Just a month after its launch in mid-March when the heritage West Somerset Railway (WSR) was forced to close before the 2020 season had even started, the WSR's emergency coronavirus funding appeal has raised just over £50,000 by 17 April.

The WSR has asked railway enthusiasts, supporters of the railway, local people and the public alike to dig deep into their pockets to support the appeal because it says:

Without this help, we may not have a railway in West Somerset for people of all ages to enjoy again in the future.

It reckons the current closure period, which is estimated might now extend until half way through its main running season in July, will lead to a 'huge and potentially unsustainable financial hit, and which couldn't have come at a worse time for the railway following the expensive and extended closed winter maintenance period.'

West Somerset Railway Plc Chairman Jonathan Jones-Pratt added:

All of the money raised will go towards safeguarding the WSR and helping us get through the Covid-19 crisis. We are facing a huge and potentially unsustainable financial hit which couldn't have come at a worse time for the railway following the expensive and extended closed winter maintenance period. We will need the cash to keep flowing in because the railway simply has no income at present and our insurances do not cover for this type of loss. So, please keep the donations coming if you can, no matter how small, it all helps!

Donate online Full story Facebook video

18 April 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Plc

Edward Martin, a close neighbour of the Railway, writes:

I am doing a Zoom Meeting on Thursday 16 April 2020 at 7.30pm where I will be recalling my memories of the Minehead Branch as a child covering from my earliest memories of the line until closure.

It will be a bit random and rambling but will do my best to answer questions as well.

Please note there will be a break just before 8pm until 8.10pm so that those who wish to (and I do) can applaud the NHS.

The link to the meeting is https://zoom.us/j/94327786303

Depending on how it works and interest I will host some more sessions.

Link to the Meeting

14 April 2020
Details kindly provided by Edward Martin

The West Somerset Railway Association have published the agreed Minutes of the Board Meeting of 18 February 2020 and a synopsis of the more recent Board Meeting held on 17 March 2020. Click or tap the buttons below to load the documents from the Association's website.

Minutes Synopsis

9 April 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Association

Mike Sherwood, the Chairman of the West Somerset Railway Association, has written to members:

At this difficult time, your Trustees thought it was important to write to you to explain what we are doing to support our Railway.

At the moment the Railway is in the 'deep freeze' of Covid-19 lockdown with no trains running, virtually all staff on furlough and no activities being carried out apart from essential security patrols. This puts the Railway (like many other businesses, especially in the tourism sector) under considerable financial strain as this is the time of year when the Railway would expect to be open and welcoming our early season visitors.

Your Association stands ready to help.

The full message

8 April 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Association

Rich Hiscox, WSR Driver, reports:

Well great to say we - the WSR family - have contributed in a small way towards helping the fantastic NHS continue to fight this horrid virus. Today I managed to get out safely and donate our new spare stock of PPE (personal protection equipment) of which 800 pairs of gloves to assist in keeping Covid-19 at bay as best we all can. Hopefully we can donate some more when time and government allows us to. Many thanks to the WSR board for supporting this great cause. Stay safe everybody and best wishes to one and all.

6 April 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Plc

Helen Anson from the Railway's education team writes:

We know that these are uncertain and difficult times for everybody. To help keep young children busy and support parents and carers, our education team have put together a series of STEM-related learning challenges for you to download and complete at home.

We would love to see photos of any finished products, so make sure you tag us and share them with us on Facebook or you can email us your masterpieces to learning@wssrt.co.uk

Go to the download page

4 April 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Steam Railway Trust

Class 14 no D9526 - owned by the Diesel & Electric Preservation Group - arrived at the West Somerset Railway exactly forty years ago on 2 April 1980. Following a journey by road from Wiltshire the diesel-hydraulic locomotive reached Bishops Lydeard at around 6.30pm that evening still wearing a covering of cement dust from its former home at Blue Circle Cement's works at Westbury. Click the button below to read a summary of D9526's history written by Simon Purvis for the Group's website.

Short history of D9526

2 April 2020
Details kindly provided by Diesel & Electric Preservation Group

The West Somerset Steam Railway Trust have published the Minutes of the Board Meeting held on 19 March 2020. Click or tap the button below.

Read the latest Steam Trust Board minutes

2 April 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Steam Railway Trust

After the West Somerset Railway plc (WSR) was forced to suspend operations and shut down on 17 March - before the 2020 running season even got underway planned for Saturday 21 March - an urgent appeal was launched on the company's website for desperately-needed funds to help the 22-mile line heritage line get through the Coronavirus crisis.

