MHR diesel running days 2015

This coming Saturday 37324 will be in action. See link below for a full time table and diesel loco roster days.



Alresford departures: 10:10, 12:12 & 14:15
Alton departures: 11:15, 13:20 & 15:26


http://www.watercressline.co.uk/sho.../Class 37 50 205 Running Days Public 2015.pdf

 

Thanks for posting that, but I have to ask, why is this information not more obvious on the Mid-Hants Website. If you click on the 14th on the timetable, there is no mention of a third train. Does the Mid-Hants want people to turn up or not?

 

Looks to be an oversight on the web site. I emailed someone to see if can be fixed.

 

The point I was making, is why is the railway not making more effort to market this. If you don't tell people, why would they turn up. More effort required from the marketing department, I think.

 

Perhaps after last year's very disappointing passenger turnout for the very well promoted Diesel Gala they have lost a little faith in Diesel events? The MHR lost money on the Gala.

 

Seeing as its the most recent item on the MHR facebook page and twitter which links to the website showing the timetable, I would say the marketing department has done a good job of advertising the event. The interesting thing is the following day (mothers day) is a 3 steam service day; so in fact will need an uplift in passengers to cover the additional steaming fee, coal, water etc.

 

MHR web site time table has now been updated for the 14th March.

 

Might have been well promoted but if you dont get the product right then people (for whatever reason) wont attend.

 

You can only get what is available at the time. The class 4o not attending was a shame and no one can take blame for a gauging issue.

 

The 40's non appearance didnt help but for whatever reason the product did not attract enough bodies to make a profit.
Maybe an event with less costly visitors (ie transport costs etc) would have made a profit

 

All 3 Class 37's out and about yesterday.
37 324 failed at Alton, the train was rescued by 37901 and 37324 itself was rescued by 37905.
The manoeuvres gave rise to this interesting shot:

Class 37 "37 901" Alton by timz2011, on Flickr
Which appears to show the first Ex-London approach to platform 3 in many many years.
Certainly one of the station staff mentioned that in all his years at Alton, he'd not seen this before.

It would have been nice if a few more diesel fans had turned up though.
If we don't show support for diesel running at the Mid Hants, then opportunities will be harder to find.

 

The date was at the wrong end of the gala season in my opinion. Furthermore, it's unlikely I was the only potential attendee for whom this was a one loco gala. Without the 40, I had better things to do.
I will attend diesel running days at MHR but only when it's the 50 or Thumper, 37s don't do it for me.
Fickle things diesel fans.....

 

There was a massive debate on WNXX over the diesel gala problems last year, and it was clear the loss of the 40 was a big blow. As I said there at the time, it was the main draw for me too but its absence made me more determined to attend as I knew that news would hurt the organisers' chances of keeping the event going for the future and wanted to vote with my feet/money and make sure my rover fare was in the pot. Only managed three hours there on the Sunday morning before work, but that was enough for some great 31/37/DEMU entertainment because the Mid-Hants gradients guarantee brilliant noise whatever your preference. But I try to be as 'unfickle' as possible because a) while I've got favourites, I generally enjoy classic traction of all varieties and b) I therefore want as many opportunities to travel behind it as possible so want to help keep events sustainable.

Massively sad to see the diesel gala go but I will be there for three of the diesel running days (one each for 37, 50, DEMU) this season. Would've loved to kick off with this Saturday but it wasn't quite going to work with family/work logistics after I'd done Llangollen on Friday and with night shifts from Thurs-Sun so it'll have to wait till one of the summer slots. Will definitely happen, though.

Don't think there's been too much wrong with the publicity for these running days. Agree that a bit of clarity on the line's website sooner would've helped, but in terms of getting news out to diesel enthusiasts in the right places, I think most people likely to turn out for 37s, 50s or DEMUs will have been alerted via the right forums, websites, social media etc.

 

Just wanted to add my thanks to the MHR for an enjoyable day Saturday. It's a shame 37324 failed as it sounded great on the first trip out of Alton, hopefully nothing too serious. Well done for bringing 901 out though as they could have quite easily finished the day there. People seemed to enjoy the day and certainly the guard I spoke to on the train said it was good fun.

I agree with those previously who encourage people to turn out for future events like this and I'll try and make it out for when the 50 and Thumper are running. If the loco for future 37 days could be publicised in advance as was done for this one I think that would also help.

 

Tell us how to get the "right product" ....

Seldom a truer word spoken.

Diesel galas are extraordinarily difficult to organise because of three factors:
1. Diesel fans are fickle. Some like Sulzers, some English Electric, and if the like one they hate the other. Small Sulzers are great, but not if it has been to a number of other galas. Like Magpies diesel fans want the new and shiny all the time.
2. Road transport is spectacularly expensive. One round trip for a small to medium sized loco will cost £4k+. That's a lot of bums on seats. Rail transport is affordable (you can move upto 5 locos for around £10k) BUT, if you start adding in multiple stops the risks and the cost become untenable, so the number of different locations is reduced. Some owners will understandably not let their locos be hauled at 60mph on the mainline, and some locos lack the required paperwork / maintenance regime to permit it anyway. So getting the equipment that will satisfy condition 1 above, is very difficult / impossible.
3. The effort required to arrange loco hires, book haulage, advertise, devise timetables, organise crews, prepare rolling stock etc etc is considerable. It is quite fun, but it is time consuming, and compared to some other types of event, not as profitable.

 

If I did that I would have to kill you......

 

The product was fine in 2013. It came off less well in 2014, due to factors largely outside our control.

 

Well, this fickleness has resulted in no Diesel Gala this year.
I'm sure that the PTBs are watching the numbers on the Diesel running days, if there is no obvious customer demand then I have doubts whether they will risk a Diesel Gala in 2016.
I will be doing my best to be there for the running days and will be dragging my Kettle fan mates with me as much as I can to help with the numbers.
It would be great if other Diesel fans could help the cause rather than adopting a petulant "I don't like that one - I'm not going" approach. That will get us no-where.

 

Selective quote.

I understand why you say this, but I have to disagree. Like so many others, I am a very hardworking man. I often work weekends and my free time is really precious to me. Riding on trains is only one of several leisure activities I enjoy. When I have a spare day, it's unrealistic to suggest I ought to spend it doing something I don't enjoy.
I only go to see what is to my taste whether at an art gallery, cinema, opera house, theatre, museum or railway. This is not petulance, but it is fickle.

 

You have a perfect right to spend your time and your money however you want. My observation is that the interests of many diesel enthusiasts are so finely segmented that it is very nearly impossible to run an event that appeals to sufficient numbers to be viable. Wont necessarily stop me from trying though.

To draw a comparison with steam enthusiasts....we ran a GWR gala last year. Lots of people who are SR and LMS or LNER enthusiasts still came. Also we didn't get anyone complaining that the gala was useless because we didn't have a 28xx or a King or because the Manor didn't make it to the event. We don't get many steam enthusiasts who wont come if one specific loco drops out. There are fewer diesel enthusiasts than steam enthusiasts, and steam enthusiasts tend to have broader "taste". Result: much more difficult to stage a diesel gala successfully, and therefore much less likely to happen.