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The early years of the WSR: Super 8 movies by Bill Gates

As soon as British Railways had closed the Minehead Branch to passengers, a train was run to recover all moveable items from the route, including items like platform seats, and also the three camping coaches that had occupied the siding at Blue Anchor and had been used by holidaymakers for years.

The coaches were purchased by individuals and were stored around Taunton, including a lengthy stay at Blinkhorn Sidings, near Silk Mill Crossing, to await the time when they could be returned to the West Somerset Railway. Blinkhorn sidings served the Army's Royal Ordnance Depot at Norton Fitzwarren, now completely transformed following closure and redevelopment. The coaches, however, survive.

In February 1976 the three coaches were drawn out from their lengthy layover at Blinkhorn Sidings and propelled the short distance to the boundary between the WSR and BR at milepost 165¾, from where they were collected by Bagnall 0-6-0ST Victor, driven by Harry Lee to be taken down the branch to their new home at Minehead.

In this clip we join the action at Williton, where the Somerset and Dorset Railway Museum Trust's stock was stored temporarily following its move down from Radstock, via the main line, earlier in the month. There's a glimpse of the unrestored Fowler 8F 2-8-0 locomotive 53808, after which the camping coach train arrives. We also catch a glimpse of Bill Thrush, an early day's volunteer who did a lot to tidy the site at Williton.

We next see the train at Blue Anchor, where it was the first WSR train to pass under working signals, following a lot of hard work to make everything work properly, it having been left unmaintained for five years in the salty sea air.

Finally the train is seen at Minehead. The lack of a run-round loop (BR had removed the pointwork at the seaside end, to allow the re-railing of Duchess of Hamilton for her journey from display at Butlin's into preservation the previous November) there was much interesting shunting involving wire ropes to release Victor.

Eventually, the camping coaches were moved over onto what was then the isolated loop for the Bay platform, where they remained for several years as accommodation. Much later, rails were put down on the site of the former siding at Blue Anchor, and the three coaches were moved there.

Filmed by Bill Gates, digitised and donated by Peter Cattemole and edited by Nick Jones who also wrote the notes.

