So whats new at the Bluebell Railway?

I pose the question because their one and only blog "Whats new at the Bluebell Railway" hasn't been updated in a month . It would seem they are still in a swoon after the visit of a certain Famous Engine!

Isn't it about time that major Heritage Railways learnt to embrace social media and created blog posts for each department such as the excellent blogs various departments of the GWSR now regularly post.

In the last month their Carriage amd Wagon Blog has posted 16 blogs, Broadway Station four, Hayles Abbey Halt eight, Extension blog eight, Building Services four, S and T four, CRC four, ....... you get the picture. More blogs, more interest, more visitors and share issues oversubscribed.

As for the Bluebell, well they'll always have Flying Scotsman.

 

Don't get me started! So many railways don't bother having an up to date loco roster available. I can't be the only potential punter whose business goes elsewhere? I often take a car load from the South of Hampshire to SVR rather than places like Watercress, Swanage etc because the SVR makes the effort to provide potential visitors with updated and accurate loco rosters. I bet this post triggers one of two tiresome responses:
1. Someone will reminisce about the good old days before t'internet when we didn't demand such luxuries.
2. Someone else will ask why I don't just ring up to find out what's working.

Hey ho.

 

Weekly running information see http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pti/index.html and loco roster for the coming weekend http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/loco_roster.html.
From memory the webmaster has busy work commitments at certain times of year. He may have been on holiday.
The email newsletter will keep people upto date with whats happening you can sign up here https://visitor.r20.constantcontact...UruO7hrcjDWmBC9pMv2KRZNPR7lrBIOHqB_dyTX9-7K-D

 

You have just made my point for me. The whole business shouldn't stop because one person is busy /on holiday. What sort of message does it send? With multiple blogs covering various departments, interest in the Railway can be maintained.

So to use my example of the GWSR, in the last month C and W have removed and repaired virtually every window on a MK 1 coach, S and T have fitted three new signals, Buildings have half built a new vistor centre, Extension have laid over 1 kilometre of CWR rail and welded it, Hayles have finshed building a new Halt from scratch, and Broadway has had its new heritage roof girders fitted that Locomotive build for them using 100s of rivets.

And I know all of this because of the relevant blogs. And do I want to visit , you bet, even though the Bluebell is nearer.

 

Had you thought about sending this to someone at the railway so that it could be considered and acted upon?

Regards,

Dan

 

No, because they already employ a Marketing Manager whose job it would be to review the success of rivals marketing strategies including social media. Now it may be company polcy that the website is controlled entirely by one very part time person, which is in my view short sighted. They need to take a look at this, as it is not unusual for the website not to be updated for weeks.

 

AFAIK The railway has its commercial website http://www.bluebell-railway.com , which is run separately to the .co.uk site which is run more voluntary, this second one is the one the blog is on.

 

The commercial website is indeed run by the PLC and Richard Salmon the blog. I see David Arnolds point here about just one person controlling the blog as IMO there should be a back up or second in command if Richard is indisposed for whatever reason.
I do though want to point out my comments are in no way any critiscism of the fine work that Richard does.

Kind regards
Chris.

 

I believe that there are a few other people who can update the website, though as you say, the "what's new" page is largely down to Richard.

The OP's question though was about social media in general - the FaceBook page (open to all - you don't have to be on FB to read it) has been regularly updated recently; and also other groups, including "Stowe", "Camelot", "Project 27" etc. all have either FaceBook or Blog platforms, and which can be easily shared via FaceBook, and each have their own admin / editor. So the What's New page certainly isn't the only game in town. The Bluebell Facebook page does a lot of what was / is bread and butter to the What's New page, i.e. links to other people's photo reports, videos etc. of Bluebell events.

A personal view: I wonder whether the best use of the various platforms would be to concentrate on using the .co.uk site for matter that is primarily of long-term archival / historical / reference interest; i.e. significant reports on projects and events, while using FaceBook as the primary means to bring those reports to the attention of those interested. That is for FaceBook to essentially replace what the "what's new" page currently does. That feels like a way to use both platforms for what they are best at, i.e. Facebook gives you the reach and flexibility and capacity to make easy rapid updates, as well as allowing genuine two-way conversation, while the website can act as a repository for important, but primarily static, information that would rapidly get lost on a dynamic platform like FB.

