West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust WSRHT

Volunteering at Gauge Museum

Are you perhaps a young railway modeller who is looking forward to enjoying the hobby with others? If so, why not come and join our operating team at Gauge Junction.

Operator training

Our medium sized 00-gauge analogue controlled model railway can be located on the upper floor of the Gauge Museum on platform 1 at Bishops Lydeard railway station. During the West Somerset Railway’s operating size, we provide part of the visitor attractions as part of the Steam Trust Gauge museum educational resources, and are visited by around 12,000 visitors a year. In the winter we carry on developing our layout and carry out essential maintenance tasks, a good chance to learn modelling skills.

There are no membership fees, we do expect a commitment in attendance of at least once per month and all operators are inducted as West Somerset Railway volunteer staff and work under the rules and policies of the company. Gauge Junction is being built and is operated mainly by the WSR young volunteers known as ‘Trackers’ and volunteers need to be aged 14 and upwards. No previous experience is needed as we have a full training programme for those who join us under the guidance of experienced operators.

Gauge Junction provides many opportunities to make friends, gain work experience as a team member and provide public service experience for other activities such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme.

If you are interested in joining us, do call in to Gauge Junction and have a chat with our operators and we are open Sundays, Bank holidays, special events and sometimes Saturdays and school holiday periods when operators are available.

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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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