. The set in question has been stored at Minehead throughout the winter, but has just been moved to the siding in front of the signal box. Presumably to have it out of the way ready for the Steam Gala.

[JayMac]

From the West Somerset Railway's social media feeds:

The West Somerset Railway plc is pleased to announce that the iconic, world-famous locomotive, No 60103 Flying Scotsman will be hauling passenger trains on West Somerset metals in June and July 2025!

Following agreement with the National Railway Museum and Northern Steam Operations, Flying Scotsman will arrive in West Somerset near the end of June. Flying Scotsman will then run services between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead on 28th, 29th, 30th June and 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th & 12th July, with static displays of the locomotive available at Bishops Lydeard on 26th, 27th June and 3rd – 7th, 13th & 14th July.

On the days where services behind Flying Scotsman will be running, we will be offering excursions behind the Flying Scotsman for one full length journey of the line and a return journey behind one of our home fleet locomotives.

Further evening excursions will also be available on the evenings of 28th & 29th June, 2nd, 8th, 9th, 11th & 12th July for a full return trip behind the Flying Scotsman from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead with various ticket options including travel only, fish and chips, afternoon teas or on board the Quantock Belle Dining Train to enjoy a 4-course meal.

The static days offer the opportunity to see Flying Scotsman up close, including an afternoon tea in the station house garden with the locomotive as your backdrop. With so many ticket options we are sure to have an affordable option for all. 

Tickets for the event will go on sale on the West Somerset Railway website at 9.30am Wednesday 23rd April 2025. A dedicated phone line will also be open from 9:30am on Wednesday 23rd April 2025 and will be publicised shortly. Please do not call before this time for information about the Flying Scotsman.

If you already have tickets with us that fall within the duration of the Flying Scotsman Event, we will be in contact with you by email as soon as possible.

Many of you know I (somewhat anally) hate the use of the definite article when 60103 Flying Scotsman is written about or reported on. Both the WSR^▸ (West Somerset Railway - heritage line between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard) and the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) seemingly hedged their bets when covering this story. Sometimes including 'the', sometimes not.

[Image from here is not available to guests]
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgez31l0dgo

[infoman]

From the WSR^▸ (West Somerset Railway - heritage line between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard) main page

Due to operational issues all planned daytime services for Friday 11th July 2025 are cancelled.

We are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible and a decision will be made regarding Friday evening services during the morning.

All affected customers have been contacted.

We apologise for the inconvenience and will provide further updates as soon as they are available.

[JayMac]

Flying Scotsman services were due to run today. That's going to be a lot of disappointed folk.

I do hate it when companies say 'operational issues' without explaining further.

[bradshaw]

Looking at the WSR^▸ (West Somerset Railway - heritage line between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard) timetable it seems that the only services booked to run today and tomorrow are those hauled by Flying Scotsman.

[Oxonhutch]

I do hate it when companies say 'operational issues' without explaining further.

Their guard's explaination to me when I enquired about the interrupted start at Bishops Lydeard station - twice. Being a qualified train dispatcher and trainee guard my professional curiosity caused me to seek a more informed reply than the first offering.

[Phantom]

Looking at the WSR^▸ (West Somerset Railway - heritage line between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard) timetable it seems that the only services booked to run today and tomorrow are those hauled by Flying Scotsman.

So they are just cancelling all services apart from the Flying Scotsman?

[JayMac]

On Scotsman days it's ONLY those special services running. There's no 'normal' public timetable.