Great Western Passenger Forum

Witham Bobby

Transport Scholar
Hero Member

Posts: 966

Re: West Somerset Railway - Bishops Lydeard, near Taunton, to Minehead

« Reply #495 on: March 30, 2026, 10:06:07 »

https://twitter.com/NickDavid0655/status/2038540285345403050?

For something that was arranged so hastily, the WSR50 weekend was a great event. The weather was helpful, the trains ran more-or-less to time

The re-creation of the 1000 first train from Minehead to Blue Anchor on 28th March went very well, with 0-6-0ST "Victor" in the very capable hands of Ray Lee, son of the driver of the day back in 1976 and WSR^▸ legend Harry Lee

A weekend of catching up with great friends, reminiscing and enjoying the event.

Someone told me that I am the last survivor of the pre-opening company payroll. I do spend time thinking of the great people I worked with that we have lost over the years

I'm so please the railway is still there for all to enjoy, even if there's a sadness that our original intention to bring a pbublic service railway back to life between Minehad and Taunton has yet to be achieved


	Logged

Andy

Hero Member

Posts: 579

Re: West Somerset Railway - Bishops Lydeard, near Taunton, to Minehead

« Reply #496 on: March 30, 2026, 14:33:17 »

The yet in "yet to be achieved" is the key word...

The WSR^▸ is to be heartily congratulated on its 50th anniversary. I visited as a kid in the embryonic years when Blue Anchor was the final stop, and have memories of an absolutely cracking weekend in June 2009, with hydraulics galore, ...and one "Tornado".

It's a wonderful railway which ticks all the boxes and a testament to the efforts of everyone who has contributed to its success since its resurrection.


	Logged

grahame

Administrator
Hero Member

Posts: 46905

Re: West Somerset Railway - Bishops Lydeard, near Taunton, to Minehead

« Reply #497 on: March 31, 2026, 12:53:27 »

Quote from: Andy on March 30, 2026, 14:33:17

The yet in "yet to be achieved" is the key word...

I liked your whole post. I would have liked it alone for that one sentence, and look forward to it being achieved. It IS possible. How long was it between the last "old" passenger train and the first "new" one at ... Ashington, Alloa, Bathgate, Corby, Ebbw Vale, Galashiels and Okehampton?


	Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Transport User Group, West Wiltshire Rail User Group Committee and TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member

Chris from Nailsea

Administrator
Hero Member

Posts: 21939

Re: West Somerset Railway - Bishops Lydeard, near Taunton, to Minehead

« Reply #498 on: May 05, 2026, 23:31:57 »

The West Somerset Railway 2026 Spring Gala - 1st May to 4th May 2026

From YouTube, an item of some 27 minutes duration, of pure joy - at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tninW2UdoBU&t=248s Wink


	Logged

William Huskisson MP^▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: Stop, Look, Listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.

Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

Pages: 1 ... 32 33 [34]

« previous next »