The famous younger generation?

The younger generation, so we are told, are, or more accurately will be the lifeblood of tomorow's heritage railways. But are we really doing enough to interest modern youngsters who are all too absorbed in their playstations, Wiis, and computers to take any notice of steam trains?
What do you think should be done to encourage younger people into railways to ensure the future of all heritage lines for future generations?
Any suggestions welcome!
Just throwing this out there.

 

no discussion on liveries and position of the smoke deflector?? ask too much to narrow (gauge) minded so called railway enthusiasts:fish:

..........this-your-thread is at most interesting and necessary!
regards
noel

 

Offer themselves as work experience to local secondary schools, especially for "Design and Technology Students" or get some funding to run college courses (I've no idea how that might come about).

 

Some railways are far better at attracting younger volunteers than others. The Swanage Railway is fortunate in that it has a large number of youngsters in a number of different areas of the railway, and there have been many occasions where the entire train crew, along with signalmen etc are under 30.

Looking at things generally, a good, well organised youth group with a variety of projects to maintain interest and (all important) sufficient adult volunteers willing to assist in accompanying and training them is very useful. You will soon lose younger volunteers if you only give them one sort of task to do all the time. A mentoring scheme could also work well, allowing the youngsters to experience areas of the railway without being dropped in at the deep end. Give the younger volunteers some 'ownership' of projects too; we have the 'Sygnets van', and I have spoken to the owners of some of the potential projects around the place with a view to transferring ownership to a Sygnet group as well; this can only help with the feeling of involvement with the railway as a whole, and the motivation that comes from this.

If possible, don't discourage those youngsters who don't necessarily want to be part of the youth group though and plough their own furrow. I know of several younger volunteers at Swanage who did not come through the Sygnets.

 

I actually did my GCSE level (year 10) work experience in the Works at Ropley. I vividly remember the excitement on my Engineering tutor's face when he came into the works for my visit and saw me working on a Colchester lathe; "I did my apprenticeship on these, I can't believe it...!"

It took a bit of initiative of my own (particularly as the General Manager at the time seemed unable to respond without a bit of prompting...) but railways are able to offer it. I know at Swanage we have also had WE students at times.

 

You got lucky. I wanted to do work experience at the Bluebell but told I wasn't old enough yet one of my friends of the same year and was younger did.

Ropley seems to do well in attracting the younger generation by work experience and apprenticeships and if it was a bit nearer I would consider going for one myself seeing as I'm ending my college course in a few weeks. I did enquire at the Bluebell about apprenticeships but sadly they don't do them anymore.

 

Some great responses, I like the idea of younger volunteers having some kind of 'ownership' over something on the railway and the thought of work experience at railways. One of the ideas I was thinking of was some kind of more national scheme of young member type groups, a bit like the Steam Aprentice Club that the National Traction Engine Trust run. Prehaps something similar could be organised with the HRA?

 

Not sure whether it was getting lucky, or just a reflection on how long ago I did it; things have changed in that respect even in the 14 or so years since I did my work experience.

 

I am sure something similar was mooted through the railway press a couple of years ago, Andrew Hardy from the Middleton Railway rings a bell as the person putting the idea forward.

 

Most of the comments above seem to refer to engineering, but there are so many more areas on a heritage railway which could provide work experience for young people as part of their school/college/university course. Catering, marketing, and retail immediately come to mind.

The most successful volunteer organisations I have worked with have a single point of contact for new volunteers. This person's contact details are easy to find (homepage of website, brochure, answerphone message) and they have the time to respond quickly to enquiries. They could also look out for new opportunities to publicise the volunteering work - eg. to local schools/college. The "Volunteer Liaison Officer" (or whatever they are called) can also help to introduce new volunteers and check on their progress. New volunteers may not always be suited to the first department they work in, so they need to be steered somewhere else rather than drift away.

Richard

 

I am a student, and have just finished my GCSE's and became a volunteer at North Norfolk Railway (in July 2010) after doing 2 weeks work experience in the 'Carriage and Wagon' shed as part of my school curriculum in June 2010. At the time I liked trains, but wasn't a 'proper' enthusiast. However after spending 2 weeks there I became hooked, as it seemed a nice place to be with lots of friendly people (and still meeting more!!) and the idea of being able to eventually drive / fire a steam locomotive was 'novel' to me.

(Also when I went to apply for a work experience placement they asked me which area I wanted to be in : Loco, C&W or Admin)

So, in response to your question, I think that work experience placements should be more advertised / encouraged as they give experience of work and can encourage to become a volunteer.

 

I'd say provide child care facilities and something to make it interesting to the non-steam interested female population in their 20s and 30s.
Failing that just make it interesting for woman and the blokes will come out of then woodwork (or the engine room).

