Volunteering at a Preserved Railway

Hi All,

I wanted to talk about volunteering at the UK's preserved railways and peoples experiences of this, the reason I am interested is last year for my birthday I was bought a steam engine driving course and it got me thinking about volunteering as I enjoyed being active around the shed and would like to take up the role of a cleaner.

Having a full time demanding job I was thinking of maybe volunteering once a month maybe for a long weekend, would this fit in with how preserved railways operate?

Being a member of my local model engineering society I have had a chat with a few of our members on their thoughts on the subject and the general thought seemed to be that some of the larger railways that are close-ish to me (I live in south east wales) have clicks that have developed that can sometimes be off putting, what are peoples experiences of this?

I’m sure I have more to say but would like to see everyone’s opinions first as I would not want to be put off by picking a bad egg so to speak.

Thanks

Helix

 

Go for it Helix!

The idea of going for a weekend once a month sounds quite feasible and would give the chance for railway involvement with a bit of social as well. Quite a few volunteers do this if they need to travel some distance.
If you have been involved with model engineering this could be a bonus as you may already have skills & knowledge which are more difficult to obtain nowadays.
Go for the railway you like the most. You will probably find that there is competition to join the loco dept on the larger lines but they tend to offer better training & a more interesting operation.
Don't be put off easily particularly at the start. A lot of heritage line management both full time & volunteer is stretched.
There is little doubt that most lines could do with more young, keen, motivated volunteers.

 

Seconded.

There's a number of volunteers in the steam department at the GWSR who a) started off by doning a footplate experaiance and b) come from that part of the world.

Regards

Stephen

 

If you don't try, you'll never know. A long w/e once a month is a good commitment. some volunteers will do more, others less. If you have aspirations to go on the footplate, is does to some extent depend on how much time you are available as to how you progress.
As to cleeks, all parts of society have them, whether it is your local pub or even work. Some people are more sociable and extrovert and they usually fit and socialise more easily. Wherever you go, you need to persevere and don't judge things on the first couple of visits. Remember, it is not only you that has to get to know things, the railway and its staff/volunteers have to get to know you and your abilities. Expect to start off with fairly menial tasks, such as cleaning, scraping and needle-gunning. Be assured that, if you have any skills, people will soon latch on to them.

 

General experience seems to be that if you're there mainly for the trains, a bigger line is better; if you're there for a social in which trains are involved, try a smaller one

 

Well I did for one.... about a year ago. Though as you can guess by my NP name, I'm from Bristol rather than SE Wales but it's a not too dissimilar distance. As for cliques, the only clicking that I found was the bit by me on the GWSR website to find the volunteering page. I can't speak for other railways, but we're a pretty friendly bunch at the GWSR.

 

I've been involved with 3 railways (not all at the same time) that are all very different from each other (1 standard gauge, 2 narrow gauge) and found them all to be fine. If you're willing to turn up, work hard and not try and tell everyone what to do then you'll get on fine.

 

Started at Steamport Southport in 1972 and progressed via the Mid Hants 1979 - 82 to the NYMR 1984 to date.
At each place just found out where the most help was wanted and got stuck in.
Been involved in Locos, C+W, S+T and P Way.
You will find cliques but thats life isn't it.

Put in the time you can afford to it all helps.
As said earlier stick it out for a number of times before deciding if its for you or not.
Also different depts on a railway do different stuff so look around for what interests you.

 

What part of South Wales are you from? You will be most welcome at the Gwili. We do only have a small fleet of engines but there are plenty of opportunities if you are keen and willing to muck in . We also haves nice MK3 sleeper as volunteer accomadadtion should you wish to stay at the railway.

 

Hi all,

Thank you for all your reply’s and encouragement, there does seem to be a lot of options out there, as JWKB pointed out above the Gwili has a MK3 sleeper as volunteer accommodation, is something like this the case for most railways and is this what most volunteers tend to do that travel a distance to a railway (early starts etc) or is bed and breakfast the way to go?

