If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

Catering facilities on Heritage Railway trains (ex WSR and SVR Threads)

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by paulhitch, Aug 11, 2017.

  1. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2007
    Messages:
    35,121
    Likes Received:
    20,773
    Occupation:
    Training moles
    Location:
    The back of beyond
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I'm quite sure there are but equally there will be those who don't hold that view and as you rightly say, the opinion of one person isn't a lot to go on.
     
  2. paulhitch

    paulhitch Guest

    And I was perfectly honest about the circumstances. My own feelings that a particular railway offered a long boring journey were of somewhere far to the south of N0rth Yorkshire and quite a bit shorter than the NYMR. No, not the Bluebell and I am not saying which.

    PH
     
  3. The Green Howards

    The Green Howards Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2016
    Messages:
    14,118
    Likes Received:
    7,644
    Occupation:
    Layabout
    Location:
    Naughty step
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I tried to book a cream tea special on the Nene Valley Railway as a treat for my sister.

    Sold out for the remainder of 2017! They seem to be popular...
     
  4. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2014
    Messages:
    17,609
    Likes Received:
    11,222
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    St Leonards
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I like to think i'm one of those with practical experience, having both been a fireman, and worked as a chef in the dining car, and i have visited quite a few railways of all shapes ,sizes and gauges over the years, there are two reasons why buffet cars i think are an asset to some railways, its the chance to do something other than watch the scenery ,and its a lot more civilized than standing in a queue, and at least a buffet car does sell ale, unlike some refreshment rooms if you like me do enjoy a drink :)
    And not every station has somewhere you can get a refreshing cuppa from, when you have just spent the last 40 minutes shoveling coal, we used to have an agreement with the buffet car, you give us tea, we will haul you , no tea, no do you move ;) .
    There is no one size fits all as far as heritage railways go, every line has its own way of doing things, what may work for one, might not work on another, the customer, though always expects certain things though, that we ignore at our peril.
     
  5. paulhitch

    paulhitch Guest

    I am afraid you are. Nowhere is perfect without any exception. I have been involved in a number of places places in various capacities for decades. I don't really see why I should have to justify myself to you but my concern that railway preservationists were in danger getting rather too dismissive about keeping costs in check came when acting as booking clerk several years ago. Some people would come up to the window, look at the prices or ask and then depart without travelling. Others would grumble and pay. Nowadays of course, they would probably look at the internet and not turn up at all.

    Of course some are genuinely hard up and have real problems whatever the cost. Others are merely tight fisted. However it is not reasonable for railway preservationists to expect the general public to subsidise the revenue costs of their interest ad infinitum even if the meet the capital costs and do much of the labour themselves.

    PH
     
  6. threelinkdave

    threelinkdave Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2013
    Messages:
    2,065
    Likes Received:
    1,240
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Stratford-upon-Avon or in a brake KD to BH
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    The SVR has a multitude of on and off train refreshment facilities, all of which apear to make monry. Fixed catering is available at Kidderminster,Bewdley, Highley (engine house), and Bridgnorth with kiosks at Arley, Highley and Hampton Loade.

    Most scheduled sets contain a RMB, yes the MK1 are heavy but the LMS is only 30t. On train is profitable, esp when you sell out of beer.

    In addition to scheduled trains dining trains are well booked, sat evening and sunday lunch. The two GWR inspection cars are well used. Uses include walk on cream tea, private hire with either attachment to a service train or your own loco weddings bamitsvas birthdays.

    Catering is a large chunc of SVRs profits, If I can be bothered I will look up the accounts, PH wont believe it anyway.

    ps I forgot the two pubs which do a roaring trade
     
  7. Paul Kibbey

    Paul Kibbey Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2014
    Messages:
    1,165
    Likes Received:
    1,402
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Land of Sodor
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Deleted
     
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2017
  8. Pete Thornhill

    Pete Thornhill Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Administrator Moderator Friend

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2008
    Messages:
    7,498
    Likes Received:
    5,455
    I seem to remember mentioning the contribution of catering to the SVR profits in a previous thread covering this ground. It certainly makes a huge difference to the profits as you say.
     
    Paul Kibbey likes this.
  9. Paul Kibbey

    Paul Kibbey Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2014
    Messages:
    1,165
    Likes Received:
    1,402
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Land of Sodor
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Might the fares be even higher if they weren't ' subsidised ' by the buffets on trains ?
     
