Swanage Railway General Discussion

Surely Business Rates are suspended by HM Government.
I suspect the railway is in discussions with Swanage Town and Dorset Councils [the Landlords] as to reducing/waiving rental payments.
No doubt there are other outgoings however [e.g. electricity for security lighting, CCTV, etc].

 

Insurance, Wages for remaining skeleton staff, property rentals that can't be waved, legal and professional fees, contracts IT and office equipment, fundraising costs. Then you have to consider that when the lock down ends, the furlough scheme will end and the landlords and loco owners will be expecting their rental to restart but will there be any operating season left or customers willing to travel? All the costs of two winters but with no summer revenue to cover it.

The crunch isn't so much during the crisis as after it and during the long winter that follows. This is going to be a marathon not a sprint,

 

With the exception of the peak holiday weekends I'd be a bit surprised if most railways that run daily at this time year do much more than break even on weekdays. For most it is the peak summer months that are key and I have a feeling that by the end of June most should be running again - and I suspect that summer 2020 could be rather a good one for "staycationers".

 

There's an article in the Telegraph this morning that suggests some form of social distancing may have to continue until there's a vaccine - so all of this year. How could social distancing be applied to a preserved railway?

 

Be that as it may, not running at all can't really be classed as breaking even either as there is still expenses to be paid, not just the obvious tangible ones but also things like rolling stock still slowly rusting away. I'm really not sure about how soon heritage railways will be able to re-open. Bearing in mind they were one of the first things to close, it's hard to see how they can be anything but last to re-open.

 

With vacines possibly a year away and natural immunity 2 years away, I think that you may find that the worst scenario could be losing two summers as we enter the unknown. I know that sounds like doom and gloom, but to survive, worst case scenarios must be planned for. Lets hope that it is just this summer. Ultra violet light will kill off some of the virus this summer and things will improve, but without a vaccine, it will be back next year.

 

One shouldn't take pleasure at others misfortunes but reading the WSR entries on this site is far,far better than any Soap Opera. With that in mind it behooves the rest of the HR to maintain organisation.objectives and yes, financial equilibrium as far as possible.
Unfortunately most of us can only contribute to a limited amount of appeals so I would think that in the case of the SR the S.O.S appeal must be the one at the top of the list . I know the SRT was about to update its operational model,perhaps we are fortunate that at the moment the older one is serving its purpose and keeping us afloat(we trust!!)

 

I admire your optimistic view, but do not agree with it. I can not see myself for example travelling in a MK1 on an HR or the mainline (or any train on NR to be honest) until such time as a valid test is available to prove if I have had it or not, and what percentage of the population has suffered from it and has (apparently) some form of immunity.
General consensus says social distancing will be with us for some time and that is difficult to do on any form of transport.

 

I'm inclined to agree with you. By the time July comes around we may have a bit more freedom in what we can do but I can't see life being back to normal in any way. I hope both you and I are proved wrong, though.

 

Sorry to keep banging on about this but this couldn't be further from the truth. Swanage would have expected to have taken Hundreds of thousands of pounds in revenue by this point. Just saving coal used doesn't really replace that lost revenue which should be starting to pay back all the costs sustained over a winter. The larger railways have a substantial level of fixed costs which are there whether we run or not.

There are two main markets for passengers. Families and Retired with the majority of hard core enthusaists falling in to the latter. The family market is likely to be affected by the recession that will inevitably follow this. The retired market is impacted less financially but the risk of virus exposure will keep confidence low here to. The subsidiary foreign visitor market is likely to be non existent and if the lockdown is lifted by Aug I would put money on the school holidays being cancelled on the grounds of enough education being missed already and working parents needing to be freed up to help the economy recover.

I'm afraid it's necessary to plan for the worst (whilst hoping for the best). This is going to cause significant and permanent change to the Heritage Railway landscape. That's why if you value what Swanage Railway does (insert railway of choice) you need to dig deep.
The appeal isn't named Save our Service for nothing https://saveourservice.co.uk/

 

Picking up on Nicks comment about the larger railways, these I fear are the ones most at risk. Those that have no staff, minor facilities and one engine hired in, have a greater chance of bouncing back. Donations to https://saveourservice.co.uk/ or your favorite railway big boy (did you see what I did there) are needed.

 

The second in our series of S.O.S appeal videos focuses on one of our volunteer firemen Alex, who discusses what the railway means to him and why its so important to keep the railway going. We hope you enjoy the video and please consider donating to our Save Our Service appeal. Many thanks.

https://www.facebook.com/451807091534527/posts/2792184480830098/

 

Yes, it is: http://www.tt.rhrp.org.uk/ts/turnInfo.asp?Ref=8
It's various dismantled parts are still on wagons but no longer at Norden sidings - mainly due to (currently mothballed) carriage shed construction works.

 

For anybody who doesn't do FB, the video has also been put up on YouTube: -

 

Ah that's better.

 

Sorry, yet another video that I am put off watching because of the stupid music. If they saved themselves the bother of adding the music I would have watched and might possibly have felt inclined to donate.

 

So a major heritage railway is in danger of closing, they’re asking for help and you’re worried about a small amount of quiet music in the background. Might I recommend something called perspective?

James

 

Our Facebook watch party event takes place at 19.30 on the Swanage Railways Facebook page, as part of our SOS appeal.
Step on board Stanier black 5 44871 for a journey on the footplate from Norden to Swanage.

We hope you enjoy the footage. https://www.facebook.com/swanagerailway/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

Hopefully the footage will be made available on other sites at later date but I cannot confirm at this stage.

ps: there is no music in this one...……….

 

Thank god there’s no music. I was going to write an angry letter to the Daily Mail immediately if there was music, and I wouldn’t have cared if they didn’t read it. And I DEFINITELY wouldn’t have donated!

James

 

I'm not "worried" about it: I find it distracting and annoying. And it's not "quiet": it's about the same loudness as the loco exhaust.
If they wish to be considered as recipients of my money they should refrain from annoying me; which would also save themselves the (admittedly small) amount of effort of inserting the music.