How well staffed heritage railways are for volunteers ?

I would imagine the biggest ones will probably have a glut of volunteers that that they don't know what to do with and other that are struggling for staff.

Is that the case or is there actual shortages ?

 

I think that all railways were short of volunteers after Covid but the numbers are improving and are close to previous levels. However I don't believe any have as many staff as they would like....So if anyone is thinking of volunteering at their local railway - go along and offer to help!

 

I’ve yet to hear of a heritage railway that is not short of volunteers. I’m involved with the Middleton Railway and, on paper, we’ve never had as many as we do today. However, today’s volunteer is not as dedicated as we were in our youth and may only volunteer (say) once a month. Those who come every weekend and more are few and far between and are probably the old survivors of the heyday of volunteering. Like me.

 

Yes. When I started volunteering, about fifty years ago, I often spent two days a week on site, up to fifty weeks a year.
I had a gap of about ten years, and when I returned (at a different railway) I was only volunteering about two or three days a month.
Now I have lapsed since Covid, I keep meaning to get back, but I struggle to find the time now.

There has also been a change in the source of volunteers. In the early years, most volunteers were there because they were railway enthusiasts, or part of a family of enthusiasts. In recent years there has been a shift towards people who have spare time and choose where to give it, but not being 'railway enthusiasts' before the volunteering.

I think also many/most railways had to drastically reduce paid staff during and since Covid, due to the reduced revenue, so are more dependant on volunteers than they had been used to.

 

Where would you get that idea from?
Also, I'm not sure it is possible to have too many volunteers overall.

 

It's not just the numbers either, but also the demographics - Most railways are short of the younger, physically fitter, volunteers. I also get the impression that the rising retirement age and harder economic conditions have led to a big drop in the number of "early retiree" volunteers in their early-mid sixties.

 

It's not just railways - I see the same at church. The effect you describe is compounded by long standing volunteers getting older, no longer being willing or able to do as much, and there roles to be backfilled

 

See also allotments, rugby clubs...

 

Somebody has to coordinate them, and few volunteers want the hassle of doing this. They do this enough during the week in their proper (or previous) job.

Volunteers tend to want to do their pet project at their own speed and in their own way(!), which may not be the priority for the railway as a whole.

 

Hence why I said "overall"...
I agree you can end up with over-attendance in specific locations.

 

Well run voluntary organisations can balance those two, creating the space for those who are only focused on their pet projects, but then also leading others to focus on the organisation's wider priorities. My experience is that most volunteers, most of the time, seek to be supportive of those wider needs - and respond well to being steered.

 

I volunteered for two different railways from 1980 through to 2007. The first railway was great and I always got the impression we were valued for our efforts.

The second one was a different story. We were often reminded what a privilege it was to work there, as if we should be grateful for the opportunity to do so. Huge efforts were, and are, made to recruit new volunteers that could be moulded in to what they needed. Anybody who had been there for a few years, and had an opinion, was very much taken for granted and treated accordingly. I always thought that if as much effort had been made to KEEP existing volunteers as was put in to getting new ones they would have been in a good place. After 12 years things became "difficult" for me and I had no obvious future path to follow, with an intimation that my services were no longer required so I walked away. I was not the first, and I am certainly not the last. Many "good people" I knew there are no longer involved.

 

It has always been the case.
Loco's, Train riders and Station Staff will always be likely to be the positions most covered.
Any other position hardly get a mention for vacancies for volunteers.

 

What are "train riders" is it anyone riding on the trains (in a staff capacity), or is it a specific discipline?

I am surprised that passenger-facing roles are that popular

Is it skewed by all the skilles roles behind the scenes that need high levels of training/qualifications (signallers, fitters, tea-drinkers etc)?

 

I'm not sure we should view fifty weekends a year as realistic for most people in 2025....

 

Between a five day week job, family, a band and any other social activities, I'd be lucky to get a weekend a month to volunteer. Not that everything is weekend based but Im completely useless in the evenings. A mandated four day week would probably raise numbers by a sizeable amount.

 

As someone who’s just got back into volunteering after raising children (my kids are 10 & 7 now) I’d really like to see railways try family volunteering to retain people like me and encourage those that left to have families come back.

I know it wouldn’t be easy and of course they couldn’t do anything safety critical, but my kids would love to dress up and check tickets under supervision, do some basic gardening or even painting. A few weekends per year would be enough.

the Talyllyn is the only railway I know that attempts this, but that’s a bit far away for us.

 

The Bluebell runs the 9F club for those aged 9 - 16. Think they meet once per month and do stuff round the railway, including stuff in the loco yard.

https://www.bluebell-railway.com/childrens-clubs/

There’s a waiting list to join, I think the biggest constraint is having sufficient adult helpers.

Tom

 

Train riders to me are those who take any chance to just ride up and down without any intention of actually doing anything (Or as little as possible) physically towards the railway.
TTI's, Guards and Stewards etc are not in this category.