    Bean-counter and Hampshire Unit like this.
  10. David R

    David R Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2013
    Messages:
    1,018
    Likes Received:
    1,386
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Surrey
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I agree - there is a need to offer something at the Gwili as there are no facilities at each end and certainly the 1 o/c train is awkwardly timed if you haven't had something beforehand so a trolley service or some kind of on train service offering tea, coffee and perhaps sandwiches/snacks at least on the 1 o/c service would probably work well at the Gwili and would (IMO) add to the attractiveness of the package offered

    David R
     
    Springs Branch and Matt78 like this.
  11. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2007
    Messages:
    35,121
    Likes Received:
    20,773
    Occupation:
    Training moles
    Location:
    The back of beyond
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    No you don't have to justify yourself but given all your "expert" pronouncements it would be interesting to know if you've had any experience of running a business. It's the easiest thing in the world to tell someone how to run a business but running your own is a different matter altogether.
    Every business will suffer from those unwilling to pay but that is no reason to reduce prices to below an economic level and does not mean that they are charging more than the market can bear.
     
    Sawdust, 35B, RalphW and 3 others like this.
  12. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2007
    Messages:
    35,121
    Likes Received:
    20,773
    Occupation:
    Training moles
    Location:
    The back of beyond
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    One of the NVR's success stories I'm happy to say.
     
    Matt78, Johnme101 and Paul Kibbey like this.
  13. michaelh

    michaelh Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2006
    Messages:
    3,080
    Likes Received:
    1,291
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Very comfortably early retired
    Location:
    1029
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    There will always be some who are unwilling/unable to pay the fare - whatever said fare is.
     
    Kinghambranch and paulhitch like this.
  14. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2007
    Messages:
    35,121
    Likes Received:
    20,773
    Occupation:
    Training moles
    Location:
    The back of beyond
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Agreed. Our local Steam Fair used to charge £5 entry and there were locals who said it was too expensive. Since then the organisers have raised the price and profits have risen, much to the delight
    of the beneficiaries, the local Mill Trust
     
    Johnme101 and Paul Kibbey like this.
  15. Paul Kibbey

    Paul Kibbey Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2014
    Messages:
    1,165
    Likes Received:
    1,402
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Land of Sodor
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    PH . As far as I know the ' on shore services ' don't have any alcoholic beverages for sale . A few of the stations do have cream and afternoon teas and very fine they are . The last time I was on the train they had a good Somerset cider and a very good Somerset cider . Having been a professional driver for most of my working life I wouldn't dream of drink driving .

    Paul . K
     
    paulhitch likes this.
  16. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2014
    Messages:
    15,328
    Likes Received:
    11,666
    Occupation:
    Nosy aren’t you?
    Location:
    Nowhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I know that feeling only to well Ian, in my current role I have various customers telling me 'you should get beer x on from so and so, or 'why can't we have this beer on?' They can all do my job better than me, they know what will sell better than me, despite having no experience apart from standing the other side of the bar! Always love the reaction when I say something like 'yeah I'll get that on for you, the cost of your pint'll have to go up though' all of a sudden the attitude changes!
     
  17. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2014
    Messages:
    15,328
    Likes Received:
    11,666
    Occupation:
    Nosy aren’t you?
    Location:
    Nowhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I think you only have to look at the 3 breweries who work with the SVR. Bathams, Hobsons and Bewdley all do cracking brews, the SVR's pubs and Buffet Cars can shift them, win win I think is the term. I know how much we used to shift over there when I worked for Bathams, the SVR must be the biggest customer of Matt and Tim's.
     
    Spamcan81 likes this.
  18. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2015
    Messages:
    9,185
    Likes Received:
    7,226
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Thorn in my managers side
    Location:
    72
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Coming to Pauls defence for a moment, clearly any business should always be looking at costs, revenue and should we be doing/not doing this however clearly it should not take up too much time unless the answer you get is interesting - or worrying
     
  19. Platform 3

    Platform 3 Member

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2015
    Messages:
    827
    Likes Received:
    1,092
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    The point is though that people ARE looking at this, and it is this that Paul doesn't seem to understand.
     
    johnofwessex likes this.
  20. paulhitch

    paulhitch Guest

    I understand perfectly but I don't have to agree with the conclusions, anymore than you have to agree with me. This subject has been done to death.

    PH
     

Share This Page