The UK's Longest Heritage Line. West Somerset Railway.
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- Опубликовано: 10 дек 2019
- Just a short one from us this week, back next week with an epic little adventure. So during the summer we spent a day at the West Somerset Railway. We ended up nattering for most of it, and subsequently didn't film as much as normal. Hopefully you'll forgive us this week.
Links:
www.paulwhitewick.co.uk/
stores.clothes2order.com/dztz...
/ everydisusedstation
Thanks to all of the following:
Rail Map:
www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php
Photos:
Title background image: www.geograph.org.uk/profile/1578
www.flickr.com/photos/8376340...
By Geof Sheppard - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... 
Развлечения
A short and sweet one from us this week! Back next week with a big explore!
@Bessie Belle last time I was there I think I was about 5!
@@pwhitewick Before the Beeching cuts then lol.
@@justvin7214 well that's just mean! 😂
@@pwhitewick Sorry, couldn't resist. I'm quite a bit older than you so the jokes on me :)
@Whitewick's Abandoned Railways that Weymouth line hasn’t been used since 1987, but the signals are still lit and recently been upgraded, and yet the line is permanently out of service
Well well well, what a coincidence bumping into Geoff and Vicki like that !!!
Indeed yes!
definately not long enough.... I have walked the track and rode the trains so many times i've lost count. beautiful line run by beautiful people and now you two have added your beautiful selves. great joy you bring.
Yup, I've been sat on these clips for months now so wanted to get them out there before the year's end!
I live close enough to Bishops Lydeard station to hear the train whistles. This is a really very good place to live.👍👍
I bet. Nice part of the world.
Me too, lydeard rocks!
Paul and Rebecca, thank you for this video. Glad that you had a nice day out on the WSR. And I bet it was great meeting up with Geoff and Vicki. As always, really appreciate all that you do.
Cheers Andrew. Was great to chat to them, they have always been a big inspiration to us.
What a lovely short film. Different from the norm and very enjoyable.
You two are so nice to watch, your sooooooo lucky having each other, 🌈🐶👀
Thanks Steve. Couldn't agree more... (About the 'lucky to have each other bit). 🙏
I've been along that line a few times especially when there was Beer Festival at Minehead Station - the lines then became "triple" - blame it on the Exmoor Ale!
I often used to see the column of steam slowly moving along the coast to Minehead, sitting in my "office" in Cardiff Airport, only some 12 miles over the Bristol Channel...I did visit the West Somerset railway on several occasions..well worth the trip!
I particularly enjoyed the tiny signal-box!
Twas very tiny indeed. In fact I'm not even sure it was a signal box!?
@@pwhitewick Looking at it with the vid paused, it definitely seems to have those... leverthingiesthatI'msurethere'sapropernamefor!
@@pwhitewick It is a signal box but is part of the Somerset and Dorset Railway Museum which is based at Washford station
You missed the lovely town of Watchet by staying on the train. It's a wonderful place to live and you can hear the engines from most homes. Don't pass it by next time it's worth the stop
Thanks Mark. Probably need a weekend here to do it justice!
"Where'd you live?"
"Watchet!"
"Sorry, I didn't know it was a sensitive topic!"
And you pass the closed paper mill where I got chilled to the marrow unloading used cardboard for recycling.
@@Sarge084 now demolished
I don't think GWR are imposing any rules on the line, the ORR (Office of Rail and Road) are the big boys in charge and lay down the law. They ultimately supply the safety certificate for any train to run as far as I'm aware. I'm glad you had a pleasant day out and amused by the fan clip at the end.
Thanks Kelvin. We heard the chat chatting about all that and were interested in the "big white line" so asked a few questions.
Hi Paul Rebecca, nice to see you both together lovely station and one of the original SD 7Fs 53808 looked a nice day out thanks. xx
Another winner! Thank you so much. Wishing you a Happy Christmas and Railtastic New Year.
Thanks Christina and to you and yours!
Good to catch glimpse of a bit of England I know next to nothing about. Oh, what a radiant smile, Rebecca! 0:27
Always radiant.... well at least when the sun is shining.