Video produced by wsrpix

$As soon as British Railways had closed the Minehead Branch to passengers, a train was run to recover all moveable items from the route, including items like platform seats, and also the three camping coaches that had occupied the siding at Blue Anchor and had been used by holidaymakers for years. The coaches were purchased by individuals and were stored around Taunton, including a lengthy stay at Blinkhorn Sidings, near Silk Mill Crossing, to await the time when they could be returned to the West Somerset Railway. Blinkhorn sidings served the Army\'s Royal Ordnance Depot at Norton Fitzwarren, now completely transformed following closure and redevelopment. The coaches, however, survive. In February 1976 the three coaches were drawn out from their lengthy layover at Blinkhorn Sidings and propelled the short distance to the boundary between the WSR and BR at milepost 165¾, from where they were collected by Bagnall 0-6-0ST Victor, driven by Harry Lee to be taken down the branch to their new home at Minehead. In this clip we join the action at Williton, where the Somerset and Dorset Railway Museum Trust\'s stock was stored temporarily following its move down from Radstock, via the main line, earlier in the month. There\'s a glimpse of the unrestored Fowler 8F 2-8-0 locomotive 53808, after which the camping coach train arrives. We also catch a glimpse of Bill Thrush, an early day\'s volunteer who did a lot to tidy the site at Williton. We next see the train at Blue Anchor, where it was the first WSR train to pass under working signals, following a lot of hard work to make everything work properly, it having been left unmaintained for five years in the salty sea air. Finally the train is seen at Minehead. The lack of a run-round loop (BR had removed the pointwork at the seaside end, to allow the re-railing of Duchess of Hamilton for her journey from display at Butlin\'s into preservation the previous November) there was much interesting shunting involving wire ropes to release Victor. Eventually, the camping coaches were moved over onto what was then the isolated loop for the Bay platform, where they remained for several years as accommodation. Much later, rails were put down on the site of the former siding at Blue Anchor, and the three coaches were moved there. Filmed by Bill Gates, digitised and donated by Peter Cattemole and edited by Nick Jones who also wrote the notes. Video by wsrpix$ $To everyone involved in the scramble to restore the line to operation, approved to carry passengers, and actually open, it seemed only just short of a miracle that we were ready to go on the date that had been set a couple of months earlier. The date was chosen because it marked the start of the annual Venture Weeks at Butlins camp, where dozens of school parties were staying over a period of five weeks. The idea was that the schoolchildren would be attracted to travel on the WSR. We see the scene at Minehead, the huge crowds that came to witness the event. Steve Martin makes a cameo appearance. Bill Gates, who filmed this, obviously had paid his £3 for a ticket on the first train, and we can see, from the carriage window, first Douglas Fear (Managing Director of the West Somerset Railway Co Ltd) and then Lord Montague of Beaulieu, who had been asked to perform the opening ceremony, make their speeches. We do not get to see the guard of this first WSR public train, Don Spencer. We do catch a glimpse of Harry Lee, the WSR Locomotive Superintendent, who was accompanied on the footplate for the first public train by David Rouse. Later, as the train is underway, we catch a glimpse of Mike Grimoldby (then Treasurer of the West Somerset Railway Association) and Gordon Balham, an early years volunteer, enjoying the first run. On arrival at Blue Anchor, we see Victor being run-round the train, which was then propelled out of the station towards Williton and back into the Down platform, ready to depart to Minehead from the correct platform. In later scenes, we see stock stored at Minehead, including D7017, Victor departing with another train, 6412 in action at Dunster, and then Victor arriving at Blue Anchor. The rolling stock, D7017, and 6412 all were part of the re-opening rush. The WSRA had purchased two BR MkI coaches and these had been stored at Taunton and moved onto the branch earlier in March 1976. The other four coaches, including the brake vehicle (BSO 9278) had only recently been purchased from BR Eastern region at York, and had arrived on the WSR, together with D7017 and 6412 (purchased by the WSRA from the Dart Valley Railway) only on Thursday prior to the Sunday\'s re-opening. Which explains why some coaches are in undercoat of the WSR livery, and some are in BR blue and grey. As I have said, it all seemed a bit of a miracle to those relatively few people who were involved that we achieved this much in the time available. Filmed by Bill Gates, digitised and donated by Peter Cattemole and edited by Nick Jones who also wrote the notes. Video by wsrpix$ $A clip from the very early days of passenger operation between Minehead and Blue Anchor, and may well be an opening-day (28 March 1976) scene. 6412 is climbing away from Sea Lane Level Crossing with a train of coaches including some still in BR blue and grey. Early years volunteer Wilf Sly, a retired taxi-driver who had met trains at Minehead for passengers over many years was very much involved in the re-opening, particularly with cleaning and repainting the passenger coaches. At the time this footage was shot, he had not been able to get to all of the coaches to get them into the WSR\'s chosen livery of crimson and cream. Filmed by Bill Gates, digitised and donated by Peter Cattemole and edited by Nick Jones who also wrote the notes. Video by wsrpix$ $The re-opening day for the Blue Anchor to Williton, a mere five months after the Minehead to Blue Anchor section had been re-opened, was an event in an altogether lower key. The summer of 1976 was scorchingly hot and the preparation of the section, including the installation of a light-controlled pedestrian crossing at Goviers Lane, Watchet, and the removal of a massive slip in the side of the cutting near Halscombe Bridge had been very laborious work. The railway was assisted by keen volunteers like John Jenkins and John Francis on the signalling side, a volunteer Permanent Way gang led by Graham Harwood overseen by the WSR\'s Permanent Way Superintendent Harold Blackmore (a retired railwayman with huge experience of PW work), and a group of around 40 temporary staff