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Battlefield line

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by triumphman, Apr 13, 2018.

  1. JayDee

    JayDee Member

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    The battlefield line suffers greatly from a lack of heavy overhaul facilities so that tends to be why theres little work to be done.
     
  2. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    in a region with plenty of preserved railways the Battlefield is rather overshadowed by its near neighbour . I actually rather like the line and was pleased to have supported with an evening shoot recently , more to follow

    The volunteers who supported were proud of their line and I know aware of its limitations plus their own in terms of resource available to deliver change

    That said they recovered a number of items from the SERA Coventry museum which will help , are pushing on with Market Bosworth loop to increase operational flexibility . At five miles it is a good length anf has attractions nearby to make a day out of it .
     
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  3. nick813

    nick813 Well-Known Member Loco Owner

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    I agree with you Martin. More volunteers needed. Perhaps Station Friends groups would help if set up. Positive cracking staff.....require some good PR.
     
  4. Daddsie71b

    Daddsie71b Member Friend

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    Visited about 2 years ago turning up at Shackerstone about 1500 hours having walked the canal from Bosworth via a few pubs.
    Staff were great and wished we had more time to explore.
    Desperately needed some lineside cutting back.
    From what I understood is that the line is owned by two people (fair play to them) so volunteers whilst valuable, have little in the management of this great little railway.
    Loved the griddle car.
    Rare beast.
     
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  5. nick813

    nick813 Well-Known Member Loco Owner

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    GWR 813 will be running at The Railway this weekend.
     
  6. pete12000

    pete12000 Member

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    Is 813 likely to be running next weekend at Shackerstone? TIA
     
  7. nick813

    nick813 Well-Known Member Loco Owner

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    Last edited: Oct 20, 2018
  8. Rumpole

    Rumpole Part of the furniture

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    I’ve seen some rumours that ‘Richard III’ has been sold; anything more concrete?
     
  9. pete12000

    pete12000 Member

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    It will, the first day you can book for the 'Home From The Front' event at Elsecar is Wednesday 31st October.

    The weekend I'm asking about is the 27th/28th October...... running at Shackerstone or will it have left by then ?
     
  10. nick813

    nick813 Well-Known Member Loco Owner

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    Sorry for not answering your question properly: the locomotive will not be running at the Railway .
     
  11. offbeat

    offbeat New Member

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    The railway is actually owned by the Shackerstone Railway Society as are any assets related to the railway not privately owned - such as Sir Gomer. There are a board of directors which control operations but even they are volunteers. They only have 1 paid staff lady and she works in the office. It's a full volunteer run thing and all of the board members have their own 9-5 jobs
     
  12. offbeat

    offbeat New Member

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    Rumour mill suggests sold and most parts (not the chassis as yet I don't believe) already removed from Shackerstone. Private owner
     
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  13. Rumpole

    Rumpole Part of the furniture

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    Many thanks.
     
  14. Daddsie71b

    Daddsie71b Member Friend

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    I stand corrected. Thank you.
     
  15. toplight

    toplight Well-Known Member

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    From my one recent visit to the railway, It has the makings of being a really little gem of a line with room to expand etc so what do you think has caused this loss of interest and in particular volunteers leaving in droves ?
     
  16. estwdjhn

    estwdjhn Member

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    I've never been to Shack, but my general observation would that a line needs a certain critical mass of volunteers if it is to survive,and attract new volunteers.

    Places without that critical mass tend to suffer from an especially large doses of politics (often of the "two bald men fighting over a comb" variety), and thus tend to be particularly off-putting to prospective volunteers (larger organisations always have their fair share of politics, but it's usually tucked away out of sight a bit more, at least for newcommers). Also, if progress seems to be happening it's much easier to join a team that's succeeding than to turn up and fill in the huge gaps when everyone is thinly spread and not really keeping up with everything which needs to be done...
     
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  17. offbeat

    offbeat New Member

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    Interesting thoughts. I guess really it all comes down to whether you enjoy what you do or not. I personally don't volunteer anywhere at present but in the past I've been involved with a few organisations despite work commitments and families now not permitting. Politics in these sectors seem fairly rife, particularly as you say estwdjhn when the mass of volunteers drops down to a few. The frustration grows, the tensions rise and everyone starts biting on each other until you reach that critical point where the things you enjoyed about it are gone so you give up. I've always been a firm believer that you should commit to something. Things like railways, though a hobby, are immensely time consuming and if you're going to commit, you need to commit. However, that doesn't mean that when you don't enjoy it anymore because of politics you should stay on. Way back when I knew a few Shack drivers who pulled out simply out of despondency at the then situation. That didn't mean that they wished the place any ill. Funny old world. Fantastic though to hear its changing

    All of this negativity is such a shame and so unnecessary, particularly when Shackerstone Station has beautiful buildings that really are a one off in my eyes. It could be lovely. Sounds as if things are picking up there now, good luck to them
     
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  18. clementi

    clementi New Member

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    For the last thirty years the Battlefield Line has had the makings of a little gem of a line. Even the most casual glance will show that instead it has been a steady deterioration. Of course there are some good people their trying their best but they are hampered by lack of organisation, lack of cohesive thinking and a lack of adequate leadership. Witness the recent gala weekend, where the timetable was not published until the Friday night. The excuse being that Sir Gomer had failed and the timetable was being re-written. Sir Gomer had been partly dismantled in the shed for weeks and was obviously not going to turn a wheel! People report the phone not being answered and nothing on social media. So all the effort in getting some interesting traction over the weekend is wasted due to inefficiency, and a lot of potential passengers don't bother coming. That's symptomatic of the place. I notice the track outside the signalbox has still not been ballasted and that must have been relaid four years ago!
     
  19. mdewell

    mdewell Well-Known Member Friend

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    True enough. We certainly struggled to achieve 'critical mass' on the Epping Ongar in the early days when we had just a dozen or so regular volunteers running the DMU. It only really 'took off' when Roger took over and supplied the capital needed to do the repairs to track and infrastucture and bring in more rolling stock etc.

    But I can't agree with the 'tend to suffer from an especially large doses of politics' comment as we certainly got along very well. It has also been my experience from visiting other smaller railways that their staff are typically very friendly and helpful (Not saying that staff on larger railways are less so, but they do tend to be busier people).

    Of course there are always people who will only get involved with something as successful completion nears (How many loco restoration projects struggle along with a handful of volunteers for years and then in the last few months they suddenly have dozens of eager volunteers?)
     
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  20. pete12000

    pete12000 Member

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    No need to apologise, many thanks for your reply. I'll try to get to Elsecar while she's there, Cheers!
     

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