Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway Updates

Yes HE2890 is on hire for the rest of the year, the P3 contract was to May but I beleive Embsay would be happy to keep it

 

I doubt the NYMR would have much work for the P3 this year either. They've got a much more limited service than historically and stretched finances. I suspect they wouldn't be unhappy at losing this one off the hire bill for another year. NELPG seem to have built up a good relationship with the Embsay team and the engine is well suited for the work there. I'd be surprised if they didn't get to keep it for another season.

On a side note its not a bad thing for NELPG to be more broadly based than just at the NYMR. It offers more security of work for their engines and means more people get to see their work as well (as the LNERCA have found with their carriage fleet in recent years).

The Embsay team have done well to foster those relationships.

 

You may be right, but I find it very sad that both the LNERCA and now, increasingly, NELPG are finding that their best interests lie away from the NYMR. It really amplifies the fact that the NYMR has lost sight of its roots as a heritage railway and is quickly becoming a rather bland tourist attraction. It's not for me any more, as I cancelled my membership, together with plans to leave legacy - and, sadly, I think that, increasingly, I'm not alone in that - but but for many of us , we joined (in my case 0ver 50 years ago) to support a heritage railway, not an out-and-out, unashamed, purely tourist attraction.

 

Slightly ironically the P3 would've been perfect for the first 3 months of the NYMR's services as it turned out. Likewise the teak set could've been used. Oh well.

 

But that's thinking like a heritage railway, and offering something better than usual. It was never going to happen!

 

NELPG News 352 reporting loco to remain at YDR until September when it will return to NYMR for Autumn events.

 

Whilst I acknowledge your support as an enthusiast, sadly enthusiast finance is insufficient to keep a heritage railway afloat; a few years ago the Mid-Hants identified that enthusiasts only provided about 10% of its income hence the need to find other sources of income. For many lines in "tourist" areas that often means turning to bus tour operators such as those attracted to Embsay & Bolton Railway among others. This is NOT a simple question of becoming "a bland tourist attraction" but a necessary means of survival. A consequence of this is that some lines have more rolling stock available than required hence able to loan it to other lines with 2 major advantages - (1) it generates additional income for the item owner and (2) it provides the attraction of a new item of rolling stock to attract custom. In that context it would be interesting to know how much extra income was generated at the SVR which recently attracted both "Judy" and "Duke of Gloucester" to a gala which has been reported as (financially) successful. Sadly for the (purist) enthusiast the income required by heritage lines is greater than the enthusiast community generates and the harsh reality of survival requires a wider and more commercial market especially where the larger sums require a greater legal and financial commitment as heritage lines are forced to become businesses with the consequent need to meet financial and legal requirements. That reality has moved on from the original heritage line experience of "playing trains" leading to many providing training and experience for volunteers to join railway companies based on their time spent on heritage lines. In yet another move away from "playing trains" many heritage lines not only provide a supply of trained railwaymen but also earn income from providing facilities for training staff and testing rolling stock.