West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust WSRHT

Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage

Chris Austin, Chairman of the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust congratulated the WSR PLC on its successful application to the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage for a grant of £865,000. 

Chris said:  “This is brilliant news and will help the railway get through the winter months, and an extensive programme of maintenance, training and covid security measures, so that running trains can start again.  The Trust’s grant of £28,700 from the National Lottery Heritage Emergency Fund to help make the museums, carriage restoration and educational programme covid secure, means that we too will be ready to play our part when the railway reopens fully.  Please see wsr.org.uk or the PLC website west-somerset-railway.co.uk for the good news in full.”

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Recent News Posts

WSRHT Board Meetings – July, September and November 2024

Board Meeting Minutes Published
July, September and November Meetings

The West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust is pleased to publish the minutes of three recent Board Meetings. July Board Meeting held on Thursday, 25th July 2024. September Board Meeting held on Thursday, 26th September 2024. November Board Meeting held on Thursday, 28th November 2024.

Please click the Board Meeting links below to access the document as a pop-up tab. Alternatively, to view all Trust Board Meetings since 2016 – view the collection

July Board Meeting 25th July 2024
September Board Meeting 26th September 2024
November Board Meeting 28th November 2024

Trust News on Toplight Carriage No. 3639

WSRHT News on Toplight Carriage No. 3639

The West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust is pleased to confirm the move of Toplight carriage no. 3639 from Williton to Washford was completed by a WSR PLC team using two shunters on Monday 7th October. 

The special train also carried a wreath in memory of Ronnie Wainhouse who passed away recently.  Ronnie was a well loved member of the carriage restoration team working for the past 10 years on both 6705 and 3639 – he will be sorely missed.

Due to the poor condition of the carriage, the move was completed using a specially devised safety procedure (as used for moving the earlier carriages from Dunster) at a maximum speed of 5mph with careful monitoring along the way before arriving safely at Washford.

The restoration of 3639 has been ongoing for many years at Williton without using any covered accommodation. The move to Washford brings a much improved environment for the Trust’s carriage restoration team with the carriage now residing under cover in the shed at Washford next to Collett carriage no. 6705 where restoration work will be carried out on both carriages.

© WSRHT 2024

Ongoing Website Maintenance

Maintenance to the WSRHT Website

The official website of the WSRHT is undergoing a short maintenance overhaul, but will remain live throughout this time. However, visitors to the website may notice some modest changes from time to time, which reflect valuable feedback from our members, volunteers, and members of the public. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for supporting our Heritage Trust and Railway. Our social media accounts remain open, live and will continue to update our community. 

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