And, in just two weeks since then, the WSR has received over £30,000 in donations and share purchases to help keep the railway's wheels turning in the future.

This remarkable, strong show of support for the WSR has come from its many friends, supporters, stakeholders, shareholders, staff, volunteers and people across Somerset and the entire country, all of whom clearly want to see the railway survive and get through the second crisis to envelop the line in the last two years.

Commenting on the success of the WSR fund-raising appeal to date, WSR Plc Chairman Jon Jones-Pratt said:

I’ve been both humbled and pleasantly surprised by this great show of financial support for the West Somerset Railway, especially when the minds of many people will naturally be on just getting themselves and their families through the Covid 19 pandemic crisis safely. It shows just how much people care about the WSR and what it means to so many of our friends.

For the full story and further quotes, or to make an online donation, please click or tap the appropriate button below.

Full story Donations page

2 April 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Plc

Activity sheets can be downloaded from the West Somerset Railway website:

To help entertain the children, we have uploaded our activity sheets to our website for you to download and complete at home.

We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

One activity on our Easter sheet will be difficult to complete as it requires looking out the window to piece together the Easter word hidden along the line, so instead, perhaps ask whether they can find an Easter word to fit into the space?

The sheets can be found here https://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/brunel-k-beagle or simply click the button below.

Activity Sheet webpage

31 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Plc

The folks at the Railway's Turntable Cafe at Minehead Station report:

We have today (Monday 30 March 2020) delivered some stock to the West Somerset Food Cupboard, supporting the local community as best we can.

Please note the Turntable Cafe is closed until further notice due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

30 March 2020
Details gleaned from the Facebook page of the Turntable Cafe

The Williton-based Diesel & Electric Preservation Group have issued a statement of support for the WSRTV initiative.

The DEPG applauds the WSRTV initiative and will support it by producing short video compilations that feature the DEPG heritage locomotive fleet at work on the WSR in the first instance, to be followed up by more detailed studies of the individual locomotives and their histories.

Full DEPG statement WSRTV

27 March 2020
Details kindly provided by Diesel & Electric Preservation Group

Claire Sheppy, a long serving volunteer with the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust, writes:

When dad died, I rescued his many many railway magazines, and I am now thinking to dispose of them. I am wanting to give my drawing studio quite a makeover and I have been wondering whether any of the people who look at your website would be interested in having some of them. There is a lot of very historical information here, copies of the 'Railway Magazine' going back to before the Second World War and I think there may even be some going back further than that. I do not want any money for them, I just want to try to find someone who might appreciate them. others that are there, are copies of 'Trains Illustrated', copies of 'Meccano' magazine, copies of the 'Model Engineer'.

I want to give out a whole set of the title rather than having to trawl through looking for a specific issue. Or in the case of 'Railway Magazine' a complete year at a time with no limit as to how many years because there are very nearly a complete set of these from the end of the second world war to the millennium and some issues from even earlier. A donation toward the WSR rescue fund would be great but not a condition.

• Railway Magazine' May 1921, (Then there are a few until 1935, and then there seems to be an almost complete set all the way from 1935 through to December 2000.
• 'Railways' July 1943 to July 1952 with gaps
• 'Meccano Magazine' April 1932, then January 1938 to April 1969 with gaps.
• 'Model Engineer' January 1945 to May 1958, with the occasional gap.
• 'Railway World', January 1964 to April 1996 with gaps.
• 'Trains Illustrated' January 1951 to December 1961 complete.

Would interested parties please contact this website by email in the first instance and the email will be forwarded to Claire.

27 March 2020
Details kindly provided by local correspondent

Jon Jones-Pratt, Chairman of the West Somerset Railway Plc, has issued an update on how the Covid-19 emergency is affecting the Railway. The Chairman's message covers many topics and can be read in full by clicking or tapping the button below to load the PDF document in a new window.

Read the full update

27 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Plc

Don Bishop, Chairman of the Railway's Gala Planning Team writes:

The WSR has made the difficult decision to cancel our Diesel gala, we have held on until now so that we can understand the implications of the state of emergency we currently face.

