jnc's Recent Activity
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jnc liked 5944's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
Total GWSR employees - 22. Number of admin and marketing employees at NYMR - 17. I think I'm right in saying Spa Valley has around 7 employees, and yet they managed to put out a daily blog about the bridge replacement as well.
May 17, 2026 at 1:22 PM -
jnc liked Kirk Oswald's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
Believe you me the ladies in Grosmont Co-Op are far more knowledgable about the railway than the Park Street Polit Bureau.
May 17, 2026 at 1:21 PM -
jnc liked Jamessquared's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
If it were GlobalMegaCorp PLC doing the work, probably not. But for an organisation that is making an appeal for every penny it can get to fund the works, I’d expect every opportunity possible to push the message (1) look how much we’ve done...
May 17, 2026 at 1:21 PM -
jnc liked Ploughman's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.
Another example of there is always some bits left over on completing puzzle.;);)
May 17, 2026 at 1:17 PM -
jnc liked Matt37401's post in the thread West Somerset Railway General Discussion.
There’s also a a good reason why some of us think ‘Stuff You’ and flick 2 fingers up in the general direction when the begging bowl comes out again. If you can’t be bothered to be open and honest with people, why the hell should they should be...
May 17, 2026 at 1:13 PM -
jnc liked Kirk Oswald's post in the thread West Somerset Railway General Discussion.
The point you m The point about not responding on social media is reasonable, except when significant staff numbers are specifically employed in PR roles. Employing 17 salaried non-comunicators isn't a sensible use of funds. The WSR has lost...
May 17, 2026 at 1:13 PM -
jnc liked ghost's post in the thread West Somerset Railway General Discussion.
So whenever the quantity of paid staff on the NYMR is raised, your first line of defence is to talk about the cost of volunteers and how difficult they are to manage. Never the positives of volunteers. Who said anything about Nat-pres? As Pete...
May 17, 2026 at 1:10 PM -
jnc liked 35B's post in the thread West Somerset Railway General Discussion.
In general, paying staff is not the purpose of the charity but a means to the end. If that end can be met using volunteers, it will generally be possible to achieve more towards those purposes than if the same work has to be paid for. As with...
May 17, 2026 at 1:09 PM -
jnc liked paul1609's post in the thread Kent & East Sussex Railway.
When the Tenterden railway car park is full there is a council car park at Bridewell lane which is the other side of the a28 high street from the railway. It's rarely full unless there is an event in the town. It's about 600 yards away and £6 for...
May 17, 2026 at 12:57 PM -
jnc liked 26D_M's post in the thread Strathspey Railway.
Well, like most big industrials they were designed for lifting prodigious loads at low speed in relatively short bursts and without much 'timetable' pressure. The Austerity design seems somehow better suited than most other contemporary types to...
May 16, 2026 at 5:52 PM -
jnc liked Pete Thornhill's post in the thread West Somerset Railway General Discussion.
Maybe or maybe not. There are a lot of variables but while accepting a volunteer isn’t actually free it’s doesn’t necessarily go hand in band that a lot of part time volunteers cost more than a smaller number of paid staff. I could also argue...
May 16, 2026 at 5:49 PM -
jnc liked Pete Thornhill's post in the thread West Somerset Railway General Discussion.
That seems a bit shortsighted. I remember the SVR ran an appeal through the company rather than the supporting charity. They had their reasons as it was discussed at the time, the lack of gift aid didn’t stop me making a donation. What would stop...
May 16, 2026 at 4:46 PM -
jnc liked 35B's post in the thread West Somerset Railway General Discussion.
An old argument about which there’s little new to be said. As I’m seeing in another context, probably the most important thing that leaders can do is minimise the perception of difficulty as people do need to take on those duties. As for the...
May 16, 2026 at 4:46 PM -
jnc liked Pete Thornhill's post in the thread West Somerset Railway General Discussion.
I must admit when I read your post I thought you had the GWSR in mind, it wasn’t all that many years ago they had no employees but do have a few these days.
May 16, 2026 at 4:32 PM -
jnc liked 35B's post in the thread West Somerset Railway General Discussion.
I completely agree. But (and this is only slightly related to the WSR), the success of such appeals will depend heavily upon the credibility of the organisation’s leadership. Trust in the ability of that leadership to a) use the funds well and b)...
May 16, 2026 at 4:31 PM