hired-in to get the railway running under a government job creation programme (JCP). The tide is in at Minehead as the clip starts, and we see Victor backing down onto the re-opening train in the Main platform. Beyond, in the Bay platform, there\'s a Hawkesworth BR(WR) auto trailer which had been hired from the Dart Valley Railway in March 1976 just in case the WSR had no passenger brake vehicle of its own to use for services. Moving on the re-opening train is seen leaving Dunster, and heading over Sea Lane Level Crossing, with driver Harry Lee (WSR Locomotive Superintendent) giving the occupants of the former Crossing Keeper\'s cottage a wave as he passes. The train is next seen after leaving Watchet, rounding the coast by Helwell Bay. The closeness of the railway to the edge can be seen quite clearly. There\'s a short glimpse of the locomotive running-round the train at Watchet, and we next move to Blue Anchor, where the return re-opening special train is leaving the platform under the watch of Jim Elson, a former BR Signalman recruited onto the staff of the WSR. In the orange hi-viz, we catch a glimpse of volunteer Martin Shelley. The action then moves to the interior of the train as it makes its second trip to Williton. On arrival at Blue Anchor, this train has to await the arrival from Williton of one of the WSR\'s 2-car Park Royal (Class 103) DMUs. Two DMUs had been purchased by the WSR from BR, with the intention that they would be the means of the intended year-round Taunton - Minehead regular passenger service. On leaving Blue Anchor the train, headed by Bagnall 0-6-0ST Vulcan, is faced with the stiff climb up Washford Bank. In the right hands, the dimunitive but powerful locomotives of this type (the WSR had two, Victor and Vulcan, purchased from British Leyland at Longbridge) could make a decent job of the steep gradients of the WSR. But it really did depend on the footplate crew, and it certainly had to be admitted that these little locos were not built for this type of work. On reaching Washford, the train pauses at the station which sports a bit of bunting to celebrate the re-opening day, and we take a quick glimpse at the embryonic museum site, including the S&DRMT\'s steam crane, perched up high. On to Watchet, as the train leaves and approaches Goviers Lane foot crossing, where miniature red/green lights for the benefit of pedestrians had just been installed, and on, passing the small military housing estate at Liddymore, just beyond where Doniford Halt now exists, en route for Williton. To finish, the sequence returns to Washford, recording the arrival of another train hauled by Victor from Minehead. The man wearing the orange hi-viz vest on the platform ramp might be Mike Palmer, a stalwart of the Trust\'s earlier years. Filmed by Bill Gates, digitised and donated by Peter Cattemole and edited by Nick Jones who also wrote the notes. Video by wsrpix$ $The clip opens with 6412 standing with four WSR MkI coaches in the Down platform at Williton, carrying \'express\' headlamps. We next see the train arriving at Blue Anchor. This may have been a train run during in the run-up to Christmas 1976 or in the spring of 1977. Filmed by Bill Gates, digitised and donated by Peter Cattemole and edited by Nick Jones who also wrote the notes. Video by wsrpix$ $The WSR offered a home to the Diesel & Electric Preservation Group\'s Hymek class B-B locomotive D7017, (Type 3, Class 35) built by Beyer Peacock in 1961 for BR(WR) and withdrawn in 1975. The preserved locomotive arrived on WSR metals just before the re-opening between Minehead and Blue Anchor. The preservation group started work immediately to make D7017 serviceable, but she could not enter regular traffic because her axle weight exceeded the limit on the branch, which had existed since BR days, of 17 tons 12 hundredweight. (This despite the Hymeks being staple haulage for the express trains that continued to run to and from Minehead on summer Saturdays right up to the final 1970 summer of BR operation). Memorably, a locomotive of this class appears on the Minehead branch, near Leigh Wood Level Crossing, in the feature film The Belstone Fox, in a gruesome scene where a short freight train ploughs into a pack of hunting hounds that have got onto the railway. Special permission had to be obtained from HM Railways Inspectorate to allow the hydraulic loco out for an enthusiasts and supporters charter event, and this was it. The date was in around October 1976, and the Driver was BR Traction Inspector Eric Webb, who had spent time on secondment to the WSR earlier in the year, teaching Locomotive Department staff how to drive the railway\'s DMUs, in preparation for the anticipated all-year regular service between Taunton and Minehead. We first see the train from Minehead approaching Dunster West Level Crossing, having come from Minehead on the former Down line, which was not in general use at the time; the \'single line\' section between Blue Anchor and Minehead used the former Up line from Dunster into the Main platform at the terminus. Standing at the level crossing, watching the train pass by, is David Butcher, the General Manager of the WSR who had overseen the re-opening from Minehead as far as Williton and had led the project through its launch phase. The corner of the redundant Dunster signalbox can be seen. HM Railways Inspectorate considered the structure to be a hazard to visibility at the open-style level crossing operated by the WSR, and required it to be removed. In November 1977 it was removed - lifted in one piece, slid onto a specially designed transport cradle, and trundled down the track to Minehead, where it now sits. There\'s a shot of the four coach train between Dunster and Blue Anchor, and we see the train next running in to Williton. During the run-round, notice the two WSR staff standing on the level crossing, wearing maroon overcoats. These nylon \'ice cream sellers\' coats were the desired uniform for operating staff at the time, specified by the WSR Company Ltd board of directors. They were not universally popular (to say the least). The next scene takes us to Washford, where we see the return working passing through the station on its way back to Minehead. Notice that the Washford S&DRMT sidings are beginning to take shape, and that the pointwork between the single line and the sidings has been laid-in, awaiting later proper connection to a controlling ground frame. Filmed by Bill Gates, digitised and donated by Peter Cattemole and edited by Nick Jones who also wrote the notes. Video by wsrpix$

