West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust WSRHT

Donate
Support US
Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019 Facebook-f Envelope Map-marker-alt

HCP Progress Report for Feb 2024

Heritage Carriages Project - Progress Report Feb 2024

On the 6th February the carriages team started its move to Washford.Our tme during February has been entrely focused on the move to Washford and the creaton of our workshop facilites there. During these past four weeks we have achieved the following:

  • An electrical inspection has been carried out – no problems found and an EICR has been issued.
  • Over two days we transported roughly 90% of the contents of the Titern and the old woodshop from Williton to Washford.
  • The third-lane flour has been degreased and cleaned. This part of the shed now acts as a holding area for much of the equipment and materials arriving from Williton, while we organise the rest of the workshop spaces and main shed.
  • The ground flour workshop walls have been waterproofed with a tanking slurry and are now ready for painting. The internal wall of the ground floor workshop has been painting, as have all the walls of the mezzanine workshop. 
  • We have fixed the leaking gutter on the end wall of the shed; we hope this will help with the damp on the end wall which is currently being waterproofed. 
  • The air compressor pipework has been reconnected to the air distribition system and the air reciever and the power cable routed to the distribution box; this now awaits connection by the electrician.
  • The dust-extracton unit has been positoned outside the shed adjacent to the rear door.
  • Some 18 metres of storage shelving have been made, divided between two units. One has
    been placed in the mezzanine workshop and the other in the main shed.
  • We have moved the long bench from the ground-floor workshop to the mezzanine and this is
    being remodeled to form the basis of a purpose-built miter saw bench.
  • We will place a second bench in the mezzanine workshop which will support the bench-top
    pedestal drill which we have moved from the ground floor.
  • The worktable from Tintern has been placed in the mezzanine workshop.
  • The pipe work for the vacuum pump has been made and is ready to be fi1ed to the pump.

6705 was moved into the shed on February 13th. Works on the carriage will recommence once we
have completed our move to Washford and the organizaton of our workshops.

SMS Documentaton: Roughly 30 documents have been wri1en describing many of the processes
and procedures used on-site.

Plans for February 2024

  1. Washford
    • Complete painng of workshop walls.
    • Electrician scheduled March 26th to make required changes to installaton to
      accommodate new machine tools and connect dust extractor, air compressor and
      vacuum pump.
    • Install ducting for dust extractor.
      d. Build racking for timber storage.
    • Build four staging sectons to enable safe working on 6705.

2.  Safety Documentary

Work will contnue on our documentation set, focusing now to include machine-specific risk assessments
prioritzed in the order the machines are likely to be implemented in the Washford workshops.
Share the Post:

Recent News Posts

WSR Heritage Trust Gains Museum Accreditation

January 25, 2026

The Gauge Museum at Bishops Lydeard on the West Somerset Railway has been awarded Full Accreditation by the Arts Council. The Museum, which is run by the West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust, holds a wide range of artefacts which display and tell the story of the history and heritage of the West Somerset Railway and the Great Western Railway.

Administered by Arts Council England on behalf of the UK Accreditation Partnership, Accreditation is the benchmark for well-run Museums and Galleries. 

It means that the Gauge Museum is properly managed and governed to the nationally agreed industry standard and shows the museum takes proper care of its collections, sharing them with visitors and keeping them safe for future generations. 

Accreditation opens up exciting funding opportunities, allows museums to host touring exhibitions and gives access to professional advice and support. It also gives confidence to donors and sponsors who may wish to support the museum in preserving heritage and inspiring future generations

Steve Williams, Trust Vice Chairman and Trust Accreditation Lead said: “This is a fantastic outcome for the Trust and marks the combination of three years of hard work by a small and dedicated team of volunteers many of whom now make up our Museum Management Team. This means that the Trust is recognised as working to a high standard of Museum and collections management and care. We now have to ensure that we deliver to those standards and continue to make the Gauge Museum as welcoming and as interesting an experience for visitors and volunteers alike”.

Ian Camp, Trustee and Museum Curator said: “This achievement represents a significant milestone for our museum. The progress we have made is the result of the unwavering dedication and hard work of our team over the past several years. Their commitment has been instrumental in reaching this important point in our journey.

We would also like to extend our sincere gratitude to Rachel Bellamy, our Museum Development Officer, whose support and guidance have been invaluable throughout this process. Her expertise has helped steer us in the right direction and ensured that we met the necessary standards for accreditation.

Securing this recognition marks another important step towards fulfilling our vision of being a professional museum, managed and operated by a group of passionate and committed volunteers.”

Helen Anson, Trustee and Museum Professional Adviser said: “This is a defining moment for the Heritage Trust.  By gaining accreditation we have demonstrated our deep commitment to our museums service, setting high standards in organisational health, collections care and management and visitor experience.  The contribution from the whole team has been outstanding and their passion for embedding excellence across the organisation will ensure that we continue to build on this success over the coming years.”  

Having gained Accreditation for the Gauge Museum, the Trust will in 2026 be pursuing a similar outcome for its other site at Blue Anchor station on the WSR which is now opened to visitors again following an extensive programme of refurbishment and reinterpretation.

 

WSRHT Board Meeting August 2025 Minutes Published

September 24, 2025

August 2025
Board Meeting Minutes Published

The West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust is pleased to publish the minutes of its August Board Meeting on Thursday, 7th August 2025.

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

Board Meeting 7th August 2025

Gauge Museum Blue Anchor

September 12, 2025

The Trust is pleased to announce that the Gauge Museum Blue Anchor has reopened in April. The website on the Gauge Museum Blue Anchor has new photos of the Museum’s interior and new panels showing lots of information. 

Please do have a visit to the new webpage under Museums > Gauge Museum Blue Anchor drop down. Alternatively click here. 

Thank you for spending your time visiting the Railway and the Heritage Trust.