Love your channel guys 👍🏻
Enjoyed the train journey, we have a small heritage rail in our little town that runs on holidays and special times of the year 👍🏻🚂🛤 you're that woman! Omg 😲
another great video happy Christmas both !
Thanks Merv. Merry Christmas to you and yours too.
Awesome stuff, and a refreshing change to see you guys staying dry and enjoying some sunshine!
Yes.... Summer seems a long time ago. Pretty much wet weather since this day!!
I love that line. If you turn right out of Minehead station, there’s a fish and chip shop which is convenient for buying your lunch and sitting on the sea wall “people watching”
Ah now we may have well picked up a battered sausage or two there!
@@pwhitewick The Seaview - for future reference!
Another fabulous vlog and so interesting to watch. Thanks again 🙏🙏🙏
Thanks Malcolm.
Lovely weather & a great line by the looks of it & friends too. Cool video clip. 👍👍😎
Thanks David.
Let me just take this opportunity (recently having caught up with your videos) to say Thank you to both of you for living your interests, for sharing that with us, for sharing the interests and living thereof with each other, and for sharing this as well with us. 💕 Big love and also (a teeny bit in advance) Happy Holidays!
Thank you Rafael. Very much appreciated.
Thanks again find ur vids very homely and interesting. Thankyou so much and always look forward to anything diff u do xxx
Thanks Christine, very kind indeed.
Very enjoyable video glad you had a good day out thank you
Cheers Terry
I'll let you off for the shortness, it was just good to see some good old sun, sea and sand espesh at this time of year, plus catching a quick glimpse of the always forgotten Hymek. Glad you two took a break and had a good day❤🍦👍
Thanks Bob.
That was just lovely, really enjoyed that. Thanks for taking me along
Thanks Linda. Glad you enjoyed it.
Only recently found your channel. Fantastic. I found Rail Line site. I live near twin tunnels Bath. Keep up the good work.
Another superb adventure thank you .
Thank you Greg. Much appreciated
Steam trains ( in suitably squeaky excited 5 year old voice), we are plotting to do bluebell line next year or north Yorkshire, undecided, we just need to book holiday and find hotels and and and etc.. you know how it goes, now having seen this there's now an option 3 lol. It looks absolutely gorgeous. !
Option three is great but you'll love the Bluebell!
You could have visited the lifeboat Station at Minehead and the Abandoned Lifeboat Station at Watchet that is now the Library.
What a wonderful video, thanks Guys :)
Thanks Chris.
Two more lines in Somerset are the Blagdon & Butcombe and the Wrington Vale. And of course The Strawberry Line between Yatton and Cheddar, now an official walking/cycling path with various propsed extensions.
Great wee video again, Paul and Rebecca. I did the West Somerset many years ago.
I was staying in Ilfracombe ,doing a coach tour, on my day off, I got a service bus to Minehead so I could go on the train. The perks of the job! I did many preserved lines that way!
Definitely a perk I am jealous of.
I too just love the WSR - it's probably my favourite preserved line with the SVR as a close second.
I also have family connections with that area. My parents actually met in Minehead just after the war !!
We would love to get around a few more heritage places perhaps next summer, tends to eat the time up though. SVR is however definitely on the list.
The GWR line from Bishop's Lydeard to Minehead is one of the longest and most beautiful heritage railways in Britain. I'm lucky to live close by and am a frequent traveller; there's much going on there at Christmas too.
Aha.......your video from the day that Vicki and Geoff did a video of which brought me here. The circle is complete
Don't know how I missed that one - just went back & watched it , so for me THIS is the original & Geoff's video the 'tag-along'! & the circle goes backwards!!
We like nice complete circles. Glad you are both here!
love this line, i watch it on Railcam Uk, here from south africa, good video Rebecca and Paul!
Thanks Theo. Yes completely forgot about the Railcams along the line. Geoffs mate showed us those as we were travelling along it.
