Flying Scotsman

The West Somerset Railway is hosting The Flying Scotsman and it will be running on the line from 5th September to 12th September inclusive, except for the 8th.

The photo above was taken at Crowcombe Heathfield in the early evening of the 30th August when it was on a gauging run from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead and back. The run was to ensure there would be no problems going through the stations - we've seen this before with other locos.

If you would like to view the timetables for the visit then click here and check out the orange dates for September.

Ted Cubitt

Ted has told me that he has resigned as Station Master at Crowcombe Heathfield.

He was the first person we met on the railway when we moved down here 4 years ago - he instantly made us feel welcome on the station and has done ever since. He treated all our visitors in the same way and they were always full of praise for him.

I am sorry to see him go.

Frozen Points

We had a diesel and a roadrailer "marooned" at the station for several days. This guy had just unfrozen the bits to allow them to leave.

White Stuff

The snow came a month early this year (compared to last) and we had around 5 or 6 inches along our road - and we don't get Gritters along here or between here and the main Taunton - Minehead road. So it can be interesting getting onto a decent road.

No problems this year - enough food, no power cuts (unlike last year) and no need to leave the house. Simples.

Neat, but boring

Neat, but boring

This has been a pet hate of mine since we moved down here three years ago.

The grassy banks and surroundings of the railway "property" (the WSR lease the land) are mown on a regular basis - usually twice a week - with the result that you see. Neat but oh so boring. Occasionally (e.g. in inclement weather) it gets left and suddenly we get wild flower gardens that attract all sorts of wildlife and look really nice. Then the Axemen cut it down again.

You decide what you would like - pretty flowers and lots of wildlife or Astroturf. But if you want the latter then please don't talk to me.

Station Birthday

Station Volunteers

30 years ago on 99th June the West Somerset Railway was extended from Stogumber to Crowcombe Heathfield and Bishops Lydeard.

A small birthday celebration to be followed by an Open Day on 30th. July.

Tornado

Tornado

A lot of people will have heard of Tornado - the first new steam train for over 40 years. It spent a couple of weeks on the railway and brought in lots of visitors.

Autumn Colors

Autumn Colors
Originally uploaded by Crowcombe Al.

This photo has to be displayed everywhere ! The colours were magnificent and the light exceptional - just a bit of sharpening with the software.

On Remembrance Day. The drove road going up towards Tower Farms from the West Somerset Railway.

34046 Braunton

After a long restoration period Braunton finally pulls its first passenger-carrying excursion - seen here just before Crowcombe Heathfield station on the way back from Minehead.

There is an excellent WSRA Press Release that gives lots of detail about the history and restoration.

The nameplate and shield (seen below) were unveiled during a ceremony at Bishops Lydeard earlier in the day.

Running parallel to the railway line is an unadopted road that has a small verge on the opposite side to the railway that is covered in naturally occurring flowers. These flowers are home to all sorts of wildlife.

The railway staff have started to cut down the flowers "to make it tidy", thus destroying a natural habit for the wildlife.

So now the "municipal garden" scenario has spread from the station to the surrounding lanes. Just what we don't want in rural Somerset.

Suddenly there was a hole ...

Well there we were, discussing this hole
A hole in the ground so big and sort of round
Well it's not there now, the ground's all flat
And beneath it is the bloke in the bowler hat.

Trainspotters

For a long time now I've had this photo (minus the words) on my Flickr account along with the comment "No human beings or trainspotters were harmed during the making of this photo".

Imagine my amusement a couple of weeks ago when those nice folk on the Unofficial WSR Discussion Group found the photo and for some reason thought it was real and not contrived. Oh dear, did they let rip with their comments about walking in the wrong places and giving the WSR a bad name. I hope they are still taking their tablets.

The good thing was that the number of views of my Trainspotters Set went up dramatically over a couple of days.

Heatherdale

Heatherdale
Originally uploaded by Crowcombe Al.

Opposite the station and therefore just up the road from here is a plot of land that has a small single storey dwelling and various other buildings. The house hasn't been lived in for some time and the plot has now been sold - the sale includes planning permission for a replacement single dwelling and landscaping.

So we are all waiting with bated breath to see whether the new owners attempt to change the plans for the site and build far more houses. Reading the Planning Decision on the current proposal I can't see how the West Somerset Council could possibly change their approval - but one never knows.

Even the current proposal is likely to cause some disruption along our road and the station is likely to be badly affected as they have car parking immediately opposite the entrance to the site. This is a narrow road so getting lorries in and out of the site will be interesting.

Rail Grinder

The Fires of Hell
Originally uploaded by Crowcombe Al.

This photo is a great shot (though I say it myself !) of the Rail Grinder that came to sort out the WSR back in January 2008. We enjoyed watching it going up and down the line and you must admit it does make for good photos. However, as time went on, it became obvious that all was not well on the rails.

To cut a long and badly-managed story short, it appears that the grinding produced a rail profile that was not compatible with the steam engines that run on this line. As you would expect, the "rivet counters" have a long and very tedious explanation but we won't go into that here.

So most of the steam engines were removed from service whilst bits of the line were "shaped" (my word) by hand. So for about 6 weeks we only had one little tank engine that dared to venture out whilst most of the work was handled by diesels, or Smelly Nellys as they're called - and for good reason.

But now we're back to normal - we hope - and the plc is going to have an enquiry into the problems. We look forward to seeing the results, assuming that they are made public.