Signs have been placed either side of Seaward Way Crossing advising pedestrians and drivers of imminent temporary closure. The signs read:

Advance Warning - Works Here - Traffic signals in place throughout with overnight full road closures on 4th, 11th & 19th October 2021.

This is good news for the Railway and for the town of Minehead.

All of the four home-based steam fleet of former GWR locos are expected to be in action with GWR liveried Large Prairie no 5199, Mogul no 9351 and Manors no 7822 Foxcote Manor and no 7828 Odney Manor, plus one diesel - probably the Hymek - to give a reasonable gala service level and that will give a distinct British Railways Western Region branch line feel. All subject to availability, of course.

• Four steam locos and one diesel loco
• Busy timetable
• Fish and Chip Evening Special
• Breakfast on the Quantock Belle
• Heritage bus link between Dunster and Minehead

For full details and online booking click the button below to head over to the official WSR website.

@Somerset Cool visited the Gauge Museum at Bishops Lydeard Station on 26 September 2021 and later tweeted about the visit and a forthcoming radio feature on BBC Radio Somerset due to be broadcast from 6pm on Wednesday 28 September:

Great to visit @InchbyINCH10 yesterday for the finale of their travelling exhibition at @WSomRailway - @SAW_Somerset Open Studios venue 16. We recorded a chat for my arts #radioshow tomorrow from 6pm on @bbcsomerset, when you can hear how I got on at shadow drawing too!

The Gauge Museum - run by West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust - is hosting the Inch by IN:CH art exhibition which opened on Saturday 25 September 2021 and will be on until Sunday 3 October.

Steve Sutherland writes:

Watchet Station is having a sale of second-hand model railway equipment on Saturday 2 October from 10am to 3pm in the Pagoda waiting room. This is on the Steam Gala weekend. We have a selection of Engines, Coaches, Wagons, Track, Model Cars, and accessories in OO-N-HO- and O gauge tinplate, plus lots of Railway Books and Magazines. This is our last fundraising sale this year. Don't miss it.

All sales items donated to our Station to help us raise funds for repairs and maintenance of our Station. Free entrance - more info from Steve 01984 633425

The Gauge Museum is hosting the Inch by IN:CH art exhibition which opened on Saturday 25 September 2021 and will be on until Sunday 3 October.

This afternoon - Sunday 26 September - is the first workshop which is free. Participants will be able to make sculptures and shadow drawings using wire, clay, newspaper and recycled materials. The artists will guide the use these materials as inspiration to draw sculpted shadows, enhanced by dramatic lighting, using inks and graphite. Suitable for adults and children (accompanied) and part of Somerset Open Studios and Big Draw events.

Lots of really useful topical information about the West Somerset Railway can be found in the September 2021 edition of the new electronic newsletter. Topics include:

• Message from the WSR Plc Chairman
• Message from the Assistant General Manager
• Board and Staff changes
• Minehead Seaward Way Level Crossing
• News from Minehead Station
• News from the WSRA
• News from the West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust
• News in brief
• News fron the DEPG
• West Somerset Railway 2021 Funding Appeal

Click or tap the button below to view a PDF version of the full 'The Platform' newsletter...

This Sunday's 'Sculpture and Shadow' drawing workshop from 2pm to 4pm at the Gauge Museum at Bishops Lydeard is free! It's a chance to experiment and have fun with the exhibition organisers, Inch by In:ch, from Bath who are curating the exhibition in the Gauge Museum that runs from Saturday 25 September to Sunday 3 October (11am to 5pm each day, except Monday 27 September).

Book via Eventbrite (see button below) - the £5 booking/materials cost will be re-imbursed when you come to the workshop!

The West Somerset Railway Association have published a brief report of the Trustee Meeting held on 14 September 2021. Click or tap the button below to load the webpage from the Association's website.