Tom

 

I'd be agin Facebook, if only because I dislike the way that its tentacles spread so widely.

 

I share your feelings, and I don't have a Facebook account. But if I want to know what is going on at many of the railways that I'm interested in on a day to day basis there is often little choice - so I quite happily have a look. I could choose not to - but I would be the loser!

Steve B

 

I fear there is a growing trend by some to think that just because one railway does something right that all most do the same.

Volunteers are in rare supply these days and companies that run railways are hardly ftse 100 enterprises that have the resources for things like daily (insert media) updates.

If you want to know what is happening at your local railway visit it and buy a cup of tea in the cafe.

You will get all the gossip it just requires some participation. As for loco rosters and which way engines are facing just be glad that anything is running.

 

That's not really the point though. For a start, the railway may not be local at all, that's often the whole reason; they don't want to waste a long journey.

I dislike the "be grateful for what you're given" philosophy in this case as it doesn't exactly inspire confidence for improvement or indeed a particularly customer friendly service. Given that a loco roster must exist somewhere internally on the railway it takes less than a minute to post it up on Facebook, and only a few more to post it on a main website depending on the setup.



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No thanks. I just take my business elsewhere. Sometimes to a railway with loco rosters, other times to castles, stately homes, art galleries, museums, etc etc.

 

Before i go any further i have nothing to do with the blubell railway, but work at others. Regardless of how long it takes to upload the fruit of my labours it is not your time, it is the time of someone that has either already given up their time to help a railway for free or it is someone that probably doesn't get paid nearly enough for the tasks their job requires them to do.

With regards to being grateful for what you have got. I predict a lot of railways will get longer over the next few years and the number of steam locomotives on them will get fewer and fewer.

I always thought that those demanding info come across as quite mean spirited, but if it helps a national trust membership is cheaper when bought in Scotland. Enjoy

 

I think some years ago I would have agreed with you; however, you can't pretend that whatever one's own feelings, millions of people do use Facebook and presumably do so because for them, convenience and utility trump any other concerns. So as an organisation, you would be mad to ignore it. From an indvidual's point of view, if you want to keep abreast of happenings in numerous organisations, it acts as a convenient aggregator, rather than having to look at perhaps a dozen or more different websites in case they have updated.

Note that I am not suggesting using FB as an alternative to a conventional website, but rather as a supplement. I'm not keen on FaceBook-only organisations, as they make it hard to find anything other than the immediate.

As a bit of whimsy, I wonder how people found out about anything pre- World Wide Web? As a child I remember going to attractions with my family - I wonder how my father researched them? I can't imagine going anywhere now without looking it up online first - even if only for the basics like opening hours, prices, facilities etc.

Tom

 

No, it's not demanding that's mean spirited. I'm like many, in that my decision to visit a railway will be affected by the locomotives (and, sometimes, the stock). That little bit of effort may well be the difference between my traveling, or deciding on something else for the day. That's the sort of discretionary spend any railway ought to be aiming for. Zero marginal cost of sale, additional ticket(s) sold.


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So you want someone from each department to spend more of their time to write blog posts? And the benefit of all these blog posts to the railway would be what exactly? And how many more visitors would they get if they published the loco roster for each day, rather than expecting passengers to turn up or ring the railway?

Comparing railways by their online information seems strange. And why are you singling out the Bluebell? Some railways struggle to publish their opening days, let alone the loco roster.

 

Tom. My dad, when not at work or at the railway lived on the phone in the hall next to my bedroom talking endlessly about parts 'borrowed' at Barry and trying to track them down.

Richards. Thank you for your comment that was far more diplomatic than I could ever have put it.

Finally, if you know everything you will see on a day out. What is the point of going.

 

My leisure time is comparatively short and as a result is very precious. If going to a regional art gallery to see their one and only Monet, I check the website to make sure it's on display. If I want to travel behind a given loco, I check the loco roster. Love it or hate it, this is how it is. That's the point of going.
If a railway wants my money they have to compete with all the other places I might go to - this weekend it's the roses at a NT property.