Talk:West Somerset Mineral Railway

South Hetton Coal Company
I think it might be appropriate to link South Hetton Coal Company to Hetton colliery railway. Can anyone confirm this? Biscuittin 14:59, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Colton Tramway
The reference to the Colton tramway ought perhaps to be extended. If it warrants a section on its locomotives there ought at least to be a mention of its topography. Some augmentation of the accessibility of the line today would be useful too.

Afterbrunel 17:53, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

What else is needed before a GA nomination?
What else do other editors think is needed to ensure this article meets the Good article criteria?&mdash; Rod talk 16:52, 8 June 2015 (UTC)
 * A really substantial expansion. I've dropped the ratings from B to C because there just isn't enough in here and far too many important aspects are missed out. It's an utterly unimportant railway, but it has a fascinating history. They got everything wrong! If you like Victorian bios, Thomas Brown (ironmaster and total bastard) is waiting to be started and that would be a corker. Andy Dingley (talk) 10:30, 16 July 2015 (UTC)
 * OK (&thinks for showing me the Jones book). What specific "important aspects" are missed out?&mdash; Rod talk 17:09, 17 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Largely the mining, which can populate a whole article itself. This wasn't a railway with a couple of nearby mines, this was a doomed mining business that had signed themselves into a contract promising to build a railway. They deferred this as long as possible, then stalled whilst building it. Even then, and even though they famously carried passengers on the incline, the railway was only there because of, and for as long as, the mines. Some important aspects for the railway, which justify separate articles, are the incline and the harbour expansion works. Then there's a whole branch line off this to the South East, with the second incline.
 * There are also several significant aspects wanting coverage here about the building of the railway. The loco stock (and their seeming profligacy in ordering a new loco whenever they broke one), the broken locos, the loco that didn't turn up and where that went to, where they all went to in the end. And of course, what was a loco called Pontypool doing in Somerset? Andy Dingley (talk) 18:42, 17 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks - possibly a a separate article is needed on Mining on the Brendon Hills (or similar title) rather than trying to expand the coverage of the mines in this article.&mdash; Rod talk 20:19, 17 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Spathic iron ore now has some content. Andy Dingley (talk) 10:22, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

My edit of this page was a long time ago, and I am happy to defer to those who have done more recent work, and I won't vote against what Rod proposes. Mr Dingley could perhaps explain his point of view, which some readers might find difficult to follow; particularly the view that the article as it was in 2015 is only C class; and his point of view about Thomas Brown.

I have corrected a couple of typos this morning; if I was trying to improve the article, I would streamline some of the text. Two examples to illustrate:

(1) This was replaced by a permanent one "road" (track) structure known as "Watchet". is a bit weird. If "road" isn't generally understood by readers, why use it? Was the structure really known as "Watchet"?

(2) I don't quite see the importance of the subsequent history of "Two tender locomotives [that] were used to demonstrate the Angus automatic train control" ... They were on the line for six months in 1911 - 1912; why is it important to tell us what number the GWR allocated them after 1923? (Btw the citations for the tables of engine numbers are a bit missable where they are; shouldn't they be at the end of the tables?)

The red links worry me, as they scream "Incomplete article". Are their subjects really notable enough (and well enough documented in available literature) that there is a realistic chance of the topics having an article any time soon?

And I hate these back-to-front citations. For example the current prime minister of the UK is "Theresa May"; she is not "May, Theresa". And what on earth do the dates in "Madge, Robin (1975) [1971]. '7: Watchet–Brendon Hill'. Railways Round Exmoor" mean?

Finally there are 9 non-trivial articles about the line in the Railway Magazine archive. These may not add much new text (and more text isn't automatically a good thing anyway). Would it be worth cross-checking these?

But if you go for GA now I won't vote against it.

Afterbrunel (talk) 07:19, 8 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your comments (and typo corrections).
 * I agree with your points 1 & 2 about "road" (track) structure known as "Watchet & the subsequent use of the tender locos - do others have comments?
 * I don't see many red links & generally I have no issue with them as they indicate the need for another article. Andy suggested above that we need more on the mining (rather than the railway) - possibly Mining on the Brendon Hills as suggested above, and the Brendon Hills Iron Ore Company should probably redirect to that. I wonder whether Thomas Brown (1803-1884) is notable enough for a stand alone article otherwise the wikilink could be removed - what do others think?
 * The reference format with surname, first name is generated by the Template:Cite book and is standard in academic referencing
 * The double years in Madge, Robin (1975) [1971] generally indicate when a book was first published and subsequent editions or reprints.
 * I don't have access to the Railway Magazine archive - could you or someone who has access take a look at them and see if they do have additional material which should be included?