Great video Paul and Rebecca,it's very beautiful,was lucky enough to holiday at donniford and wachet,and visited Minehead, really enjoyed it,will be going again next year with my family,and a bonus you bumped into Geoff lol😀👌
Cheers Shaun, never considered a holiday here to be honest. Might well do now.
I would like to have seen more of this line. Looks lie a nice trip.
It is. Every time the steam train passes through Dunster there's always a youngster somewhere who shouts Hogwarts!
It's a beautiful line. Have you checked out Geoff and Vickis video from the day? Lots to see on theirs.
I love that the UK preserves so much of its railway heritage. Canada where I am from needs to take notes!
We do indeed tend to try and preserve everything we can!
I was going to ask if that was the trip where you met that unknown couple from London, but then I saw them anyway, lol. Nice video, both of you
Great to see you both enjoying yourselves actually on a working railway....must make a change from those muddy overgrown track beds...thanks for the blogg...👍👍👍
Yup, a welcome break from brambles!
It's quite alright you guys are doing a good service for historical educational purposes your videos are very interesting fantastic I'm a big fan.
Thank you David. Means a lot that we are doing our little bit!
Superb place - I really must go back...
Watchet is a gem of a place.
Great video
Thank you Peter.
It may had been a short video, still enjoyed it! used to go there when I was young but did recently this year while staying in Exeter did travel on the GWR service which has West Somerset Railway staff onboard from Taunton to Bishop Lydeard and back
Cheers Simon
Something a bit different, looks like a lovely one to visit
Most definitely Wills.
Last bit made me laugh... :)
If you include Geoff AND Vicki, we were recognised twice that day.
Love heritage lines, that train is nice
Definitely. Love the old 33 too.
Strongly suspect you went 'Down' to Minehead...but either way, loved the journey.
Very good point!
"Coincidence"...?! :-) hee hee... fun little vid thanks. Have been a few times and love it (partly cuz I've good friends in Stogumber)... Cheers! Ceci (from Twitter & LUS alumni etc)
Excellent
Thank you.
I used to travel on it as a kid in the early 80s when we stayed in the caravan park @ Blue Anchor Bay they had old school semi surban loco hauled mark 1s and first generation dmus both steam and old vintage diesels
Hey guys new friend here hope your well all the best for 2020. Awesome video
Thanks Dave and welcome to the channel.
Great video again Rebecca and Paul. Many thanks. May I relay a little info for you? The ORR (Office of Rail and Road - or back in my day, the Board of Trade as it was then) enforce the rules and regulations for every train operator in the country - big or small. However, these heritage trains are restricted to a maximum speed of 20 mph. This exempts the Heritage Company from much of the regulation that today's private rail companies have to adhere to - mainly regarding train regulation (signalling standards, signalling operations, train detection equipment etc., etc.,) including protection duties: whom they are carried out by and how and when in the event of an accident/mishap, general employment standards and hours of work, staff training and safety standards along with a multitude of other stuff. As a direct result of this rule, opting to exceed the 20 mph limit is pretty much an impossibility for heritage railway companies because it would expose them to massive additional costs that would cripple them instantly - which is why you'll always have a leisurely journey on that type of railway. Furthermore, heritage trains encroaching onto national rail lines without a fully qualified driver to act as escort is a massive no no and more than one instance of such behaviour would, more than likely, lead to the closure of the heritage operation completely (not least because it would usually involve a SPAD anyway.) Believe it or not, there's a massive difference between being in charge of a loco or Unit at 20 mph and, say, 50 or 60mph. It's not something you can master in a few hours. We (train drivers in the real world - no slight on heritage drivers meant here. Your work is essential to preservation) always used to say, "Anyone can drive a train (theoretically.) It's stopping them where and when YOU want them to stop that's the art." (Having said all that, you could train a monkey to drive the modern computerised stuff. Trust me, full driverless train operation is not far down the road.)
Ahhh, so the Board of Trade are essentially now the ORR. Thanks for sharing all the info, very interesting and answers a lot more of what we asked off camera.
hi paul and rebecca , great little video , i love the steam train ones , omg that guy at the end , your that woman lmao , :)
Lol. You're that woman from the thing.