I must say the GWSR does sound very interesting as I am a big Great Western fan although as I have never been to the GWSR maybe a visit is needed when the running season starts again.

Thanks


Helix

 

Not all rlys have volunteer accom, we at CVR don't (at present).

Swanage do though, as does NYMR / KWVR / Talyllyn / Ffestiniog / WHR. Sure others do as well.

 

If you live in SE Wales don't forget Pontypool and Blaenavon up in hills, or Dean Forest with its strong GWR connections, or the 15inch gauge Perrygrove Railway in Coleford (between the Dean Forest Railway and Monmouth) with the Sir Arthur Heywood connection.

 

The Talyllyn always welcomes new volunteers, in all departments. Contact volcoordinator@talyllyn.co.uk for further information. You will be welcome to come and visit us to have a look around, just let us know in advance when you are planning to come.

 

GWSR has a number of two bed "pods" for volunteer accomodation. Others that I know have accomodation are West Somerset, Severn Valley, Ffestiniog, Bodmin, South Devon.

Stephen

 

Also Welshpool and Llanfair

PH

 

Also the Bluebell, though it is fairly rudimentary. I think enhanced volunteer accommodation will be high on the agenda of many railways in the years to come, as the standards that people have put up with before become increasingly untenable, both from a volunteer point of view and from a legal compliance point of view.

A couple of things to consider, wherever you volunteer:

- If you choose to go on the footplate especially, you'll be in for some early starts and late finishes. You'll almost certainly need your own transport, or else very understanding wife / parents / significant other.

- If you get the chance, I'd suggest seeing if you can try several departments (on both the operations and maintenance side), or at least talk in depth to volunteers in each department, before making a final commitment. You may feel now you want to be a driver, but actually find after a little while that the satisfaction of restoration trumps that of operating. Also worth remembering that your contact with the public varies a lot depending on role: P/way staff will hardly ever meet the public; platform staff will have to be very confident in interacting with them. So again, it depends what you feel comfortable with.

Tom

 

Most heritage railway accommodation is pretty basic but usually FOC or nearly so for those working on the railway. If you are looking to stay over I would be careful to ensure that you enroll somewhere where others do the same & where there is a town within walking distance which provides opportunities for a little off railway social with like minded folk. Nights spent in remote sleeping accommodation with few other folk can be rather dispiriting.
There is a good social life at both Bewdley & Bridgnorth around the SVR if that interested you as well as plenty of operation on a comparatively busy railway.

 

Have a look at Volunteer « West Somerset Railway which has a ton of information about volunteering on the West Somerset Railway.

Steve

 

I started volunteering at the age of 15, and have never really looked back; to the extent that I took a fairly major change of career last year and now work full time on a preserved railway! I think the work is enjoyable and rewarding, and the social life (in a responsible manner, I hasten to add!) and banter around railways takes some beating.

Everyone who works on a railway will have to accept that it is almost inevitable with the size of some of our organisations that some cliques will develop, and as with any voluntary activity there can be some element of politics involved. However, one of the great things about being a volunteer is that one can have as much or as little involvement with this side of things as one likes. If you want to ignore the political side of things, then this is entirely possible. One weekend a month is likely to be enough to work your way through a locomotive department, indeed this is what I did while I was solely volunteering. Speaking for the railway I am involved with, we have a requirement of a minimum of 15 turns per year in order to retain competency; obviously a weekend per month will satisfy this requirement. However, I am sure you will appreciate that the more time you are able to devote, the more rapid your promotion through the ranks is likely to be.

One thing I would say, noting your intention to pursue the footplate side of things; if you are able to, then one of the best ways I found to pick things up was to take a week holiday during the summer and spend that on the footplate; having that much time at once just seemed to help in making things 'click'. In addition, if you are around the same people frequently, then this helps to develop the social side of things too!

 

These "pods" you speak of, what do they look like?