Recommissioning after Coronavirus

I'd speculate that many here on NP are a few of those valued customers albeit a wide and thin spread.

 

If all qualified staff (including directors) have been furloughed - and we've seen above that on at least one railway someone has been kept off furlough in order to do mandatory duties. I would hope that, even if using volunteers, railways are managing to adhere to these legal obligations during the closedown period.

 

I'd be surprised that all staff are furloughed. Then there are volunteers. They may not be able to do regular work but such as prepping fora boiler inspection is necessary work in accordance with government guidelines. Aside from this, who is doing the regular checks on the state of the infrastructure and security? These are safety considerations and insurance companies are insisting on them.

 

Each railway will do its own thing. Even if not all staff are furloughed the staff that are available won't necessarily be mechanicals. The PW and S&T sides need keeping together, and anti-trespass / vandalism patrolling needs doing.
Pat

 

Last time I helped prep for a boiler inspection, it would have been hard within the confines of a firebox to maintain social distance from my companion - though we did both wear face masks Maybe we need some bigger chuffers to allow 2m of separation

Being more serious, if a select group of volunteers was required to do that work, I’d expect it only to be under the mandate of the railway’s nominated Responsible Person - so presumably that person at least could not be furloughed (assuming they were paid staff).

It will be interesting to see what happens over the summer. If there is some form of easing of the lockdown, I can think of a lot of tasks that could be done by volunteers, require minimal finance, and that could be done more easily without any trains running. But the issue will be if there is that level of lifting restrictions, whether it also causes the furlough scheme to be stopped, at which point the pressure to run a service becomes very big.

Tom

 

Straws in the wind about public attitudes to going out post-lockdown (with all the caveats you can think of) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52495201

Patrick

 

From the report

I would put myself in the middle group.
Trouble is the longer it goes on the later group will grow?
Looks like the worst is over and the Government have released 5 steps to overcome lockdown, which if the infections and deaths continue to fall, looks like some restrictions will be lifted in July.
The difficulty is ensuring till then people keep to current restrictions.
There is currently no projected date when "holiday attractions" (which many heratige railways effectively are) will reopen.

 

48% + 44% +9% = 101%. Well done BBC!

 

Actually that's perfectly reasonable.

Say the original figures were 47.6%, 43.7% and 8.7%, which add up to exactly 100%

Round all the figures to the nearest %, you get 48%, 44%, 9%, which add up to 101% - but you haven't done anything 'wrong', that's just how it is.

 

I'm unclear what strategies could exist to allow airlines to spin around the globe again in the short & medium term, as in my mind we will just be waiting to import the next wave of infection from somewhere else in the world as we did first time round? All the lock-down-lite benefits we may have made in UK would easily be undone if we return to how we were with international travel as it was.
In the great scheme of things, we're not an island.......

 

Got to thinking that slam door/ compartment/ corridor stock might be the most appropriate for initial re opening of Heritage railways ...

 

Non-corridor compartment stock would probably be most suitable, with alternate compartments locked and out of use. Other than the Talyllyn it's hard to think of any railways that have many?

 

The IOW is all non corridor compartment with the exception of the open 4-wheeler (sorry I don't know the number) which could be used for any larger households.

Bluebell must have a fair few, and I guess the KESR does as well? Most 'vintage train' stock is likely to be

 

GCR have their Suburban stock I believe but not sure how many?

 

The KWVR should be Ok- theres plenty of pacers that could be used as single use stock

One round each round trip then just put a match to it afterwards to ensure that there can be no possible cross contamination.

Chris

 

KESR does "have a few", however priority has normally been given to the Maunsell or MkI stock due to the suitability for on-board refreshment service (added revenue). Thus not all of the vintage stock is currently serviceable, the nominal capacity based on full compartments means that a train loaded to the haulage capacity of a Terrier or similar can carry almost as many pax as the full 5xbogie set. Limiting the numbers in each compartment for 'social distancing' requirements would probably need all of the vintage stock to be serviceable, and even that would only provide a one-train service.

 

Why lock alternate compartments out of use if they are physically separated? I understand keeping adjacent bays of seats free in an open vehicle, but keeping compartments empty?


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There are a few non-corridor compartment coaches that don't have full height partitions where this may be relevant, but I really can't think of many; some on the L&B, one or both of the NSR coaches at Foxfield, maybe one or two on the Bluebell have this feature?

 

Think KWVR could rustle up one short train with the aid of the Vintage Carriages Trust, no buffet ( or buffet staff), no onboard 'facilities', only need a class 2 to pull it..(Just like the early days) with limited numbers (online booking only) of both passengers and required staff it could be a way of getting the toe in the start up water ....