48624

Imported_48624 - i usually lost all arguments with Vince!

 

Didn't everyone lose arguments with Vince ? Cos if he felt he was losing he'd get the F's and C's out !!

Easter Weekend: 1st Long weekend of the year, lots of punters about, any chance of hearing a Stanier Hooter in
the Derbyshire Dales ? Maybe 2 train running ? Don't be so bl**dy stupid ! She'll be cold in the shed AGAIN............

Someone Remind Me Please, WHY do we Bother ?

Sorry for the Cynical tone. Just finished Nights and feeling muxed ip............

Simon.

 

This is precisely the thing that is mystifying many of us at Peak Rail. As I said in my resignation statement, an ordinary business would have leapt at this chance to grow their operation and attract new custom. Instead we get treated to a succession of excuses from management as to why the 8F CAN'T be used. We've tried asking why 48624 isn't used on footplate courses to earn money to pay its steaming fees - management refuses to listen or answer. (Nearly) everyone at Peak Rail has the dream of crossing the A6 and heading onwards to Bakewell and Buxton. I don't think the top manager does - lip service is paid to the idea (enough to get people to open their wallets) but if they were really interested then they would pursue a policy of squeezing every last drop of revenue out of their existing operation. Instead, on winter Saturdays we don't run (presumably tourists don't exist in Matlock then, only on Sundays) and on a bank holiday weekend we're just running the same old J94 up and down whilst, as Simon points out, the magnificent Stanier sits cold in the shed. The management was even ordering the shed doors to be closed today - perhaps afraid of people seeing the caged beast within? (Some flimsy health and safety grounds were given). This year's timetable is about the same as last year's, give or take a few special events. Turnover and profit of Peak Rail PLC remains roughly constant - the swings might gain a bit one year, but at the expense of the roundabouts. We couldn't cross the A6 alone but we'd make our case to the grant-awarding bodies far more substantial if we were trying to do everything we could. But we aren't. It's almost as if, in the mind of the top manager, Peak Rail has reached a level which is satisfactory and it will NOT be allowed to climb above this. There are compelling theories to explain the observed phenomena but they are sadly not suitable for republication in an open forum! There's plenty of volunteers working in the groups on and around the railway but hardly anyone working ON the railway itself. There's one fewer of those precious few as well now, since I quit as Editor. A crying shame - there's so much potential in the place but not whilst current management is in place. Oh, and, the PLC board consists of five directors - three ordinary and two managing directors. The ordinary directors have to offer themsleves for re-election once every three years. The managing directors don't. Make of this what you will.

 

It's enough to make you weep isn't it? The present operation is almost the complete antithesis of the vision that most of us signed up to in the '70s. The present board seem to want to operate a sort of second rate Thomas type attraction for toddlers on the one hand, and a diesel restoration site on the other (you couldn't call it a museum). Very little effort seems to be focused on what most of us signed up to - the recreation of a Midland main line through some of the finest scenery in the country (most of which is well to the north of the current line). The whole set-up appears to be a very loose association of different loco groups and area branches - there doesn't seem to be "railway" as you would know it in other places, organised along departmental lines. As has been said, the actual running of the key infrastructure falls on a few dedicated individuals like Dom, Tim, Ben etc and the line-side team. As far as I'm aware (and I could be mistaken) there's no real Loco dept or P Way dept etc. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how it appears to me. They need to take a long hard look at their 'organisation' and compare what other ex-mainline outfits have achieved over a similar period GCR GWR anybody? it's not like they are lacking in local large centres of population for vols or punters.

 

I am afraid those who gain positions of authority and use them to stop an organisation expanding beyond what they can comprehend or control are very common in Railway Preservation (and elsewhere), and often very vicious when others (who recognise that to stagnate) is to die find a way around the road-block the first type of person presents. It is really the same clash as between those who gain what they get out of volunteering by seeing a railway expand and bringing pleasure to others (i.e. passengers and other visitors) and those who see it as a weekend toy train set for them to play with and don't really like it to exist beyond when they want to play with it!

Very sad.

Steven

 

Thanks for the explanation. What sort of reasons do the board give for not being able /not wishing to use the 8F and do they put forth any sort of justification or is it "thats what I think and thats that!"

It all sounds very depressing and demoralising.

 

It is all very depressing and demoralising!

 

Difficult to see why anyone would not want to see this loco used after a long effort & no doubt much sweat to return it to steam. Rather than relying on the railway to organise things why not arrange some footplate course days through the owning group of the loco hiring the facilities from the railway? (as an example).

This might give a chance to recoup a few costs, demonstrate the market to the railway's managers etc etc -

OR

It might prove that their agenda does not align with that of the active membership - in which case there is a problem!

 

Seems to me that if Peak Rail management don't want to use it or have it run on their line then they probably wouldn't hire out the railways facilities.
It doesn't sound like the railway I was a volunteer at all those years ago when Matlock Riverside was not far off being completed, an ex Br loco was something they were looking forward to having.
I presume the management has changed alot since then, and not for the better as far as the railways aims were concerned it seems.

Dave B

 

The management line is that we can only afford 14 steamings per year - no attempt to justify this and no discussion of using 48624 on footplate to earn money. The owning Group wants 48624 steamed at least 2 days in a row as when the fire is dropped she's still steaming gently the next morning. Problem is Peak Rail only runs on Sundays during winter (why - don't tourists exist in Matlock on winter Saturdays?) Peak Rail PLC owns the little tank engines they normally use so they don't have to pay steaming fees to use them. The flip side is that there's then no pot of money to pay for overhauls at the end of the boiler ticket. Zebedee should be next in line to replace Royal Pioneer once the latter is withdrawn for overhaul in a year or so - but Zebedee's overhaul is stalled for lack of cash. No-one will hire them a steam locomotive after this latest debacle so Peak Rail will be steam-free in the next year or so. As I said earlier in this thread, the management attitude is seemingly that it has reached a certain level and won't be allowed to expand beyond that. It's very sad.