$This clip probably dates from early in 1978. The WSR\'s 2-car park Royal (class 103) have both been completely repainted in the company\'s crimson and cream livery, complete with crimson \'speed whiskers\' on the cab ends. The clip starts with the Up DMU train running in to Blue Anchor, followed by the arrival in the Down platform of a Vulcan hauled Minehead-bound train. After the down train has passed over the level crossing, notice that the gates can be closed immediately, before the train has passed the Down Advanced Starting signal, (No 4) which was situated some way towards Dunster. The signalbox interlocking had, until the WSR made an alteration, held the gates locked across the road whilst the Advanced Starting signal was in the \'off\' position, much to the benefit of road users. We next see the four-car DMU head away from the Up platform at Blue Anchor, Williton bound. Steam trains on the Blue Anchor to Williton section ran only on Sundays at this time. Vulcan had been restored to traffic very hastily during the late summer of 1977, ready to take part in the Southern Television filming of the second series of Flockton Flyer. Vulcan was painted in a black overall livery, supplemented for the filming by a broad red band on each side of the saddle tank. Both Vulcan and Victor had been purchased from British Leyland at Longbridge, where they were used as shunters in the company\'s sidings used to bring in components and raw materials and despatched finished vehicles. They, and a third locomotive, Valiant, had been built by Bagnalls, of Stafford, in 1951, originally for moving heavy rail vehicles around the massive Port Talbot complex of The Steel Company of Wales. The locomotives were 0-6-0 saddle tanks, sturdily built, with a short wheelbase and flangeless centre driving wheels, enabling them to negotiate tightly curved sidings. With roller bearing axleboxes and running gear, the locos would run on very little steam. They had all steel fireboxes, which led to some ongoing maintenance problems. The three Bagnalls (or \'Baggies\') were named after the 1950s RAF \'V-force\' bombers. Two survived into preservation, but Valiant, after a spell working for the National Coal Board, was scrapped. The early concept for the operation of the WSR was that it would provide an all-year DMU service between Taunton and Minehead, replacing to some extent what BR had withdrawn in January 1971, supported by steam \'tourist\' services, possibly running only between Norton Fitzwarren and Bishops Lydeard. Victor and Vulcan would have coped far better with short hops on this section than they did on the 20-mile haul between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard. This was definitely work for which they were not designed or suited to. Filmed by Bill Gates, digitised and donated by Peter Cattemole and edited by Nick Jones who also wrote the notes. Video by wsrpix$ $A clip from summer 1978, opening with the arrival of a 2-car DMU into the Bay platform at Minehead, with D7017 on the Bay Siding in the background. The DMU would have started its journey at either Williton or Watchet, providing the start of the intended \'year-round\' service on the northern half of the line. During the summer of 1977 a major alteration in the layout at Minehead was undertaken, to allow the Bay platform to be brought into regular use. Crossing the platform, we see 6412 waiting to head a train out to Blue Anchor. At this time there were three regular steam departures from Minehead to Blue Anchor and back, Mondays to Fridays in the summer - 10:35, 14:15 and 15:35. The service was completed with three or four DMU services from Minehead to Williton or Watchet and back. On arrival at Blue Anchor, the loco runs round the train and shunts the coaches from the Up platform to the Down, ready to return to Minehead. We see the guard, volunteer Tim Maddocks, leaning from the window of the leading coach, handsignalling to the driver. There\'s the briefest glimpse of the driver, and it may well be Trevor Barnett. Filmed by Bill Gates, digitised and donated by Peter Cattemole and edited by Nick Jones who also wrote the notes. Video by wsrpix$ $The clip begins with a through the coach window shot as a train leaves Bishops Lydeard from the Down platform. The very pleasant countryside surrounding the WSR features on the journey to Stogumber. At this isolated, single platform station, notice that the timber part of the platform has been removed, revealing its concrete supporting structure. The timber planks were rotten and unsafe, and HM railways Inspectorate required removal before the station could be used. More lovely countryside follows, and the train passes over the bridge over the Washford River and then over the old Mineral Line at Watchet. We catch a glimpse of the train, and notice there are three coaches not carrying the WSR crimson and cream livery. One is in conventional BR blue and grey, and two are carrying the \'reverse\' BR colours of grey and blue. These two are Pullman cars, purchased privately for use on the WSR when they were no longer required by BR for \'Manchester Pullman\' services. Being totally enclosed and well sound-insulated vehicles, it was something of an eerie experience travelling down the branch in one of these comfortable cars. The brake van on this train may well be an ex-LMS \'Stove R\' or BGZ six-wheeled parcels vehicle. More exterior shots of countryside on the journey follow, featuring the Dunster area, following which the train has arrived at Minehead and the locomotive, Vulcan, now in \'Castrol\' green livery, can be seen on the run-round loop and taking water from the ex-Pwhelli tower situated at the London end of the platform. In the background, there\'s a quick view of the turntable, in the yard at Minehead. This had been brought from Pwhelli. It would be 30 years or more before this far-sighted acquisition would be found a purpose - it forms the basis of the turntable now in regular use at Minehead. The next time we see Vulcan, we are back at Bishops Lydeard. The Bagnall locomotive is detached from a coach in the Down platform, runs over to the Up side, where it\'s attached to the front of a 2-car DMU and the short train, with the locomotive and DMU under power, head off towards Minehead. It\'s worth mentioning the double decker bus arriving at Bishops Lydeard. A service chartered by the WSR with Berry\'s Coaches, to provide a link with Taunton for WSR passengers. Filmed by Bill Gates, digitised and donated by Peter Cattemole and edited by Nick Jones who also wrote the notes. Video by wsrpix$