Railcam.uk - the folks who provide and host the station webcams on the West Somerset Railway - have announced a series of videos of the Railway filmed from the front lamp brackets:

Coming this Friday 24 September, we begin rolling out the first videos from our West Somerset Railway 'Drivers Eye' camera. A total of twenty videos will be premiered over ten days and will cover the entire railway in both directions, including the Norton Fitzwarren run-around.

British Railways Western Region 'Manor' Class 4-6-0 no 7828 Odney Manor takes us from Bishops Lydeard to Dunster. The first eight videos of the series, capture station to station coverage along the line, with two videos premiered each day.

The following twelve videos will feature coverage captured from the Diesel and Electric Preservation Group's (DEPG) Class 33 'Crompton' locomotives, D6566 and D6575. D6575 will take us from Dunster to Bishops Lydeard, where we hand over to D6566 for the Bishops Lydeard to Bishops Lydeard section via Norton Fitzwarren, featuring the rarely seen by passengers, Norton Fitzwarren run-around.

The videos will premiere twice daily from this coming Friday (24 September), kicking off with part one at 5pm, followed by part two at 7pm. This pattern will continue through ten days as we cover the entire line from the locomotive lamp brackets!

Breakfast is available - for advance bookings only - aboard the Quantock Belle dining cars, which will be attached to some trains during the WSR Autumn Steam Gala 1-3 October 2021. A full English Breakfast will be available on each of the three Gala days as follows:

The breakfast menu for this event is Orange Juice, Fried Egg, Lean Back Bacon, Pork Sausage, Black Pudding, Hash Browns, Baked Beans and Tomato Toast and Marmalade,Tea or Coffee with free refill.

Please note that a valid Gala travel ticket and a valid Gala breakfast ticket is required. Both tickets must share the same date.

To book a Gala breakfast ticket, go to the official page and click the Buy Online button next to the Gala travel ticket options, even if a valid Gala ticket has already been purchased.

The West Somerset Railway is pleased to announce the new appointment of two engineering specialists. Paul Dawkins and Shaun Hodges are to be appointed as Board Advisers, with a view to becoming Board Directors in the near future. Paul and Shaun bring very considerable experience in the field of civil and infrastructure engineering. Both are professional railwaymen and continue to work on the main line railway. Their skills and expertise are complementary and their presence on the railway will provide substantial additional authority and expertise to the critical field of infrastructure engineering. These appointments are consequent on the withdrawal of John Gibbins through ill health, and to whom their Board extend their thanks and warm good wishes.

Paul Dawkins is a Chartered civil engineer by profession and over several years has developed multi-disciplinary technical skills and has extensive operational and asset management expertise. Paul commenced his career with the Southern Region of the then British Railways, before moving to supervise construction elements of the Thames Barrier. He has then spent forty years managing heavy and light railway-based projects in the UK, Ireland and overseas. Internationally he has worked on railway developments in various countries in Africa, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. More recently in the UK he has been working, for example, on Crossrail and the Welsh Valley Lines upgrade project.

Shaun Hodges is currently Operations Manager for a major rail infrastructure company with a responsibility for safe delivery of rail systems across Wales, the Western and Wessex areas. His responsibility includes track, civils, control systems, power and electric traction systems. Shaun is a chartered engineer and has several years’ experience across the mainline network, working both as a contracting engineer and for successive periods at a senior level for various mainline railway contractors. Shaun is well known around the West Somerset Railway having previous been Chief Civil Engineer (a staff post) from 2009 - 2011 and then a volunteer Director from 2011 to 2013, during which periods he made a considerable contribution.

Paul and Shaun will divide infrastructure responsibilities between them on a clearly delineated basis according to their respective expertise, but will both become substantive PLC Board Directors, following a successful period as Board Advisers.

The Gauge Museum at BL will be hosting an exhibition of drawings and sculptures in suitcases, with some hands on opportunities for aspiring artists, from Saturday 25 September to Sunday 3 October. See the Trust website for details of workshops and drawing classes and links to book places. Entry is free but classes involve a small charge and need to be pre-booked.

