North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Because not everyone will want to go straight back as they will want more than just a "ride"

That of course is the model for many lines, and from memory was when the NYMR only went to Grosmont. But it appears they have (rightly?) built themselves a strategy around Whitby so how much of what has become the main customer base just want "a ride" is unclear. From what has been said about lightly loaded trains in the middle of the day perhaps not many.

So would the strategy be to just try to "up" the have a ride portion, which may include other offerings like afternoon tea or fish and chips, or turn Goathland into some sort of marketable “Whitby on the Moor”?

 

Is the water crane at Goathland fit for use?
I recall one day a few years back when 3 of the Loco crew tried for about 30 minutes to move the arm.
Is any treatment required for the water?

These points also apply to Pickering.

 

Goathland is a destination, although the "Aidensfield"/"Heartbeat" pull is now a lot weaker than it was. It should be reasonably possible to sell it as a destination, rather than just assume people will want to stay aboard.

 

It's not as if you could do the rail walk to Grosmont. It a fair pull back up the hill to do it the other way.

 

Whilst I don’t think the businesses of Grosmont have any come back at the railway for negligence I do agree with the villagers who are frustrated by a lack of comminication. They do put up with a lot of inconvenience caused by the railway and they do in turn benefit from the visitors but it must be a worry to those who rely on this trade. The railway also needs to realise that it relies on the guest houses and hotels that bring in people who visit the moors and as part of that stay do travel on the railway. It’s a symbiotic relationship. If listed building or any form of planning consent is required anyone can object and it’s up to the railway to build relationships and garner support. The village will be inconvenienced by construction traffic and could benefit from workers staying there and spending there but there needs to be some communication. According to a lady in the shop the parish council has power in the planning process and they have not been involved yet and they are getting complaints from villagers about a lack of communication. I for one may not visit this year if the offering is limited and not value for money (no sign of fares or timetable yet) and the people who need the trade must be worried that a lot of people will be the same as me. In order to be able to enjoy our hobby we need everyone on side and a village that turns against a railway could make that railway more difficult to run. I know others will disagree but we are a sector in trouble and we need all of the support we can get.

 

The Parish Council has very limited power.

Your right though that maintaining local good will is very important. However, we are talking about a railway that doesn’t seem to want to communicate with its own volunteers and members most of the time, expecting them to think about any form of dialogue with the locals is probably wishful thinking.

They seem to have a bunker mentality and not to realise that people would appreciate even a simple update even if it was “still no news, but we are getting quotes and trying to figure out what to do”. This is not an organisation that is well set up to face this kind of emergency either from a financial or any other perspective.

 

I don't know the present situation of the Goathland water columns, though I have personally used the one in the Down platform about 15 years ago and recall at that time it was necessary to turn on a valve under some boards just outside the water tank building first - until quite recently a large 'T' shaped key hung on the outside of the building for that purpose. As far as I know there's no treatment available there, even if water is available at all. If an element of top-and-tailing is involved, even if it's only for the Goathland-Levisham section, then all locos (except perhaps very small tank locos) would be able to manage Pickering - Goathland - Pickering on a single tank. Even without top-and-tailing, I think all current NYMR locos would be ok.

Treated water is available at Pickering, in both platforms. The 'bag' on the Platform 1 column was very leaky at one point, I can't remember if it has been replaced yet, but the column was just about usable in any case, the fireman just got a bit wet!

 

A lack of communication from the NYMR? Say it ain't so.

Exactly.

Noel