Churnet Valley Railway General Discussion

Early Season Success
https://www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk/news/cheddletonsuccess

 

Please vote for our volunteer Rob, voting takes less than 30 seconds!
https://www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk/news/volunteeraward2017

 

Photos from CVR Bank Holiday Monday running now online at with 5197 in service: https://www.flickr.com/photos/frank47524/albums/72157684335425616

Something a little different...

 

Photos from this weekends Ipstones running with 5197 now online at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/frank47524/albums/72157681718550712

 

I am sure I will be subject to all sorts of abuse by the CVR regulars, but the railway really needs to sort out its online presence. Their website is basically unusable on a mobile 'phone. Assuming you can work out that the timetable lurks several tiers below What's Going On, you then have to play a game of battleships to find out on what days trains actually run. Assuming you are fortunate enough to click on a day which has trains, the page you are taken to is completely filled with links to other parts of the site, and you have to work out that you need to scroll down to find the timetable. I did email the railway at the email address shown, asking for a timetable, and it took them six days to respond.

I am planning to visit tomorrow. Using a PC, I can see that there is a "Cream Tea" in addition(?) to the service trains, and clicking on that link you get the bizarre message that "Departure times are advised at the time of booking" - any more for the Skylark perhaps? So presumably I have to go into the booking process to find out if the times suit. (It also apparently departs from Froghall when I was planning to drive to Cheddleton). Perhaps this is the IT age equivalent of me not being able to open a slam door?

 

We are aware of restrictions with mobile users, and it is something we are currently looking into improving.
We have updated the "What's Going On" so that when you click on a date all of the day's events/services show, which is the best we can do with the software currently being utilised. The dates that trains are running highlight Red, whilst dates with no services highlight black. Again limitation of the software, though Black dates have no hyperlink so you can only select dates we are operating.

Tomorrow there is a Cream Tea, but this is fully booked as shown on the Moorlander Page <https://www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk/lunch-dining-cream-teas#Cream Teas>. All Cream Tea services depart from Froghall, but despite the train being booked we still offer the same Cream Tea from our Tearooms at Froghall (just obviously not on the train).

To assist mobile users I have added our A3 poster < https://www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk/poster > which can be downloaded and viewed offline as well.

 

Thank you for responding. On the mobile site, it would be helpful if the calendar page could state that dates shown in red are days on which trains are running, and that one should click on the date to access the timetable. The links occupy valuable real estate on the resultant timetable page and should all be removed or put below the timetable.

Speaking as one who has less than perfect colour vision, it would be helpful if the operating dates could be bolded rather than differentiated by colour. It seems to have been designed by the same person who thought that putting a tiny blob of colour to indicate that a toilet was engaged was a good idea.

 

Maybe it would be bette to rename your railway' "Chutney valley railway"?!!
Marc noel

 

Jon Jon

The link to the poster did not work for me - 404 file not found.

 

Also what I can't wrap my head round is why on some days trains only run from leekbrook junction.

It appears to be days when it's a service on the cauldon lowe branch.

 

https://www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk/poster

 

I shall see if the software will allow this. We are working through upgrading the website to make it more mobile friendly, but with us in the busy summer period it maybe a project for the winter.

 

No trains start from Leekbrook..?

 

Had our visit. Very good day out, everyone very friendly, unhurried, nice scenery, plenty of walks to do in connection with the trains. Were shown around the shed and yard by a volunteer, tried an oatcake. The tearoom at Froghall sets a standard by which other lines can be judged and found wanting, it actually looks like an NT tearoom rather than the usual formica affair stinking of chips common to so many railways. The lady in charge was very impressive. Highly recommended. if only they could choose a better livery for the Polish tank aka Kermit - how about midnight blue?

 

Nah, fully lined NSR madder lake!

 

Details for the Summer Gala available online, as well as advance tickets.
https://www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk/news/anythinggoes2017

 

I had a great day yesterday at the Anything Goes event.
People are saying that the council approved the extension into Leek a week ago. If this is right then it's great news.

 

Video from the Anything Goes Weekend

 

Not quite. They have offered to pay for the Environmental Study, and proposed a lease for the land required to be used as the trackbed for the return to Leek. But it's not a completely done deal, so we're waiting for signatures on dotted lines before announcing anything. It is a step in the right direction though. Shame @John Stewart is no longer with us as he could of explained this better than I ever could.

 

Evening,

Photo's now online from CVR's Anything Goes Gala/Cider Fest with 5 locos in operation over the weekend featuring 08633's first trains in Pres: https://www.flickr.com/photos/frank47524/albums/72157682693123763