The museum is the last calling point of a travelling exhibition and is part of Somerset Open Studios and curated by Inch by In:ch.

Following a review of the WSR Plc's Mechanical Engineering Department, a new management structure has been put in place which is effective from Monday 20 September 2021.

Ryan Pope is confirmed as the new Head of Mechanical Engineering for the WSR Plc. Ryan has worked on the West Somerset Railway since 2012, working his way up to his most recent post of Engineering Foreman at the Williton engineering works.

Richard Hiscox is now the new Deputy Head of Mechanical Engineering for the WSR Plc. Richard first started work on the railway as a tracker in 2005, and he too has worked his way up the ranks to his most recent post of Mechanical Foreman at the Minehead workshop.

Both Ryan and Richard will be supported by Andy Palk in his new role as Running Foreman, along with Andrew Hurley as Carriage and Wagon Engineer and Merv Hebditch as Locomotive Running Superintendent.

Commenting on these appointments, WSR Plc Mechanical Engineering Director Bob Meanley said:

Rather than resorting to external recruitment, which sometimes can have less than satisfactory results, this promotion of a relatively young team is the result of their hard work over a number of years, and will hopefully stand the railway in good stead for many more years to come.

On Saturday 18 September 2021, the volunteers building the new tender - no T2061 - for GWR 4-6-0 no 7828 Odney Manor started the lengthy task of rivetting components and frames at Minehead. Steve Ryall's picture above shows a row of half-inch rivets holding the new tender tank to the bottom rail after a long hot day for volunteers, Andey Forster, Paul Orrells and Dave Hurd. More pictures are currently towatds the top of on Topical Pictures page.

The folks rebuilding - almost from scratch - GWR Autotrailer no 169 have again updated their 'news and restoration' blog:

Following on from yesterday's successful operation to remove the tempory cover from the carriage we followed up with a very productive day first fitting the framework of section 3 of the carriage. We were confident the section in isolation was 'good to go' but until today we had not had the opportunity to see how well it fitted the existing bodywork. Well, by about midday just about all our fears were a distant memory and we were very happy with the outcome. The photographs show most of the woodwork in question with one or 2 small pieces omitted that still require final finishing. Because we can only mark the final fixing holes from underneath we will need to address that before final fixing can take place. We will then be able to erect the bodywork sides before tackling further roof hoop manufacture.

To see the pictures and more reports, please visit the blog:

Some very positive news to report from the West Somerset Railway this week with the line's £1 million 'SOS' appeal having now passed the £50,000 marker (actual £50,464.11), so 10% of the initial £500K target this Winter and so 5% of the full figure.

The WSR is looking to increase this figure rapidly now with the help of a new fundraising drive to push donations in different ways, plus some specific infrastructure projects that the line's two support charities can support too towards the appeal.

And just a fortnight after launching the WSR's Christmas programme on Bank Holiday Monday 30 August with the traditional Santa Express and new Winterlights trains, both seasonal products have been eagerly snapped up by people keen to travel this festive season with 2,650 tickets having been sold and bringing in over £55,500 in much needed income.

The Santa Express bookings so far are encouraging with 650 tickets sold with a value of £13,000, and Winterlights has done spectacularly well with 2,000 tickets sold with a value of £42,500, and some trains have already sold out.

Some further good financial news was shared with the WSR's volunteer and paid workforce too this week in a letter circulated to staff from WSR plc Chairman Jon Jones-Pratt which shows that the company's trading figures for July were well ahead of where they were expected to be after some very good summer trading, and August is promising too - the results for July show a profit of £49,503 compared to a budgeted loss of £29,036 for example!

The WSR held a successful 1940s event last weekend 11-12 September with wartime scenes and vehicles of the era recreated all along the line at many stations, along with people dressed in period costumes and uniforms, and the highlight was the big band dance at Minehead on Saturday evening featuring the Liberty Sisters and Deane Big band, attended by some 200 people.