@@pwhitewick that was so funny lol :)
Whilst I do enjoy the odd Preserved Rail Trip I still cant help thinking that Nostalgia is not as good as it was!!!
This is very true `John
We had a caravan at blue anchor from the 70's and we used to walk the abandoned tracks most days very little vandalism back then also the tv series/train called the flocton flyer came from there happy days ....
Paul and Rachel I would like to meet you both on the Epping Ongar heritage railway soon if you are in that area as I work on this railway and have a lot to ask both of you.very good video about the west Somerset railway and one day I will try it out.
Hi Stewart. We would be happy to come along and make a little film. Do you have contact details outside of youtube. best way to get hold of us is whitewickpaul @ gmail com
Brilliant video! I didn't know there used to be a line off the West Somerset in the Watchet area? Any idea if it was a passenger line or a mineral tramway?
Cheers Henry, almost certainly a mineral line, bit also possible more? Not looked at Railmap for a while.
Came across Geoff at Stockwell tube station on Monday afternoon. He was doing something for one of his videos. I introduced myself and promised to send him a message on Twitter.
As a small child I went on a family holiday to Butlins-travelling along the line while it was still BR.
Brilliant. It is still there I believe??
Whitewick's Abandoned Railways Butlins is certainly still there...
It’s great to see a Husband and wife I’m just gonna assume 😊doing things together ..often it’s just a bunch of guys that do things video wise I really enjoy your excursions.. here in America when I’m out riding my motorcycle I often check out trains which I’m very interested in and a lot of historic places
You assume correctly 👍. We love to explore together, and what better way to do it.
I was there in 31st July this year. There’s pictures on FB somewhere
I think this was around a week later.
That’s great... I didn’t even realise that line existed and I’ve been to minehead a couple of times....oh and btw... “OMG your that woman.........” lol 😂
.... Famous!!
How about sine beanie hats for these cold month's? Great vids folks 👍
Hahaha.... Yeah maybe. Cheers Danger Mouse.
The WSR is one of my absolute favourite heritage lines. Even though I live close to (and love) the Dartmouth Steam Railway, and am a mere ballast's throw from the South Devon Railway, the sheer length of the line makes it feel like a proper railway journey from point A to point B.
That bloody Geoff though... He gets in everywhere! :D
Haha... Yup a well travelled couple!
Forgiven!
Sorry to correct you. The Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway is by far the longest Heritage Railway in the UK being nearly 40 miles long.
Just subscribed
Welcome good Doctor. A pleasure to have you onboard.
The line went from Kirkby Stephen east station past Hartley quarry on to merrygill and pod Gill viaducts over the longest Tressel viaduct known as Belah viaduct over stainmore summit you would enjoy there is still some old north eastern railway buildings still standing since the line closed in 1975 including two plate layers huts and two signal box’s if you just put in on google maps Kirkby Stephen east station you will see it thanks Paul and Rebecca
Excellent thank you Christopher.
We went to the chase Water railway station
Hey Paul, Rebecca...whatever happened to the Devon Belle which I used to watch as a youngster (millions of years ago )- that last bit added by my daughter...
🚂🚶🏼♂️🚶🏼♀️nice video
Sorry if I missed it, but have you done the Harecastle Tunnel?
Hey Colin. Yup. About 8 ish videos ago. We talked about all the tunnels and took a stroll between South and middle.
@@pwhitewick I must have missed it.I will look for it. Thanks 😁
Bet you were cartwheeling to leave Minehead haha
All the every disused station stations.
ALL of them....
@@pwhitewick You knows it.
Travelled on that line the year of the great train robbery went on the sleeper/mail train from Newcastle to Bristol woke up under brunel's hammer head roof station in bristol
Brilliant, thanks for sharing Michael
I remember the station signs at the exit said- all tickets must be shewn- yes that was the correct spelling
You must try the north Yorkshire moors railway from Pickering to whitby and return
Surprising it hasn't been mentioned but Geoff and Vicki were there to record the 2,567 National Rail station - ruclips.net/video/G5SrWqO2mrg/видео.html. It seems to me that there may be a gradual restoration of heritage lines onto the main network, bit by bit. The reasons for closing the lines in the South West were dubious in the very least.