The Railway is now going into a period of care and maintenance and as it is now clear to the board we will not be operating, it has been chosen that stage one will be to cancel all events up to month end June 2020. It is likely that there will be further cancellations, but we are trying to ensure we make decisions with accurate date/information.

We are fully committed to running a Diesel Gala again and will work hard with the team to deliver an exciting event again once we are back in good health.

Please all stay safe and we look forward to seeing you again in the future.

27 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Plc

The West Somerset Railway Association say:

Following discussions among the WSR family over the past day, the WSRA is delighted to announce that we have been asked to re-badge our 'TV' initiative to make clearer that we are managing this on behalf of the whole West Somerset Railway family.

We have taken the opportunity at the same time to move the channel to a new YouTube location which will be more resilient during the difficult days ahead. It was easier to make this change while the channel had limited content.

The new channel can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZFaYG5_kwQ4rKuSovan9_w or click the button below.

The new WSR TV channel page

24 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Association

UPDATE: Please see news item above for recent changes to this story

To assist the West Somerset Railway community, the West Somerset Railway Association has today launched 'WSRA TV' - a YouTube channel.

This intention is to publish short videos dealing with WSR subjects of interest to supporters, which could include the work of departments on the Railway, Railway Groups and individuals. Forthcoming videos will deal with the line’s history, locomotives track rolling stock and the like.

The channel can be found by clicking the button below.

Go to the WSR TV YouTube page

The introductory video can also be watched below - click the play button below and have a look.

It is expected that new material will be loaded over the coming days as it becomes available. Social distancing will be respected, and much (perhaps most) of the work to produce content will be done electronically. WSRA Trustee, Robin White said:

The WSRA Trustees have thought hard about how we can support our Railway comminuity through the difficult weeks ahead until normality returns. This initiative will hopefully produce a body of material useful to the Railway for the future. If our first efforts are a bit amateurish, please forgive us as we learn but its been a steep learning curve. What we would most like to hear now is what content supporters would like to see. We are working on things like logos and format but thought it was important to get things going.

The WSR Trustees have been pleased to welcome WSR plc Director Martin Brown to the Advisory group overseeing this work, along with Trustees Diana Ricketts-Tanner and Robin Moira White. They can be contacted via the WSRA website www.wsra.org.uk

Go to the WSR TV YouTube page

23 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Association

The West Somerset Railway Plc say:

Along with many other heritage railways, we have taken the hard decision to postpone the opening of our Railway until further notice.

This comes as a massive blow to the business who over the past 12 months, have been working tirelessly to improve the financial situation. This new threat could not be foreseen but without running our services, we are without income.

The Plc board have discussed this situation at length, and have decided to put the Railway in a state of care and maintenance, to safeguard the future of the Railway due to the current circumstances.

We therefore need your help, to ensure we have a West Somerset Railway going forward. We are asking those of you, if you are can, to please donate to the Railway to help us through this difficult time.

Your money will be used towards the general operating of the Railway.

We could potentially be in a very difficult situation within the next few weeks and your continued support is greatly appreciated.

Donation Page

20 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Plc

The West Somerset Railway is offering a free £5 gift voucher with every order over £50 made through the webshop:

With every order above the value of £50 through the Webshop, we will be giving away a free £5 voucher! So with extra time on your hands, go on, purchase a few railway books or DVDs. Or maybe prepare for when we are running again and buy some gift vouchers to use for a day out? We will be adding products over the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled.

Visit the Webshop

20 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Plc

After a stay of two and a half months in the loco compound, while the Gauge Museum was repainted and refurbished, the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust's sleeping car, GWR no 9038, returned to the museum on Wednesday 18 March 2020. Before being allowed back inside the building, the sleeping car was given a thorough wash and brush-up in the cattle dock road.

19 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Steam Railway Trust

The West Somerset Railway Association held its monthly Trustees' meeting on the evening of 17 March 2020; this was a telephone conference call to take account of current concerns.

West Somerset Railway Plc Director Martin Brown attended the meeting by invitation, and informed the Trustees of the understandable decision that the Railway would now not open on 21 March as expected. That closure is expected to last for some weeks.

The WSR Plc is now considering how it can make best use of the period of enforced closure, perhaps by tackling some further infrastructure projects and transferring staff to work on those. The WSRA Trustees considered how they might support that effort as the WSR body with the lead responsibility for fundraising. The Association say:

The WSRA has already opened a fund for infrastructure works, intended for use in the winter of 2020/2021. We have decided to promote that fund now and be prepared to fund infrastructure works in the coming weeks if suitable projects can be identified by the WSR Plc.