This weekend see the WSR's Mixed Traction event with diesel and steam on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 September (see button link below) and then there will be the all-steam Autumn Steam Gala to follow on Friday 1 to Sunday 3 October (see button link below).

The WSR is still hopeful that the delayed opening of the new Seaward Way Level Crossing will take place in October, but news of that will follow in a further update soon.

Railcam.uk will be at the Mixed Traction Weekend on 17-18 September 2021. They say:

Railcam are delighted to be joining the West Somerset Railway and The Diesel and Electric Preservation Group for the upcoming Mixed Traction Weekend where we hope to bring you some behind the scenes footage throughout the two days, and beyond…

You can keep up with all the action across our extensive camera coverage from the railway, with cameras at Bishops Lydeard, the beautiful Blue Anchor, Crowcombe Heathfield, Minehead (No services currently serving Minehead) and Williton.

We are also throwing open all our West Somerset Railway cameras on our YouTube Channel for the event [click the News from Railcam button below for details].

The folks at Watchet Railway Station write:

Watchet Station is having a sale of second-hand Model Railway equipment on Saturday 18 September from 10am to 3pm in the Pagoda Waiting Room. This is on the Mixed Traction Weekend. We have a selection of Engines, Coaches, Wagons, Track, and accessories in OO-N-HO and O gauge tinplate, plus lots of Railway Books and Magazines.

All sales items donated to our Station to help us raise funds for repairs and maintenance of our Station. Free entrance. More info from Steve on 01984 633425

The Diesel & Electric Preservation Group have alerted folks to a change of date for the 'Extended Diesel Running Day' featuring Class 35 'Hymek' no D7018:

The return to the mainline on the 25 September of the Diesel Traction Group's Class 52 no D1015 Western Champion from Gloucester to Kingswear and return, has naturally drawn the attention of many hydraulic fans and supporters, with the result that bookings on the WSR's 'Extended Diesel Running Day' featuring diesel hydraulic 'Hymek' no D7018, scheduled for that same day, are too low to make the run viable.

An alternative day has been offered to the DEPG for the 'Hymek' run, so we are now planning to run 'Hymek' no D7018 on the same itinerary but on Saturday 16 October 2021 instead. If you have already made a booking for the 25 September run, we apologise for the inconvenience and we ask for your understanding. The WSR will be in touch with you soon to change your booking, so we hope to see you on 16 October instead.

News of a vintage bus service from Taunton Castle Way to the Railway's Bishops Lydeard Station. This bus service forms part of the 2021 Taunton Bus Running Day on 12 September 2021 and seems a late addition to the already announced vintage bus services between Taunton and Sheppy's Cider and Wellington. It coincides with the second day of the WSR 1940s Weekend. To support the 1940s theme it seems all buses operating are half-cab types.

The WSR's 1940s Weekend is on Saturday 11 September and Sunday 12 September 2021. The big event is the Saturday Dance at Minehead Station featuring Liberty Sisters, Johnny Victory, 'Laurel & Hardy' and 'George Formby'. Also to enjoy are the Vintage Fair at Watchet and re-enactor displays at Bishops Lydeard. Tickets for the Dance are available now - see below. The WSR say:

Dance tickets are limited and there will be a cut-off to sales on Friday. Can't wait to see you all there!

The WSR's Gala Planning Team say:

We are now just two weeks away from our first gala event since late 2019 - the 'Mixed Traction Weekend' on Friday 17 September and Saturday 18 September, when we will be running an intensive timetable of trains with many hauled by some of our home fleet of diesels, owned and maintained by the Diesel & Electric Preservation Group (DEPG), harking back to the late 1960s with Hymek hauled trains, just as they often were on the Minehead branch at that time, and our two Green Class 33s giving a Southern Region feel. Alongside them will be steam locos nos 7828 Odney Manor and 5199, with the latter working two coach locals between Bishops Lydeard and Williton on the Saturday. There is also an evening 'sunset' train hauled by the Hymek D7018 on the Saturday from Bishops Lydeard to Blue Anchor and return.

