Swanage Railway General Discussion

No, The Christmas presents fully wrapped, were supplied by a company ,or possibly two companies to various heritage railways including Swanage and Mid Hants, until it/they went bust during the covid crisis, Hence. the change to Train of lights on several
heritage railways.

 

It is very much an outsourcing model with perhaps the railway just doing the part it does best, running trains.
As you said without knowing, or expecting to know, the commercial arrangements in a time of economic crisis (or at least as it seems on the BBC lunchtime news everyday) it should bring in a guaranteed revenue stream, for a reasonably well known (coal & diesel prices permitting) outlay.
From a quick look at the "blurb" what strikes me is that there are things in the offering that could provide the railway with a serious headache in managing.
Firstly that logo WB appears that instantly means probable vast licence costs and probable strict "rules" in how things are produced. Actors are mentioned as is interactivity with the passengers, does the railway have the resource or skill base to source these people and manage the on the day issues if some are sick or unavailable. Steam only at the London end, so the loco is obviously only seen as part of the "experience". Group bookings are handled by an outside website, maybe all bookings are.

On the face of it as an observer I would suggest a good option to try for 2023, when the railway is not awash with money (like most)

 

DBS checks for the Front of House staff as well is something that often doesn’t get considered.

 

Good point Matt.

 

It5's an event where I think that the concessionaires will provide whatever actors etc. will be required. The same event has been very popular on other lines, I'm surprised that no-one has come up with a competitor, as I think happened with the "Train of Lights".

 

You can't look at the Polar Express from an enthusiast point of view. I've done Santa specials with my daughter and we did the Polar Express last year. It takes a lot of what you get in a Santa special but imerses you into a full piece of theatre that goes beyond a train ride and seeing Santa. Kids and adults seem to love it and I have never spent 6 hours in a queue on a website to get tickets for any other railway event! I did when this year's tickets went on sale for the Spa Valley and there wasn't much left when it was my turn! If it provides Swanage with a cash boost over the winter best of luck to them!

 

The Middletons Company went bust recently

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...founded-by-the-middletons-sold-after-collapse

 

The railway is able to do what it does best and run the railway. The Santas were amazing and maybe one day they could come back but they relied on an awful lot of volunteers giving up their time during the most important time of the year for many families.
This way the railway can secure its income, budget accurately, be associated with a high quality product and bring thousands of visitors who may never of even considered visiting the railway.
Outsourcing this sort of thing is proactive, realistic and forward thinking. Stick to what you know and do it well.

 

We did away with Polar Express here at Railway Museum of BC in Canada , deciding instead to create our own North Pole Express themed event , hence excluding the costs of mounting a company themed event with all the franchise etc costs and having to buy tons of merchandise that goes unused ...... Our event seems very popular with our locals , sold out last year ....just for info .........

 

The question has to be "Is The Polar Express a Thomas in disguise?"

 

I think it was the other way round. The trains could t be planned and so the business supplying them went bust.

The traditional Santa trains were impossible due to social distancing and the concern that still existed to some extent at Christmas 2020 that present giving might be a vector of transmission (that was at least a perception and the guidance at the time tended to discourage items passing from one person to another without some cleansing or a period of quarantine). Also I think the other factor in deciding not to run Santa was that the order for presents had to be made by April, and no one was going spend £tens of thousands at that point in the year (locked down) when there was no indication when / if heritage railways would be able to welcome visitors again that year. Certainly that was the thinking at the MHR.

 

I remember seeing the Polar express (can't remember which railway but might have been in the Midlands) featured on a TV programme using a rented in USATC S160 Class loco. There are few of these in the UK so might be already booked for 2023?.
There were also good trained staff, so presume like Mattlel does with Thomas, Warner Brothers has standards for this?.

The Spa Valley railway used Sir Keith Park so presumably the SR will use one of its regular locos?.
Glad your daughter enjoyed it.
I see it's recommended the Children are familiar with the book or film before a ride. I remember the film being shown at children's Christmas party and it went very well. Although animation Tom Hanks is good.
Guess this replaces the lights train?

 

I see they used 257 Squadron last year, so presumably size and shape of loco isn’t important.

Looks like the steam loco is on the Swanage end so perhaps it arrives at the crowded platform as part of the ‘show’ before the actual journey


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I wonder how much of "the show" will be visible from Gilbert Road so passers by can see it?

 

From my memories of the film, seeing would be much less important than experiencing - especially for children.

 

Surely that misses the point that could be one of the reasons for the switch from Santa's. There's no point in running trains (Santa or PE) if you're not filling them. The view/photo ops for anyone without a ticket is irrelevant.

 

I agree experiencing the event (rather than just being an onlooker) is far more important especially for children.

The Santa Specials were always very well sold with IIRC a load factor of C95%+. AIUI If booked passengers missed the train (for whatever reason) it was always a real challenge fitting them on the next departure.

For truly special events for example Strictly Bulleid, Flying Scotsman there was always a significant number of onlookers crowding out Gilbert Road and Northbrook Road Bridge. Such were the concerns for public safety on the first FS event, Northbrook Road Bridge was closed to vehicular traffic, only pedestrians were permitted.

Swanage Railway is a large part of "Swanage" and many locals appreciate being able to view "the goings on" either from the platforms or the vantage points on Gilbert Road and Northbrook Road and of course the observation area on Court Road near the Operations Office. Whilst there is no given right to observe proceedings "free of charge" it would be pity if local goodwill was lost. On the other hand SRC has to act in a commercial way. Hopefully everyone will be happy with the Polar Express and it will deliver much needed cash into the coffers,

 

No one seems to have thought maybe Swanage were made an offer they couldn,t commercially refuse to run the trains.

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=236149132692380

 

Swanage was asked a few years ago and thought at the time it was a logistical nightmare (quoting PSM). Others have perfected the operation and Swanage now feels the time is right to run with it.
A friend of mines daughter was part of the production company that worked at the South Devon last year. They were all equity members, stage school etc.