Mid-Norfolk Railway

"My 'everything is alright in the steam department' t shirt is asking a lot of questions answered by my t-shirt.

 

The line is open back to Wymondham, I had a nice ride on the train on Sunday. 47580 was in service instead of steam, 80078 could be seen in the yard. Hopefully the weather will allow them to run steam before the end of the year.

 

https://www.midnorfolkrailway.co.uk/post/new-business-model-to-address-financial-issues

 

This is not the first public pronouncement cited on here (from various organisations) to suffer from inadequate proof-reading, but I won't dwell on that. Somewhat puzzling is this:

If, at the time when the line closed, the permanent way was no longer good enough for BR to run freight, how have they managed to run passenger trains until now? If some of it was renewed, shouldn't that still be in fair condition?

 

Thank you, Joe, for posting this item. It is rather concerning as the line is clearly faced with some issues which have been kept somewhat under the rug until recently. If they need serious financial support it is essential to get the message out clearly and with full explanations. I note that @5944 raised a couple of queries last June, which were not answered, and reference to the Trust's website shows only three news items posted since last September. What happened to those updates that @Peter@mnr promised us when I opened this thread in June 2021 ?
As @MellishR posts above; some of the published statement does not seem to make sense and I for one would like to see a clear statement of where the line is at in regard to the half-dozen or so projects that were in process pre-Covid. What has been achieved over the past couple of years, what has been postponed or cancelled, and what new matters have become essential ?
The railway's news item also states that they are in need of more volunteers, something many lines are experiencing at the moment.
My concern is that the line needs both financial and labour support and yet it fails to communicate with the wider HR community from which such support will mainly come.

Mike

 

The Mid-Norfolk have opened an urgent appeal for £95,000 to enable repairs to the Crownthorpe bridge which, from the photograph and the way the appeal reads, is preventing access to / from Wymondham and, therefore their ability to run. See www.midnorfolkrailway.co.uk/emergencyappeal .
Oddly, there is no report on the Railway's website of what has happened or why. Only the request for funds. I do note that they are in the process of reorganising their management structure so perhaps that explains the lack of information.
The situation looks a bit desperate but a bit more information would be helpful in determining how much help to provide.
Can anybody enlighten us ?

Subsequent to posting this I attempted to make an online donation to the appeal but it only offered a £5 option or £100 (plus two higher). There is no way to give any figure between those two although other options are offered on general donations. Not clever !

 

https://www.midnorfolkrailway.co.uk/emergencyappeal

This says any amount may be given.

 

Yes, I know, but if you go to the Donate page from the appeal page it only offers you the four options, as I described. It does the same if you go in direct from the Home page !
I imagine most people will want to put in something between the two lesser figures, if other appeals are anything to go by.

 

They can run, but not all they way to Wymondham Abbey. They did run just to Thuxton for the first part of last year (due to some other track repairs) and the article linked to below states they intend to do that until this bridge is fit to carry trains again. It also means they don't have their mainline connection to Dereham or the sidings at Kimberley Park - don't know if Greater Anglia or anyone else on the big railway still uses the latter.

There is a tiny bit more detail about the bridge in this separate news announcement on their website: https://www.midnorfolkrailway.co.uk/post/new-business-model-to-address-financial-issues

The bridge in question is located here: https://goo.gl/maps/zKjbkCu28jpXSuz28

 

Thank you, David, I think I missed or misunderstood that news item. Glad to see they are focusing on their problems.

 

My interpretation from it is that the aging infrastructure has caught up to them faster than expected, and no money was set aside for such an eventuality. Or it was all spent last year when they had to do track repairs before running all the way to Wymondham. Hence the need for this appeal. I'm not criticising here as infrastructure is a problem for all railways and we've seen plenty of other appeals from other lines to fund repairs. I will say the communication could be improved to inspire confidence in people contributing or who may potentially do so.

 

I think your interpretation is about right but they do seem to have had a habit of over-confidence, having several projects on the go at once, and, of course, Covid has taken its toll. Hopefully the new organisational structure will help them focus.

 

The railway has announced they will be running trains to Thuxton from 29th April: https://www.midnorfolkrailway.co.uk/post/the-mid-norfolk-railway-to-reopen-on-the-29-april-2023

Calendar on the website updated, shows diesel services on that first weekend but then steam (blue timetable) the following Sunday and during May. So if things go to plan 80078 will be getting some running - don't think they have another steam loco at Dereham right now?

 

I see the appeal is now close to £20,000 raised, so off to a good start.

By the way, I found a way round the fixed figure problem : just purchased £5 units until the desired figure was reached !

 

Visited the railway yesterday and 80078 was in service as advertised, so I was able to get a first steam trip on this line for me - only to Thuxton of course. This is a good sign, I visited twice last year and the advertised steam was not running. To be fair the first of those was due to fire risk, but on the second occasion seemed to be a crew shortage. Then the 47 that was running broke down at Wymondham, fortunately for me I was not travelling on the train that day. I travelled on the penultimate train yesterday, the cream tea service on the final train looked to be pretty popular. Coaches looking very smart, with a couple of maroon Mark 1's recently out shopped from Dereham.

Dereham Road Bridge near Whinburgh.


Thuxton/The North Pole.


Dereham.


Near Garveston.

 

The Mid Norfolk seems to have a rather low profile here, but thought that this item on their website might be of interest A Year of Progress at the Mid-Norfolk Railway (midnorfolkrailway.co.uk)

 

Thank you for that. It is good news, and it looks as though the new board is getting to grips with some of the problems.
As I've commented before, their PR people are missing a trick by not posting to NP. Perhaps you could make a point of keeping us informed ?

 

Well, no further news from the Mid-Norfolk but I see they have up-graded their web-site again (www.midnorfolkrailway.co.uk) and are re-opening track.
Their appeal for £95,000 made in April last year has now reached close to £44,000 which seems very slow compared to some other lines. Is there some reason they are not favoured or is it just that they have a very low profile ?

 

Too busy imploding by the looks of it.

https://www.derehamtimes.co.uk/news/24049936.mid-norfolk-railway-investigation-launched-allegations/

 

Oh dear ! This disease seems to be catching !
Thank you for posting; even bad news is better than none.
I hope they can get it sorted soon. It is a nice line with definite potential.