The West Somerset Railway - Branch Line to the Seaside

PLEASE SUPPORT THE WEST SOMERSET RAILWAYS COVID-19 APPEAL www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/donations www.wsra.org.uk/railrenewal/ A project I have been working on for the past month. My original idea was to make a DVD feature of my favourite clips I’ve captured over the WSR in the past 7 years in support of the WSR Covid-19 appeal, but I don’t have the facilities to do this so I decided to stick to YouTube. As many of you will know, the West Somerset Railway is currently closed due to the Covid-19 crisis, and it is not known when It will re-open. The railway currently has set up an appeal and is looking to raise £500,000 in donations to secure its future. The purpose of this film is to raise awareness of this and to remember what the railway does best! So please enjoy, The West Somerset Railway – Branch Line to the Seaside… The West Somerset Railway is a heritage railway that runs for 20 miles from Bishops Lydeard near Taunton to Minehead on the Somerset coast. Opened in 1862 the line was closed by British Railways in 1971. 5 years later in 1976 the West Somerset Railway reopened the line from Minehead to Blue Anchor as a heritage railway operating heritage steam and diesel trains over the branch line. In 1979 the railway finally opened to Bishops Lydeard. Nearly 40 years later, this film looks at the West Somerset Railways operations from 2013 to 2016 and 2019. Dedicated to the memory of Andrew Sillett