 

I'm reminded of a cartoon picture of ostriches with their heads buried in the sand.

I can't remember what services we ran in winter when I was there. Age and memory don't mix sadly.:sorry:

Dave B

 

I'm afraid then that it sounds as though a visit will remain very low on on a lot of people's priority list when you consider just how many alternative railway days out can be had within say one hours travelling distance.

 

Had a report from a friend on site today to say that the train (singular - we don't do two-train running even on bank holiday Sundays!) was really busy. It's doing OK as "a train ride" but the management policies are driving the enthusiasts (and volunteers) away in droves.

 

Yes. It's time I came clean here - one of my daughters bought me a footplate experience thing on Peak Rail for my birthday - It was completed a few weeks ago on the 0-6-0ST "Royal Pioneer" and I enjoyed it very much ( Thanks very much to Ian and his fireman for making it so good !). The railway reeks of a need for volunteers and I was considering taking my involvement a step further. ( I've always been a bit apprehensive about doing this because it could easily become something that takes over my life - but to my surprise my wife seems to be encouraging it - I think it's got something to do with my Gordon Ramsay performances in the kitchen). I don't feel inclined to get involved with an organisation that seems to be in, or heading for, a state of civil war.

 

Classic situation isn't it ? To coin a phrase "you've got to speculate to accumulate" - unless 48624 is put out there and advertised you can't expect it to increase revenue. I assume only 14 steamings can be afforded on the basis of current income - so, unless something is changed, only 14 steamings will ever be affordable. Is this rocket science ?

I'm not sure that I quite follow the comment about the small engines lack of fees and consequent lack of funds availability when its ticket runs out ; - if you are saying that the funds are not generated as much as they could be because the small 0-6-0ST is not such a crowd puller then OK - but if a larger engine is used and it doesn't generate a revenue increase then there is an issue. To my mind the point is that until you try using the larger loco you will not know the outcome and if the managements mindset is risk averse then you are on a path that will probably lead nowhere.

 

On that basis, Peak Rail are in direct competition with (times from Matlock according to Google Earth):

Ecclesbourne Valley Railway (Wirksworth - 9 minutes)
Midland Railway Centre (Butterley - 21 minutes)
Churnet Valley Railway (Frogall - 43 minutes)
Great Central Railway (Nottingham) (Ruddington - 51 minutes)
Great Central Railway (Loughborough - 53 minutes)
Foxfield Railway (Blythe Bridge - 57 minutes)
Elsecar Heritage Railway (Elsecar 58 minutes)

The first two in particular are very close by, but don't forget the size of Nottingham and Derby combined, and for people living there the GCR and GCR(N) are a draw.

 

What I meant was that no specific steaming fee is payable for the use of Royal Pioneer and the other engines owned by Peak Rail PLC. Therefore no dedicated pot of money builds up for its maintenance - the revenue goes into the general PLC pot. So when the time comes for a major overhaul, the large sum of money required has to be found from somewhere - and the overhaul of Zebedee is now stalled precisely because this money can't be found. It's like owning a car vs hiring one in: if you own one you don't pay a hiring fee each day for its use, but you have to fund the servicing out of your own pocket when it comes due. If you hire your car then it's the owning company's responsibility to service it.

Peak Rail could afford the use of a large steam locomotive like the 8F by putting it out on footplate courses and dining trains - this is without assuming any increase in passenger numbers although I know several people who have said they would take their families for a day out at Peak Rail if they could ride behind "a decent engine". Proper advertising in the local press ("Drive this engine at Peak Rail!" - large photo of 48624) and the enthusiast grapevine would have them queuing up for footplate courses. Other railways manage it quite nicely - it's how the recent East Lancs steam gala with Sir Lamiel, Oliver Cromwell and Duke of Gloucester was funded. If you follow these lines then Peak Rail pays a steaming fee each day which is covered by the footplate courses and the owning group is then responsible for ensuring a pot of money has built up to overhaul 48624 when its ticket runs out. Everyone's a winner - in theory. Business cases along these lines have been drawn up for the use of 48624 but the management of Peak Rail seemingly refuses to consider them.

 

25th april marks the one year anniversary since we moved 8624 under her own power for the first time.What a weekend that was,certainly a proud one for many,and what we all thought would open a new chapter in Peak Rail history.
Just look at the happy faces in this video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h68yllkLARI
12th months on,and we spent yesterday dropping the water from the boiler for it's annual inspection,having lay idle in the shed since late December.It's hard to sum up in words how frustrated everyone feels at the moment.
I sincerely hope that in coming months or years the railway will be in a position to run something more than it's current set up,or I fear I may not have a railway to volunteer at in future years.

 

And all these are not just competing for passengers they also compete for the other essential commodity VOLUNTEERS!

Retention of these must be difficult in the extreme if volunteers become disenchanted by lack of open progressive leadership.

(add Barrow Hill to the above also?)

 

Exactly. Peak Rail has plenty of volunteers - it's just that they are all working around the edges of the railway on their own projects. Only a skeleton staff is working in the core area of the railway itself and some of those are paid staff rather than volunteers. It is, to quote a well-known figure on site, doughnut-shaped.