Indeed we spent most the day with them
Did you watch the end of their video?
@@pwhitewick I did, I've met them and bought their books. I'm a proper Geoff and Vicki fan! Just watching their video again to remind myself. I've seen all their videos, they got me interested in your channel and I'm working my way through all your videos. If you ever come to Peterborough there's a welcome for you here. Plenty of abandoned railway lines in Lincolnshire.
@@pwhitewick Oh yes I remember it now. Geoff and Vicki definitely looked different in that one. Plus a Rover ticket. Sigh...
Is there a disused branch line near the top end of the WSSR? Did it serve a mine or did it carry passengers? Just curious as it seems to loop around inland again.
I think (without researching), there was another short branch which has a station or two and a quarry line as you suggest. I think!
it was a quarry line with a special steep section.
@@bermudarailway ah ok. An incline?
Yes that's the one ,I was down there for a weekend with a friend of mine last April but did not have time to explore it .Please put it on your list .The water powered Lynton and Lynmouth cliff railway is worth a visit if you are in that area. My friend and I do a lot of railway archaeology and one that would be of interest to you would be the southern route of the Bluebell Railway.South of Sheffield Park the line is abandoned ,next station was Newick and Chailey ,through CinderHill tunnel to Barcombe Cross joining the Uckfield line and then on over a magnificent steel viaduct ( long gone )into Lewes .Cinder Hill tunnel is of interest as during WW2 a train took shelter in there when being attacked by a German fighter. On the old Uckfield to Lewes line in a village called Isfield and there next to the old station (now part of the Lavender line)is a pub called the Laughing Fish, well worth a visit .During WW2 it nearly closed but the arrival of 3000 Canadian soldiers to a near by camp saved it .They were not always well behaved like blowing up the porch of the pub because thy had been thrown out.They were told to rebuild it by their c/o ! There was a small branch line into the camp. About 5 years ago i was lucky enough to see the camp before it was "developed" into a housing estate. Keep up the good work .Paul.
@@bermudarailway ah thank you and thanks for sharing. We shall add it to our list.
You could go to the one where the railway children was filmed 1970
Oooh no idea where that is?
Its the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway in yorkshire
So are you two following Geoff and Vicki about, or is it the other way round?
Obviously the other way round. Stalking us I tell you!!
@@pwhitewick That's what I thought. Just wanted to be sure.
04:56 Hang on a minute!
04:23.... Wow there.
How come your T-shirts only go up to 3XL? Some of us FBs would like to support you too.
You’re that woman off the thing 😂😂😂
All of the station names left like something that a person would make up when trying to think of an English name
Haha,..... yes very true.
love this line, would rather pay to go on the train than drive
Natter onward!
I could have sworn that the Welsh Highland Railway is longer....
Technically not heritage. I.e runs as a fully fledged main line
I still don't understand the purpose of the white line.
Me neither. But essentially all GWR trains stopped there and wsr the other side.
It's to highlight the edge so no-one inadvertently stepped off during the blackout of WWII.
1940's weekends are very popular, we even had Churchill and General de Gaulle at the last one.
Get on with the trip son and be thankful that it is still there, if it was down to the bloody politicians then it would not be.
Hi guys just wondering if you might be interested in a disused railway up in Cumbria in a town called Kirkby Stephen with two restored viaducts beautiful scenic views and the line its self branch’s off from the famous settle to Carlisle railway my name is Chris please let me know if you are interested i love your videos
Thanks Christopher, do you mean the Ingelton Branch line?
Wait, Dunster is actually spelled Dunster, not Duncester?
Did I put Dunchester!? Oooops
What is it like to be famous or is it infamous 😉
N
I love that line. If you turn right out of Minehead station, there’s a fish and chip shop which is convenient for buying your lunch and sitting on the sea wall “people watching”
Natter onward!
....and they did. 😁