Which railways will still be with us in 10 years?

You have a point there Martin about volunteers and what preserved Railways can offer the public.

On the latter I feel that one must offer more than just a train ride, and to do that one has to keep the volunteers happy which links in with the former. I have been thinking for some time that perhaps a little more than just a "thank you",(which does go a long way mind you), should be offered to regular volunteers, even if it is just expences such as petrol/diesal money this would help in these times of recession.

Anyone any ideas along these lines?, (pun intended).

Chris Willis

 

What could be just as much a problem as spreading resources among too many lines, could be spreading resources among too many locos. We all like a variety of locos, but it is worth looking at how long some engines (even popular ones!) have to wait for overhaul once their ticket has run out. Does this indicate that available resources of money, materials and volunteer labour are being stretched?

John

 

There could soon be serious competition for Thomas - "Chuggington" http://chuggington.com/. Ideal for the railways who don't have many steam locos. It's proving very popular on the BBC's CBeebies channel. All you need is a Deltic, Japanese Bullet train .... ideal event for the NRM, then!

Chuggington has got some dodgy operating procedures, mind you!

Richard

[attachment=0:2mfwzd0q]chuggington.jpg[/attachment:2mfwzd0q]

 

Looking at the signals, I see what you mean.

Meanwhile as has been posted if several lines were forced to close, by moving their stock to another line the new setup could be much stronger than 2 smaller set ups.

I am concerned though that reduced numbers of visitors = less income. This in turn means less expenditure, so a gala week end might only mean as many as three locos working. This in turn will lead to a down turn in visitor numbers in a viscious circle.

 

I have every confidence that the Strathspey Railway will still be here in 10 years time and will be a much stronger outfit for it.

The SR taps into a very strong tourist base, has a strong band of local volunteers and is very business orientated. I am pretty confident that with the current long-term plans in hand this railway will survive the current recession and continue to grow strongly.

I believe the last two years have been record breaking in terms of revenue generated, let us hope that steam continues to flourish in the far north.

 

Awesome, rastafarian railcar!

It's mentioned several times but one point I believe is paramount - the destination. There must be something at the end of the line! I know a lot of lines have to rely on run round loops in a field (And museums dont really come under this), but a place to go is very important for the parents/siblings/spouses who have been dragged along (And most of these people will have cash). Even a simple cafe with somewhere to sit is nice.

 

Light blue touchpaper...!

 

has he got a cryistal ball then?
more worrying is what kind of state will the surviving railways be in by then? , will the bluebelle have run themselves into the ground in the rush to get to east grinstead ? it could happen,
will the mid hants be strapped for engines? , because by then the loan agreement for the bunch collection would have expired and the engines removed
will the isle of wight be running not only wotton to ryde st johns but maybe to shanklin ,under a line sharing scheme , dont write this one off, under a new franchise , there will be the need to maximise the potensial of the island line , how much would you pay, too travel to shanklin behind an 02 as a special working with an ivatt on the other end

 

Nice one Martin, however just one small issue if I may?. You are most likely correct that by 2014 John Bunch,s loco,s could be gone, but are you not forgetting others that willbe in traffic such as 30506, possibly 828, 92214, the black five,34007 60019 to name just six?, there could be more.

Regards
Chris Willis

 

Nice one Martin, however just one small issue if I may?. You are most likely correct that by 2014 John Bunch,s loco,s could be gone, but are you not forgetting others that willbe in traffic such as 30506, possibly 828, 92214, the black five,34007 60019 to name just six?, there could be more.

Regards
Chris Willis

 

Hi Martin you keep on about the MHR when you were a regular volunteer. But you are forgetting that you haven’t been to the MHR on a regular basis for sometime now and we have all moved on from the days you were a regular volunteer. I think you need to make an appearance again at Ropley before you make another comment about what has happen in the past and what could happen in the future at the MHR.