Normal Rover tickets are available with the ability to 'hop on/off' trains as you please along the line to enjoy haulage by the various locos as you wish.

There will be a second hand model railway sale at Williton and model railways in both the gauge museum and the Taunton Model Railway Group's clubroom, with the excellent Bath Green Park layout, at Bishops Lydeard.

Although trains won't be able to run through to Minehead, due to works to replace the level crossing, a heritage bus link will operate from Dunster.

So come along and support the WSR and its return to galas and enjoy a relaxing day riding on our heritage trains through some wonderful scenery.

The official update for the West Somerset Railway Plc's £1M 'SOS' appeal shows the current total at £46,832.77 - almost 10% of the £500K needed this Winter and nearly 5% of the total target figure of £1 million. Thanks to all who have helped so far. Please help if you can.

The folks at WSR Wagons report on their Facebook page:

A few more jobs ticked off the list this week on GWR Toad no 68765. The left hand side has received a complete final coat. This meant the signwriting could be started. We've gone for the smaller GW lettering this time, making a nice change and a preservation first for this van to carry this livery.

Seb and Jake set their sights on our next project: GWR Z3 'cone' gunpowder van 105493, also owned by the GWR 813 Preservation Fund. This wagon was restored about 10 years ago but, similar with the Toad, the sun and sea air are beginning to get to it.

Seb and Jake completed a full axlebox pad exam whilst cleaning up the underkeeps and topping all 4 axleboxes up with fresh oil. Jake also helped me with the tracing of the signwriting, ready to aid in the reapplication when the time comes.

This weekend is the West Somerset Railway 1940s weekend. Unfortunately this year the goods will not be running due to the Seaward Way level crossing being unusable and all of the wagons being on the wrong side. However we plan to put a small goods train together and position it in the platform at Minehead. We also hope to have the Toad out of the shed on display.

The folks working on GWR Autotrailer no 169 report:

On 4 September 2021 the completion of the first of four doors for the luggage compartment of GWR Autotrailer no 169. Built virtually from scratch, this door has been constructed by copying the best of the remaining original and although it will require fettling and detail added the major construction is complete. Next, we will construct the second of this pair which will include a 'closing' stile. This will be the one that closes first and the first door closes against it. Also, door handles expertly created by our resident engineer from a range of spare parts. Hopefully, we will be able to show our recent progress to all those visiting the WSR gala on 1 to 3 October. Come and find us at Williton Yard.

Shareholders have started to receive the formal papers for the West Somerset Railway Plc's forty ninth Annual General Meeting to be held on Saturday 25 September 2021 at Oake Manor Golf Club beginning at 11am.

Ahead of the official update, early next week, for the West Somerset Railway Plc's £1M 'SOS' appeal, we understand the current running total has passed the £43,000 mark.

The WSR's Gala Planning Team say:

We are pleased to be able to release our 2021 Mixed Traction Weekend timetables for Friday 17 September and Saturday 18th September. We hope you are able to pay us a visit! Tickets are available to book at a discount [see link button below]. Highlights include:

• Four locomotives in action on Friday. Five on Saturday
• A short local service hauled by GWR 2-6-2T 5199 making three return trips Bishops Lydeard - Williton on the Saturday
• Top and Tailed Class 33s on a full length set on the Friday. Over 110 miles available.
• Two runs to Norton Fitzwarren on the Friday. Five runs on Saturday (dependent on occupancy of the Bishops Lydeard - Norton Fitzwarren section by the mainline ballast train operation)
• 64 miles of 'Hymek Haulage' available on Friday with Saturday allowing 85 miles
• Two Saturday afternoon/evening trips, one hauled by D6575 and the other by D7018
• Bus connections to Minehead from Dunster