North Norfolk Railway General Discussion

A busy day yesterday at the 1940'S Gala.



more photos at https://flic.kr/s/aHskH6ruKd

 

I was there both days for the 1940s event and the Saturday was busier than Sunday despite the forecast being better for the last day. I dont know how true it is, but the Eastern Daily Press reported that NNR ticket sales were suspended Saturday due to safety fears through overcrowding. It was certainly the busiest I have ever seen the NNR and Sheringham high street was heaving. Hopefully they all made a thumping profit.

 

I think the thing which impresses me about the NNR 1940s event(s) is that it isn't just the railway, but Sheringham (and Holt?) are involved too, with shops and cafes all joining with the theme (not my photo, but seen via a friend who lives in Sheringham - the whole album is worth a look):

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...61869964.1073741957.1383961747&type=3&theater

 

I did a platform turn at Holt on Saturday afternoon of the 40's weekend. Coming on the A148 from the Sheringham direction the amount of cars parked on the grassy bank so close to the junction for the 'Cromer road' and 'old Cromer Road' not using the park and ride, tells me trouble from the start. I was there for 13:00, standing room only for every departure, close to 380 persons on some trains. This was only the second time I'd done the 40's weekend the first being back in 2012 at Sheringham.

It is true that the railway suspended ticket sale on Saturday at about 16:00.

Now that I've enlarge the picture above and seeing how much room those tables take-up, leaves every little space on the platform for people to get by. All 3 stations are by now means the biggest but when your hitting somewhere around 10,000 + people in a day in such a small space, near 380 persons on a train. If something dose go wrong, fire somewhere on the station, someone falls on the track due to over crowding on platforms. For me suspended ticket sales should have happened a lot sooner.

The North Norfolk Railway isn't the North York Moors Railway, Severn Valley Railway, Great Central Railway, West Somerset Railway , Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, the NNR doesn't have the length of line compared to others it's can only take 6 coaches (even then they were all full over the 40's weekend).

My point is as a volunteers 'has this event now got to big?' what will happen in 2017, thumping profit might be wonderfully for the railway and sheringham town and Holt town, however safety for 10,000 + visitors , volunteers, trade stand holders, I feel the weekend might just need to be scaled back.

 

How do you scale it back though? Maybe it's time to do what the SVR do and hold it over 2 weekends to spread the load out a bit more perhaps?

 

What a great problem to have. 2 weekends sounds like a plan

 

Ross agree with you about the tables on platform 2 at Sheringham, they most certainly did get in the way and restricted the free movement of passengers to and from the mid and end of the platform. I thought that Holt seemed to cope very well with the passengers . I think that they may need to now pause and take breath and look to see what can be done differently because it is becoming a massive event. I spoke to half a dozen regular WW2 event attendee couples and they all agreed that it is now one of the best events of its type anywhere. Its a pity that there is not a little more space at Weybourne that was useable even if it was only to use some more of the farmers field for parking. People were parking up the nasty steep hill up towards Kelling Heath from Weybourne, something which I had never seen before.

 

With regard to the Cromer trains and the use of North Norfolk carriages. Could someone confirm which carriages have been brought up to a standard and certified for use on these trains. The four-coach dining set has been quoted but what exactly does this include and are there any supplementary carriages. I have checked the ORR website http://orr.gov.uk/what-and-how-we-r...rk-i-and-hinged-door-rolling-stock-exemptions where the exemption certificates are required to be in the public domain and they have not yet been added either in the name of the Railway or on the WCRCo schedule. Also, can the carriages operate throughout the National Network if required or do they have a restriction on their sphere of operation and under what numbers are they registered?

 

@M59137 will probably be best placed to answer.

 

As a reenactor and a railway enthusiast I can honestly say that NNRs event is by far my friends and I'd favourite. Well done to all.

 

The four registered coaches are RBR E1969, FO M3116, SO E4372 and BG M81033. I think they might have been given 99xxx numbers as well but these are not carried externally and I don't know what they are in any case.

My understanding is that they have a route specific "ticket" for Sheringham-Cromer.

We have aspirations to register another Mark 1, probably a TSO, to act as a spare should we need to drop out the FO or SO for any reason.

Please note this is my own personal understanding and not an official NNR response. However I hope this covers the whole query!

Sent from my HTC Desire 620 using Tapatalk

 

Carriage & Wagon Blog update:

C&W Blog - September Part 2

 

The BG was in "NAAFI"catering use in the bay platform at Sheringham at the 1940s weekend and I saw the new details regarding the use of the coach on the end. The 99xxx number was there but I did not make a note of it. However, I did notice that the maximum speed written on the coach was a relaxing 25mph which seems quite adequate for dining trains on such a scenic route.
A great idea at this year's 1940s event was to move the platform dance area on to a temporary wooden platform built across the bay track, this helped considerably to ease the usual congestion on the platform. The wartime atmosphere of packed trains was again in evidence on the railway with all train loaded to maximum capacity. Well done to all concerned at the North Norfolk for a superbly planned event; what a great atmosphere on the railway and in Sheringham and Holt town centres.

 

Thank-you to the people who have replied to my ramblings on the NNR 40's w/k. It is great that many of you enjoy the event it's with the atmosphere, packed trains, both Holt & Sheringham join in. What I would highlight is to have 2 weekends of the 40's, while this might be a nice problem to have, volunteer availability ?, do the NNR have enough motive power to cover both weekends ?, would there be a clash with other 40's events? , would the likes of Sheringham and or Holt be able to stage such massive events over a 2 weekend period, would staging a event over a bank holiday weekend make the event even busier than what we have now?

The more people who come to the NNR 40's weekend, either hearing what a good event it is through word of mouth or through social media there is going to be less space and higher risk an accident that is waiting to happen.
I hope volunteers and public alike who read this forum understand where I'm coming from with concern.

Please note this is my own personal views and not an official NNR response

 

Something on a more cheerful note, These came through the post box a couple of days ago. I'm really happy with the amount of detail that gone into all 4 locos. It's worth a shout-out and check-out the link.

http://www.locomotivedrawings.co.uk/

 

Chatting to a client of mine today and she, her husband, and 20 friends were off for a Pullman experience out of Waterloo and were all dressing in 20s gear. Is there a market for other decades, not just the 40s?

 

Perhaps for themed diner trains or for steam galas? I'm sure elr did 60s gala.

 

The NYMR does 50s, 60s and 70s I think, with 60s the most popular. As we get more vintage coaches into service I think earlier periods still may become popular, although I doubt if an other periods will come close to the wartime events.

 

If any of you have been to the Goodwood Revival you will know just how good something like this can be given the enthusiasm, the volunteers and the resources. The Revival covers 1948 to 1966 as is regarded as the premier event of its type for historic motoring anywhere.

 

The NNR has a 60's theme for vintage transport weekend and I think some of the murder mysteries have themed eras as well. It's probably something that could be built on....if done correctly.

Sent from my HTC Desire 620 using Tapatalk