Mid Hants Spring gala

I would suggest that you put your name down to retake the customer focus course.

Its the moaning minnies that pay for you to play with trains

 

Well you couldn't exactly speak to the people who were unable even to pay for a platform ticket to access the stations could you?

You can't just pass off every valid criticism as being 'determined not to have a good time'. Nobody would go if they were determined not to have a good time. Just accept that mistakes have been made in the planning of this gala. It all smacks of a blind determination to alienate as many people as possible.

 

Just general things going wrong really. Once one train is late it knocks on the next, and the next, and the next.

 

I disagree, as a staff member who was on duty. On our WTT's we had Tornado's runs marked, and would have been quite happy to work out which engine was on which set for people.
There will not be a loco roster as I understand it.

 

There is policy not to sell intermediate fares, and this is clearly advertised. Otherwise it makes a mockery of the system.

 

Посмотреть вложение 1053 Re Saturdays late running. It had settled down to an approx 40 minutes late by 2pm but I am guilty of putting another 20 mins into the lateness sorry !! 5224 climbed past me at Bishops Sutton not being worked hard compared to how I know it can be and two lineside fires started.
I had to phone Alresford and request assistance putting them out 92212 duly stopped in the down direction and the crew did one whilst i put the other out. One burnt area to the right of the picture.
David

 

Yes David - I heard that from the guard of the down service! Not something you expect to happen on a spring day. Anyway David - i shall blame you for me booking on at 0810 and booking off at 1950!

 

You only started at 08.10 tut tut !! Lets see what today brings shall I bother taking a time table with me or not .......David

 

Possibly not. It was more of a hindrance that a help by the end of the day.

 

Not really - that's paid for by mum, dad and 2.4 kids. If we had to rely on 'enthusiasts' to pay our way we would have been a cycle track years ago.

 

True Chessie, and that is why we run far more Thomas/Ivor/WotL/Christmas Leave events than galas.

 

but she didn't want an intermediate ticket, she wanted to use the Midhants as public transport - a bit of flexibility would potentially seen her come back.

 

Here here, I took a day's leave from work to be there. Hardly the action of someone who was determined not to have a good time.

I was undecided about a treck up the A1 to the NVR gala or the midhants gala this weekend. In the end I went for the midhants as its my local line

I support the Midhants as its my local line and I never really believed all the bad stories that one reads on here.

In fact, despte the disruptions on Friday, I was thinking of bringing my son down today but given the response to my posts I will take my money elsewhere - so that's £100 you guys have lost the railway

 

So you think it's a fair price tag that the average family(mum,dad & 2 kids) will have to pay a whopping £80 just to access Ropley Station to see Tornado, even if it's late in the afternoon?

 

i think the way tornado swapped trains at the Alton end everytime it got there was a bad idea as this was clearly adding more time to the already big delay. Why operate like that when you could just run round?

 

I would like to make the comment here that it is clearly advertised in advance that no platform tickets will be sold.

It is all very well people saying that they would pay just to go on the platforms, but if they stay there all day or get on the trains it is difficult for the TTI,s to get to them. Remember some people are not as honest as the rest of us.

I also suspect that hundreds more who come and photo from the lineside do not contribute anything at all and are just as unwilling to even pay as much as £5 just to go on the platform , perhaps we should start a fund to buy the farmers some shot gun cartridges?

Just my opinion.

Regards
Chris:

 

Ah well never mind - to look on the bright side at least you won't be moaning about your experience.

I don't fix the prices - and they are ALL advertised in advance.

I'll try and explain why it gets to me - having been on the MHR for over twenty years (volunteering as in giving my time and effort for nothing) experience has unfortunately taught me that the 'enthusiast' is the one person who will ALWAYS find something to criticise. They bring the least income to the railway (I include in the term enthusiast the photographers who want full and free access to the line and surrounding privately owned land to get their perfect shot) and are the hardest to please. I didn't start off with this cynical attitude - as I stated above experience, sometimes bitter experience, has given me this perception. Everybody on the MHR, from Bob Deeth who has to think on his feet to keep the service going when engines fall over, down to the people who have to clean up the aftermath of some of the more socially challenged of the enthusiast brigade, everybody works their socks off. And yet - there's always something wrong. I don't like Thomas events, but give me the people who attend these and other non enthusiast events every time - I guess sometimes it's nice to be appreciated.

 

Yep you really really don't get it.

 

Unless matters have changed since I was a TTI, when station staff know there is a TTI on the train it is not unknown for last-minute passengers to be told to join the train and pay on board, rather than delay the departure while they queue to buy tickets at the booking office. On gala occasions when premium rate fares are charged this means that 'casual' visitors who have obviously not come because of the special event are surprised at being asked on the train to pay a much higher fare than they expected. What is the TTI supposed to do in such circumstances? It was not the visitors fault that they were put on the train without knowing there was a higher fare on that day. If he only asks them to pay the normal fare, what will other passengers who have bought their tickets at premium rate think when they can see and hear people being allowed to ride for a much lower fare? Should the TTI ask such unwitting visitors to leave the train at the first stop, thus leaving them with the problem of how to return to their starting point? Or use his discretion and pretend he hasn't seen them, thus collecting no fare money at all? More than once I was faced with this kind of situation during my years as a TTI on the MHR. There was no guidance laid down as to how TTIs should handle this kind of problem. My own policy was to ask for payment at the premium rate, but advise the visitors to write in to the railway setting out the circumstances and claiming back the difference between the normal fare and the higher special event rate. I also used to give such visitors a note explaining that they had been told to join my train by station staff who had not explained the premium rate for that day.

 

Well said Chessie. It is the "enthusiast" that always complains. I spoke to several people at Alresford and Ropley on Friday and even though it had gone horribly wrong they all said that they had a good time, so job done.

As for the people just wanting to see Tornado then why not park in the FREE car park at Ropley and view from the field or one of the many vantage points along the line?

LN850 what is your problem? I suspect you were one of the cliquey/anti volunteers in the "bad old days" of the '80s and '90s that were squeezed out by the forward thinking less self centred guys that make the railway such a pleasure to work on today.

I haven't posted before as I look at some of the replys and think "who cares?" but some of these posts need putting into context. It is not "moaning minnies" that pay for us to play trains it is the normal punter. The galas are put on for the enthusiast so be happy that these events happen.

Simon, it's a shame that you feel you can no longer support your local railway but, oh well, one less person whinging.

If you want to change things come and give us a hand and have your say.

Chris, perhaps you could restore an armoured wagon with some heavy machine guns............much more effective than a single shotgun.

Anyway, rant over. Hope it all goes well today.