For more information on the fund and how to donate, please click or tap the button below:

Full details

18 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Association

Following the decision to postpone the reopening of the railway, the Trust will not be reopening the museums at Bishops Lydeard and Blue Anchor this weekend either, and similarly the formal reopening of the Gauge Museum on 11 April is postponed as well. In the circumstances, this is inevitable. All will be ready for when the railway steams again. It will be worth the wait!

18 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Steam Railway Trust

The West Somerset Railway has made an announcement about the postponed start of train services:

It is with real regret that West Somerset Railway has decided it has to postpone the first running services of the season.

Our staff and volunteers were really looking forward to welcoming visitors back to the railway, and did want to open, but following the most recent Government advice, we have concluded we cannot operate the service.

We will open as soon as the present health concerns are sufficiently under control, and this will be under consistent review.

We will be offering a refund for cancelled services or transferring to a new booking for when we are running again.

We will be putting out an update every fortnight at least, so watch for further news.

17 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Plc

Don Bishop, Chairman of the Railway's Gala Planning Team writes:

Following a board meeting today I am very sorry to have to advise that we are having to cancel the Spring Steam Gala in view of the Covid-19 problems.

With government's advice to people to avoid social interaction and groups of people there would likely be a large reduction in visitor numbers to the gala. Having looked at the potential outcomes of going ahead, we are concerned that we would struggle to cover the costs of bringing in the three visiting engines and other things in connection with the event, let alone make a reasonable profit for our railway.

We will consider this same theme for our 2021 Spring Gala and will of course update everybody as times goes by.

I have also been advised by the Somerset branch of CAMRA that they will be unable to run our beer festival at the Diesel Gala in June, as the HQ of CAMRA have instructed all branches not to hold events until late June following the government advice.

17 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Railway Plc

Claire's Kitchen - the key partners of the Railway's Quantock Belle dining train operation - have announced on their Facebook page that the trains will not run due to the coronavirus outbreak.

It is with great sadness that i have chosen to not run the dining trains until further notice. I could not take the risk of all the wonderful volunteers that work with me on the Quantock Belle contracting COVID-19.

16 March 2020
Details gleaned from the Facebook page of The Quantock Belle in partnership with Claire's Kitchen

On Saturday 21 March 2020, the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust will be re-opening the popular 'Gauge Museum' to the public at Bishops Lydeard Station on the West Somerset Railway after an extensive £60,000, professionally guided, refurbishment.

The challenging project in an historic building to redesign and reinterpret the ‘Gauge Museum’, first started in July 2018, has been achieved thanks to a grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund of £40,000, together with £20,000 of Steam Trust money.

The focus of the refurbishment project has been to take a fresh look at Somerset's railway history and bring it up to date using modern museum interpretation methods.

The fascinating story of the West Somerset Railway is re-told in a way that appeals to families and enthusiasts alike, and will provide a valuable resource for local schools too as they tackle science, technology, engineering and maths subjects.

And, right on time for the start of the WSR's 2020 season on Saturday 21 March, the museum will reopen to visitors the same day, thereby adding to visitors' experiences on the heritage railway line.

The 'Gauge Museum's' interpretation work has been supported and developed by Smith and Jones Design Consultants Ltd. The firm are interpretation and design specialists based in Bristol who help museums, visitor centres and family attractions to enhance their visitor experience with carefully thought-out communication and inspirational design.

On Easter weekend, there will be a further formal re-opening of the 'Gauge Museum' on Saturday 11 April by Rebecca Pow, MP for Taunton and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The official re-launch event will be attended by a number of invited guests, including many of the volunteers who have worked so hard on the project.

West Somerset Steam Railway Trust Chairman Chris Austin said:

We have transformed the 'Gauge Museum' not only to appeal to visitors to the WSR, but also to illustrate to our local community the rich heritage of the longest heritage railway in England. Our volunteers have pulled out all the stops to complete this huge task over the short winter period, and the results are stunning. I am so grateful to everyone who has contributed to this wonderful project.

The Gauge Museum will be open whenever WSR trains are running and stewards will also be on hand to open the Steam Trust's unique Victorian sleeping car on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays, plus WSR Gala days, until October.

16 March 2020
Details kindly provided by West Somerset Steam Railway Trust