£15m GCR reunification plan announced

I would be very careful with your last sentence as I would imagine if our Chief Mechanical Engine for both Carriage and Wagon and Locomotive had seen that he would not at all be amused. We work damn hard on the GCr to keep both the loco's and carriages in traffic and for you to say that it has been made at the expense of maintenance is disheartening, maybe in future you can volunteer and help us out????

Which two gala's were poorly attended before not showing us any facts, over 4000 or 5000 people turned out for a January gala, our best ever for January, 6000 for October, almost as good as our Tornado Steam Railway Gala in 2008. I wouldn't say the Gr8 Escape or the 1960's weekend were poorly attended, granted not many people attended as we had hoped but i still wouldnt say it was poorly attended, can you state where you got your facts from??

 

From the GCR newsletter dated April 13th. (Copied and Pasted)



The weekend saw the arrival of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
and a fantastic display of locomotives in perfect weather. The many
people in the GWR team were very grateful for our putting on an event to
help them work toward the million pounds needed for the bank slippages
that had occurred. The figures for the weekend have been very
disappointing and we believe this is due to a combination of circumstances
including the weather, which dare I say it, was too good! There were
other events like the Grand National, opening of Ecclesbourne Valley
Railway, Thomas the Tank at Shackerstone, which obviously had some effect.

We have had a season of many Galas and will be reviewing how we move
forward to maximise income and keep strict control of the costs involved.
Bill Ford
President


Regards, oddsocks.

 

The G/WR gala at the GCR also coincided with the Llangollen SSG, to the disadvantage of both. It's all very well that the GCR is putting on gala events all the time, but it needs to consider the wider effects.

Regards

 

This is not a specific comment on the GCR, but, knowing the costs connected with staging Special Events in some detail, I do wonder how many railways do end up as genuinely pleased with results as they may say they publically are. Full credit to the GCR for being open about the G/WR "Aid" event and very disappointing for all concerned. Galas tend to be aimed to boost hat could otehrwise be poor times of the year, but the costs of competing in the "mega-Gala" market are so large, and the resultant risk so great, that I do wonder if we have some that actually don't do as well as a much cheaper ordinary service would. If they do yield a better bottom line, there must be some very quiet non-Gala days about!

I can see where the range and extent of GCR Special Events is coming form - in a crowded general leisure market, giving a name to a weekend gives something to promote, whereas otherwise its "just and ordinary weekend". "An ordinary weekend" may be pretty fantastic to members but the general public may well need more to attract them For example, plenty of places do "Easter Egg Hunts", Easter Bunny Days",which are probably comparatively cheap and easy to set up and give a headline to promote, whereas many railways at Eatser "just" run thier peak service.

My experience tells me the trick is decent variety, a range of events including many where the special effort is not in the service but in "side-shows" (Vintage Vehicles, 1960s or Wartime Events for example, but model railway swap meets, beer festivals, craft fairs, band concerts - the list of things to do whilst visiting the railway is almost endless), which will hopefully be done by different people for each event, possibly even groups otherwise unconnected with the railway in question who come together with the railway for the event only. Plenty of things to make differing groups of people consider travelling, but with a range of costs and involvement levels for the main railway personel. And don't get me wrong - such an extensive range of "happenings" involves a lot of work for some-one!

Steven

 

Nobody is questioning the direct effort that the engineering team’s put into their work at GCR.
If you read my post, it states that the profit "Seems" to have been made at the expense of maintenance - meaning in some areas from the outsiders point of view – and based on the the 12k operating profit from around 2007/8, overall looking at how the apparent trend could continue in the years to follow.

Moving into 2010; the possible ignorance in some areas (such as C+W) may have not been wise, given the upsurge in events; in turn usage and accumulated annual mileage at GCR of the rollingstock.
The General Manager’s article in the autumn 2010 Mainline Magazine reads that the state of some of the carriages is very poor...
…Three months later; Spring 2011 Mainline edition reads that the GM has a problem with how to fund materials and some of the labour to maintain the carriages.

Therefore was it worth not investing in these areas a few years ago and breaking even instead of creating a possible greater workload and expense that the company from what is written clearly cannot now afford?

Odd socks has already quoted the piece regarding the recent events and attendances.

 

I think that is a very sensible veiw on attracting other audiences, the GCR did this not so long ago with the Peppa Pig event. An ideal way to use a kids Tv show that has no connection with steam trains; somehow the marketing team did combine it with a "tea party on the train" and had a variety of non railway related options to keep the kids amused I think.

 

cannot fault the gala's at the GCR,ive been to many, the last I went to was the Lostock gala.
my dad and I wanted to go because of the north west theme. my interest and what my dad remembers from steam days.

just an observation about the recent 1960s gala.
the gala and line up looked great, its just the name of the gala seems a bit misleading.

a GWR liveried autotrain
LMS liveried 8f
ww11 liveried turkish 8f.

not very 1960s, I think the gala could have had a different name is all im thinking.

I think the 1960s theme is so a few diesels can run also.

it wouldnt have put me off, I couldnt go for other reasons, but Im wondering if it may have put off some enthusiasts.

 

Have there been any developments on "Bridging the Gap"? The old web site has disappeared, and I haven't seen any updates for many months.

 

same, in for updates.

 

Just been on the GCR website and followed the link to Bridging the Gap.
Bridging The Gap | Bridging The Finance Gap
Not what I was expecting....

 

looks like the old domain name has been sold

 

Is this still going ahead?

 

Not at the moment perhaps, but if i remember rightly at least some of the money was potentially available before the recession hit, and its not impossible that money could become available again in the future. We'll just have to wait and see.

Chris

 

So long as it does some day, it'd be a shame for the only double track heritage line to be limited to 8 miles.

 

I remember the reading of "Main line" (their house magazine) in the 90's.........they projected to achieve this objective for the millenium!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:rolleyes1:
better not comment more!
regards
Noel

 

Hilariously over-optimistic ambitions are only hilariously over-optimistic in hindsight...

 

I would not be quick to count them out just yet, certainly from what I've read in an article in the latest issue of Steam Railway (although I know that SR's reputation on this forum is shaky at best...)

It appears the project is still alive and kicking, and are very much determined as before, with a hint that their making good progress with finding financial backing.

Although inevitably as so many have justifiably pointed numerous time on this thread, with the current climate being what it is at the moment, it was all but certain that the project would be effected in some way or another, and it has, but perhaps not in the way that you we're expecting...

It would seem, from what I can tell from the article, that their aiming to bridge the gap with a single track formation now, not the much assumed double track form. A pity, as I quite liked the concept of a undisrupted 19-20 mile double track steam railway, but I have to be realistic about it, and it's obvious in terms practicality and financially, which out of single and double track formation would win.

Better to have a single track linking the two lines together then none at all I say...

Although one could argue that, while not exactly practical, theres always the possibilty in the future (albeit the far future), that they could widen it to double track, if ever still disired.