 

meaning what? , by and large ,everything i say is possitive about the MHR, all i am saying is once these engines go, because to be honest i cant see them staying will it create a motive power problem? if you are trying to accuse me of making any trouble, then you obviously dont know me , yes the MHR has moved on, and im glad it has, but the issue of these engines and the loan agreements are not settled and the point of my original question was, what will the state of the railways be in? or is it now MHR policy to threaten ex members , ie " i think you need to make an appearance again at ropley before making another comment about what has happened in the past,or what could happen in the future "

 

meaning what? , by and large ,everything i say is possitive about the MHR, all i am saying is once these engines go, because to be honest i cant see them staying will it create a motive power problem? if you are trying to accuse me of making any trouble, then you obviously dont know me , yes the MHR has moved on, and im glad it has, but the issue of these engines and the loan agreements are not settled and the point of my original question was, what will the state of the railways be in? or is it now MHR policy to threaten ex members , ie " i think you need to make an appearance again at ropley before making another comment about what has happened in the past,or what could happen in the future "[/quote:3gmfaftb]

Lee it could be a time issue in this day and age? Not having a go at anyone; I'm just stating a point from a personal perspective.

 

why does every thread have to turn into an argument about the MH? I work there but sometimes it would be nice NOT to discuss them directly. Who cares what happens to the bunch locos in 2014? The railway has 8 others likely to still be there. The valid point though is that all lines need a sustainable loco policy, and THAT was what the bunch deal has allowed the mhr to develop. Can we now talk about the other railways please?

 

OK, which ones would you like to talk about young man?. :-k

Regards
Chris Willis

 

Blimey mate, it only looks as though he was using the Mid-Hants as a 'what if' scenario; he used the Bluebell and the IoW as examples as well. I didn't see anything in his post that was made as a definitive statement or that was particularly controversial.

 

Blimey mate, it only looks as though he was using the Mid-Hants as a 'what if' scenario; he used the Bluebell and the IoW as examples as well. I didn't see anything in his post that was made as a definitive statement or that was particularly controversial.[/quote:2j1m9126]

I agree with you there - All too many a time do people like to go and jump the gun and go in head first....

Maybe back on subject again everyone.....

Railways back in 10 years I can see many surviving; even in these hard times. Bluebell, MHR, SVR (If they can get over their problem with being drowned by the current rainfalls over recent times) NYMR etc.

Actually. I have to ask this what is the drainage like around the SVR? Not digging just a question, incase this hasn't been asked before?

 

meaning what? , by and large ,everything i say is possitive about the MHR, all i am saying is once these engines go, because to be honest i cant see them staying will it create a motive power problem? if you are trying to accuse me of making any trouble, then you obviously dont know me , yes the MHR has moved on, and im glad it has, but the issue of these engines and the loan agreements are not settled and the point of my original question was, what will the state of the railways be in? or is it now MHR policy to threaten ex members , ie " i think you need to make an appearance again at ropley before making another comment about what has happened in the past,or what could happen in the future "[/quote:2gmyl88d]



Sorry Martin for going off at you yesterday.

I can't see there being a loco shortage at Ropley over the next ten years. Just look at what is being overhauled or is about to come back in to traffic on the MHR

92212 about to reenter traffic
45347 out sometime this year
34007 must have about 8 years left on her ticket
30506 overhaul in progress
75079 Parts being made for her
30828 overhaul in progress
41312 to run at spring gala and owner has funds available to pay for overhaul
35005 out of traffic and will be overhauled at some point in the future
30499 awaiting overhaul

So you can see we have a good section of locos to enter traffic over the next 10 to 15 years that are owned by other groups or by the MHR. Also we are still in talks with 34105 Swanage group and 76017 owner.

 

apology accepted, now wheres that sense of humour that railway men are known for? lets keep it light folks lifes too short, to fall out over things that we have no control over , we have to hope that the people we trust to run our railways get it right and get our railways through the lean times, and if they dont, bring back the stocks !!!

 

In brief - the answer would be: 'pretty good these days'.

It was a condition of much of the insurance monies, etc received that all the repairs had to be able to cope with a re-occurance of such a 'once every 200 years' meterological event, so 12" and 24" drains were replaced with 1000mm drains with inpection chambers, etc...

Following the course of the river closely along the valley, all the water will cross the railway somehow or other as it finds its way into the Severn.

If interested, the whole saga is covered here: http://www.svr-vlo.org.uk/floodline.htm in reverse chronological order.