Swanage Railway General Discussion

The frailties of a volunteer operation

 

Sadly so. Attracting volunteers is becoming more and more challenging for many organisations for many diverse reasons. Without wishing to stray too far off topic, or be excused of being negative, this is why expanding the SRC "business" requiring more volunteer input is a risk.

 

Which is why a decent catering operation is unlikely to reap much in the way of rewards at Swanage. The NYMR has recently refurbished its catering outlet at Pickering and made it smaller. A while ago it purchase Mulberries, a tea room adjacent to the station with the intention of increasing visitor catering spend. It didn't last long before being turned into offices. It hasn't a catering option at Whitby. There's too much competition at these places. Goathland and Grosmont, however, have reasonable catering facilities as there's little competition. but even these aren't great money-spinners. Both the SR and NYMR are means of getting to a destination, not a destination in itself. Whatever the rights and wrongs of that modus operandi in some peoples eyes, that is what they are.

 

He's here all the time. Haven't you noticed?

 

Went to Roads to Rails yesterday was a fun day.

Does the Swanage people here know if the event go well from a financial sense? Hopefully it covered its costs at least.

 

Same day, same loco, very different weather.
For the 10:00 departure the signalman avoided the drain cock steam by walking the token down to the loco before the departure, and the 15:00 service at New Barn Bridge.

 

I am told that visitor numbers/receipts were OK but not all expenses have yet arrived at HQ.
It certainly seemed to me to be a larger event [more stands; visiting rollers/road locomotives; etc.] this year - than 2021 - so costs are likely to be higher I guess.
Thank goodness for a dry Friday as 'cow pats' were easier to avoid and I'm glad I didn't choose to go during the weekend after some rain.

 

"Trespass" near Wilderness, but this seemed to move them on.

 

I know a few weeks before the event, Swanage Railway were appealing for sponsorship and support to cover the costs. Seemed a bit odd to me. Surely the purpose of a special event is to cover its costs and make a decent profit. If donations are needed to run an event, then it’s not worth doing.

I’m not sure how it worked out in the end though.

 

You sure about that?

 

Yes I received an email from the railway about that issue.

 

Yes 100%, and Gladiator has confirmed the same.

 

Ok Gents thanks for confirmation

 

As the Great Dorset Steam Fair will take place in August this year (was not run in 2021), can see the SR management being nervous that the 2022 Road to Rail might not make a profit, hence the appeal. Hopefully will have worked out OK.

 

It sounds like perhaps it was getting close to the event, ticket sales weren’t on track to meet their expectations, and they got nervous about making a loss. Hence the appeal.

Hopefully it worked out ok. Remains to be seen if they consider it worth running the event again next year.

 

It poses an interesting question about advance sales. Why would anyone book in advance for an event which wasnt capacity controlled (ie there isnt a limited number of tickets)? Many customers would prefer to pay on the day in case they couldnt attend (for whatever reason eg illness) or perhaps adverse weather may reduce the appeal of attending.

Of course the way most organisations encourage advance sales is by offering tickets purchased in advance at a lower price than pay on the day. But that of course reduces the revenue. There then becomes a trade off between advance sales guaranteeing some revenue (de-risking the event) but reducing the revenue. A typical "is a bird in the hand worth two in the bush" scenario.

I wonder if the price reduction required to encourage significant advance sales (for an event such as Roads To Rails) now has too great an impact on total revenue to be worthwhile?

 

I'd also be careful about overthinking - sponsorship is always part of the equation for events, and can be a great way of getting them underwritten.

 

Indeed. If 100% of costs can be sponsored, then all receipts swell the coffers .... including the Gift Aid reclaimed on the sponsorship monies!

 

The Betton Group obtained sponsorship for there Steel Steam and Stars events held in 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2015. Although the last wasn't as successful as the others due to weather and late issue of dates, it was still considered a success.

 

I see Wimbledon attendance is 10% down this year.
Will be interesting to see how the Mid Hants line is doing as they have increased pay on day tickets for normal services to £24 (SR £17) but discount advance online sales to £20, they are promoting £30 annual membership which give 50% discount on online ticket sales. Whereas SR annual membership is £24 and only 33% discount on ticket sales.

Ideally prices for struggling families should be kept low so they won't be put off traveling on an heritage railway, so can see a management delemia.