Hope from turmoil
How was it possible that the West Somerset Railway could get into such difficulties that the only realistic course of action would be to cancel 17 days of its new year steam service?
While this may appear to be a profoundly negative decision, and to an extent it is, it could well be the best thing to happen at the ‘Whizzer’ for many years.
The close attentions of the Office of Rail and Road this autumn will have been an uncomfortable experience for the line’s reformed plc board, particularly in areas such as governance and safety management. And yet, what is abundantly clear is that the ORR, while raising a number of concerns, trusts the new regime enough to find robust solutions to these issues without having to resort to improvement notices, or shutting the WSR down by its own jurisdiction. Nor is the action immediate.
Since the appointment of businessman and locomotive owner Jon Jones-Pratt as its acting – and now permanent – chairman, there has been a rapidly growing sense of optimism and positive attitude on the 20 miles between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard.
Mr Jones-Pratt, by admission, “isn’t a man to hang around”. His decisions, however, have been nothing but careful and measured – not least in his recruitment strategy.
Respected former WSR General Manager Mark Smith has been persuaded to return as a board member; renowned boiler inspector Bob Garnett has been brought in to rewrite paperwork and train staff; while Bob Meanley, of Tyseley Locomotive Works fame, has become acting chief mechanical engineer.
It is difficult to envisage how this wealth of talent, interspersed with renewed vigour among the ranks of staff and volunteers, might ultimately fail to turn this troubled ship around.
Nevertheless, it is a railway that does have pressing financial concerns, and this enthusiasm must be tempered by pragmatic
restraint of spending, which has been allowed to run away over recent years. One area of concern is the major investment needed to bring the railway’s infrastructure up to standard, next year and beyond.
The WSR Association has a significant role to play here as a fund-raising arm for such major capital projects. It is therefore heartening to learn that relations between the plc and the charity are much improved after years of baffling, corrosive conflict.
There will not be a better opportunity to put the WSR back on course.
If this renewed effort for one of Britain’s best-loved railways doesn’t work, what will? ●● The end of 2018 is nigh, and so is the current boiler certificate for Oliver Cromwell.
This is the engine which you, the readers of Steam Railway, rallied behind so magnificently in 2004 when its return-to-steam project was launched.
We hope to see a good number of you at the Great Central Railway on December 31 to toast the end of this unforgettable 14-year project as No. 70013 bows out at midnight.
“JON, BY HIS OWN ADMISSION, ISN’T A MAN AROUND” TO HANG