Llangollen Railway

Or maybe at the time, the large donation from JH would only be made if a certain number of locos left so that work could take place on the 9F. Or so I was told. That could be just rumours, maybe Bob could confirm.

I don't think llan engineering had made a profit since Dave Owen left as CME. Although that could be checked on the accounts on the charity commission and companies House. I seem to remember from a conversation with Dave when he was i charge that that side of the business made around 80k per year to add to the railway. Nice to have but certainly not enough to have a massive impact on the viability of the railway.

I personally think the railway is great from an enthusiasts point of view, however my children who are not massively interested have always said there is nothing for them to do on the railway. Not sure if other families think the same, but adding something for them to do could possibly be a good idea for the long term business plan.

 

Llangollen is not alone here. In fact most places suffer from the same problem which really does need to be addressed. There is also a need to provide things for non-enthusiast adult members of groups.

 

A good point being made here. One thing, I believe, that arises from lockdown and Covid-19 is that a large percentage of the population will look at their lives in a different aspect in the near future and aspirations maybe be different to what has gone before.

 

I have been keeping an eye on appeals totals (and posting on the appeals thread) and I agree LR's is confusing. A Facebook post on 4th June gave £78,000 but I haven't seen anything more recent.

Patrick

 

I suspect that many heritage railways would be very glad to have £80k added to their profit line each year in addition to the benefits of having a skilled and experienced engineering workforce to hand. If it is Llangollen's intention to survive on what can be earned in fares they may well be in for a lean time. The rail industry as a whole predicts it will take five years for business to return to pre-covid levels. How long will it take before the life blood of heritage railways, the over-sixties, return to fill the trains? How long will it be before it is permissible to fill a train to capacity? "Full and standing" may well become a railway expression consigned to history.

 

I can’t remember if the post quoting £78,000 went into detail, but I believe that figure is a combination of donations to the COVID appeal, purchase of shares in the PLC and a few small grants.

 

Yes, it's on the link: "As mentioned last month, our fundraising efforts have so far raised approximately £78,000 including online donations, share purchases, gift aid and the online auction. " (as at 4th June - nothing more recent. The online appeal shows £19,300).

Patrick

 

Anybody on here privy to what stock will be used for the Llangollen once they reopen? Mk1 corridors or will the sub rake be getting a run out?

 

The steam or diesel hauled set comprises four subs plus a bsk as brake coach.
This set is already made up and had its f.t.r. exams.
We will also be using dmu sets for part of the week.
The steam loco will be 3802 , but a class 31 diesel will haul some trains.
The railway itself is almost ready to go. The track and signalling have been checked over, all necessary tree cutting completed, the whole line including sidings weed-killed, and all station platforms weeded.
Our volunteers and un-furloughed staff have worked very hard to achieve the above and we will be able to open on 1st. August as planned.

Bob.

 

Nice to see some pictures surface of 3802 back in action in preperation for the reopening.

 

It shows that things can be done to a great extent given good management and planning. The WSR should take note.

 

What about all the other railways that haven't opened? Many are still closed.

 

"Many"? Hardly. Of these, a number have given dates when they will be opening and quite a small number have ruled out 2020 or have emitted not a squeak.

 

Interesting article, I'd sum it up as 'use us or lose us' Llangollen Railway in fight for survival as it prepares to reopen

Patrick

 

If you look in Steam Railway's latest issue there is a list the length of the size of A4 on page 11 yet to announce any reopening plans that continues over from page 10. Thank you.

 

Already out of date. Actually NP is the best source of current information on those who have re-started and others who have announced commencement dates.
A glance at a couple of webcams run by lines that have re-started revealed that there is business to be had and, hopefully , this will continue for the rest of the peak season.

 

It's literally just come out. I doubt all those railways have made an announcement in the last week.

 

You doubt too much. Steam Railway, like the other magazines, is published at roughly monthly intervals. The list in NP is added to day by day and collated from time to time. This is the sort of function done far better by electronic than by printed media.

 

It came out yesterday and would've been printed within the last week. As I say I doubt all those railways have made announcements.

 

It came out in the shops on Friday, to subscribers on Wednesday. It goes to press a week before that (the Tuesday I think) but the info needs to be in well before then as they can't keep changing, re editing all the time. So it's about 2 weeks old from when its available in the shops.