 

I know the comment about liveries below was flippant, but there is something in that. The great backbone and engine house (to mix metaphors) of the preservation movement is and has been the generation who remember BR steam. As a result, what they really want to see is lots of Brunswick green and black locos.
Those of us who only just remember BR at all are not really that interested in that - what fired our imagination as youngsters is Mallard in blue, Scotsman in apple green, Leander in crimson lake, lots of variety of liveries.
Similarly, a lot of people seeming to be very pedantic about "authenticity" of preserved steam, and getting very het up about liveries, smoke deflectors, etc, etc, is completely off-putting to someone who is interested, but not obsessed. I do not mean to be rude about people who are passionate about details - that is absolutely fine. But please don't get cross with people who like the look of Royal Scot in red just because this loco was never red when in "revenue-earning" service. If it gets people (youngsters especially) interested, then that's far more important - after all, Scots Gaurdsman is green, and in green RS would be identical except for number and name.
I know this is a very silly example, but if you were someone vaguely interested, and perhaps looking for information on how to get involved somewhere like here, and came across a very acrimonious and over-heated discussion of the colour a bit of an engine should be painted, would you think "these guys sound like just the sort of people I would like to spend my valuable time working with"....?

On another tack, I also spent my 4th Form (Yr 10) work experience in a railway workshop (Llangollen in my case), and it was great. It was in a previous century, though.

One point which may be relevant (or may not, depending on location of your railway) is simply logistics. If you are distant from any centres of employment, or located in an area where house prices are monstrous, there are unlikely to be many young people around. I know some do drive hundreds of miles for a weekend's volunteering, but this tends to be people already committed and with some driving or signalling or guarding to look forward to. Not many people will drive for hours across country just to clean up around someone else's site.

 

Here here! Well said!

 

I'm 22 and was always put off volunteering in my teenage years because of, as I saw it, the limited opportunities available in the areas of railway volunteering that were interesting to me. Youth organisations, such as the Mid-Hants Rangers and the SVR Junior Club are very engineering and maintenance orientated - polishing locos, clearing embankments of foliage etc. I think that I would have gotten involved in railway volunteering sooner had there been better opportunities in the uniformed departments - stations, signalling, on-train staff. Fortunately, in the past two or three years whilst I have been volunteering as a young adult I have seen opportunities for teenagers in these areas improve.

Regarding how to get youngsters interested in railways in the first place - well my first word was train (seriously) and my parents and grandparents were always as a child taking me to heritage railways and I could and can often be found in my Grandads well-appointed model railway filled loft. In other words, I was brought up in a very railway-orientated family and fell for it hook line and sinker. For those children who aren't so lucky (if that's the right word?!) - perhaps better communication with secondary schools. Volunteering is an excellent CV point and Careers Officers in schools could point this out to students.

 

From my teaching experience in a London sixth form college, they are always struggling to find enough work experience placements for their students. The placements they find aren't always very relevant to the students' courses and not very exciting either. If a heritage railway made an effort to contact the schools/colleges in their area, they could get a lot of interest. They would need to think about training and working hours to suit the students' course requirements.

Richard

 

It is essential for our future to encourage youngsters even if they are very young to participate in our greatest of hobbies. Obviously age restrictions have to be in place for many tasks involving public safety .In my experience I have seen them progress into a wide variety of careers as they enter adult life including all aspects of engineering as a result of the enthusiasm which our railways have encouraged in them. Quite a few I know are now also professional railwaymen although I don't know how widespread this is acros the nation!.Has the railway industry ever acknowleged our young volunteers are a potentially good source of quality personnel?

 

I actually couldnt agree any more !
I went to a uni which had a large Mechanical engineering school that is very well renown, (though I did IT), many friends are and were ME's.
I recall at the time many went overseas, to the forces or very distant towns in order to complete their placement years.

I see two oppourtunities here...

ME courses have ME facilities.
ME's need experience, often to their doorstep.

Their core competencies are based on experience and design, the "What" it is is irelevent.

Preserved railways could provide "school" based activities in locomotive restoration (be it designing drawings down to machining parts) at the Universities ME Workshops.
Similarly railways can provide a physical proof of effort based on input (i.e. what they aid with during the week has tangible proof at weekend)..

Dissertations based on Preserved railway projects could go a long way.

The only draw back as ever is cost...
universities like businesses to attract funding, students on placements want to be paid, otherwise all the tools are there in the box.

 

Agreed, it seems that certain departments appear to natrually sell themselves, and it is all to often the case that the less glitzy ones appear not to make that much effort.

 

It depends on the heads of department, but also the age of the person: under 14 are very limited, 14-15 are quite limited, while 16-17 are better and can legal be allowed to do more things. Of course, 18 year olds are still young and can do more or less anything given training.