I will continue looking at the article but welcome your input and that of any other editors.&mdash; Rod talk 09:04, 8 January 2017 (UTC)


 * Yes, I know about the template for cite book, and I hate it :-)
 * I have just noticed that there is a "citation required" in the text; I'm not sure I still have the reference book to put that right.
 * And there was a broken redirect to the page for the Colton Tramway; I have altered that so that it simply comes to this article. That's not ideal but there's no obvious heading or subheading to which it can be redirected; anyway it doesn't affect the GA status of this page.
 * I'll have a look through the Railway Mag articles and see whether there is anything in them.
 * Afterbrunel (talk) 10:24, 8 January 2017 (UTC)


 * Quite a lot of editing going on currently, so I'll leave this article alone until it settles down, to avoid conflicts. Afterbrunel (talk) 13:42, 8 January 2017 (UTC)


 * A lot of hard work has taken place lately, well done, and the citations required have gone again ... ??
 * I concede that I am in a minority about the citation formatting; may I just mention taht I think that
 * Madge, Robin (1975) [1971]. "7: Watchet–Brendon Hill". Railways Round Exmoor. Exmoor Press. pp. 60–65. ISBN 978-0-900131-18-9."
 * is incomprehensible, but I won't press the point further.
 * There is a typo which I will see to now, and I think there are a few double spaces. There are a few in stances of a space before a semi-colon; I won't alter that in case someone has done that on purpose ... ? Afterbrunel (talk) 15:02, 11 January 2017 (UTC)

Duplication between last part of passenger operation and Decline and closure
There seems to be some duplication between the last paragraph of "Passenger operation" and the section on "Decline and closure" with the date of 7 November 1898 and brief resumption in 1907. What do people think is the best way to handle these?&mdash; Rod talk 09:45, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

Date of automatic signal warning device testing
The paragraph about the testing of an automatic signal warning device is confusing me. The first part says "In 1911...but that was the last time the line was used." and then "The demonstration of the system took place at Kentsford on 5 July 1912" does anyone have the sources to resolve this?&mdash; Rod talk 15:34, 8 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Although I do not currently have the time to spend here that I would like I can say that page 78 of the book "The West Somerset Mineral Railway" states that the two locomotives were transferred to the line on the 17 December 1911 and the public demonstration took place on the 5 July 1912. Hope this helps. Britmax (talk) 16:27, 8 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks sorted.&mdash; Rod talk 16:40, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

Railway Magazine
I have been asked (on my own Talk page) to supply references for the Railway Magazine articles relating to the line. Please accept my apologies for not following the discussion on this talk page here in this article.

West Somerset Mineral Railway references in Railway Magazine (omitting very trivial references and advertisements for books)

Afterbrunel (talk) 22:37, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
 * August 1900 page 111-112 description of a ride on the line, photo of the incline
 * August 1912 page 176 brief report of Angus system
 * May 1914 Page 407 The Railways of Somerset peripheral reference in section about the West Somerset Railway
 * January 1920 Pages 46 – 47 brief description in The Why and the Wherefore
 * September 1921 Page 151 onwards long descriptive article with map and five photographs I have written to RM seeking a copy DavidAHull (talk) 22:25, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * November 1921 page 344 brief elaboration of engines
 * November 1936 page 370 brief description in The Why and the Wherefore
 * November 1940 page 617 photograph of disused track I can't make use of this DavidAHull (talk) 22:25, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * December 1940 page 659-660 brief description of line with an unusual engraving of the incline and description of current state of disused route Used in text DavidAHull (talk) 22:25, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * May 1941 page 230 further brief notes about the state of the disused route Referred to, but no addition to text DavidAHull (talk) 22:44, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * April 1965 page 229 photograph looking down the incline I can't make use of this DavidAHull (talk) 22:44, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * April 2001 pages 41-42 brief description of the rope incline operation I can't make use of this DavidAHull (talk) 22:44, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * April 2011 page 68 brief report on renewal of bridge carrying West Somerset Railway over the WSMR. I can't find this report on p230 or adjacent pages DavidAHull (talk) 22:44, 3 June 2017 (UTC)