If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

Swanage Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Rumpole, Oct 10, 2012.

  1. Steve

    Steve Resident of Nat Pres Friend

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2006
    Messages:
    11,930
    Likes Received:
    10,088
    Occupation:
    Gentleman of leisure, nowadays
    Location:
    Near Leeds
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    There’s a sub committee which meets continuously, either in the mess room or the club and has an open remit to consider everything. It seldom reaches the same conclusions as the railways Council. I must admit to being occasionally co-opted but I’m not a regular member.
     
  2. oliversbest

    oliversbest Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2011
    Messages:
    814
    Likes Received:
    121
    There are obviously some on here a lot closer to SR management than I am;. why should I as a member not be informed in a fairly prompt manner of the direction of appeals to which i and many others have contributed/ That is good business isn't it because when the next appeal comes around punters are going to be very wary of getting the same non results on quite a few SR projects. Do your google research and see if you can find ANY update of the "critical" carriage shed appeal later than April 2021
     
  3. kwrail

    kwrail New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2013
    Messages:
    64
    Likes Received:
    90
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    @oliversbest normally posts complete drivel, but the final sentence is interesting for a change. It's a reasonable request

    Given the issues facing all HRs at the moment, changes to previous plans and objectives is inevitable. This doesnt just go for HRs. Keeping staff and volunteers onside is essential. Which means making sure that there are really good communications from management to the wider team, so that decisions made are at least understood even if they are not agreed with by everyone. There is a tendency to keep information within an inner circle - concentration of power and all that. It's the 'you don't need to know that syndrome'. Keeping teams onside means being open and telling people what they don't necessarily need to know but that they would be interested in. And letting people know if a decision on something hasnt yet been made. Only keeping information within management that cannot be shared.
     
    Paul42 and 35B like this.
  4. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2015
    Messages:
    9,186
    Likes Received:
    7,226
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Thorn in my managers side
    Location:
    72
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I certainly think, and it has come up in other discussions, and allowing for other calls on management time there is a useful question about

    'What sort of information might our supporters and the community we operate in reasonably be entitled to/interested in?'

    OK somebody can probably put it better than me, but I hope you get the idea

    Clearly in the case of The Swanage Railway there are a number of projects that seem to have raised funds but are not going anywhere at the moment, I am sure that there are perfectly good reasons but it would not hurt to put them in the public domain.
     
    oliversbest likes this.
  5. Islander

    Islander Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2006
    Messages:
    309
    Likes Received:
    271
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Isle of Wight
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    "They" are all very busy doing the something, which must be done...
     
    Sunnieboy likes this.
  6. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Messages:
    26,103
    Likes Received:
    57,432
    Location:
    LBSC 215
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    No, “they” are all very busy talking about something which must be done (preferably by someone else…)!

    Tom
     
    Sunnieboy, Islander, ghost and 2 others like this.
  7. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    10,440
    Likes Received:
    17,941
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    We must have a different sort of 'They' department. Our 'They' department does many things, but they are never the right things!
     
    Islander and Jamessquared like this.
  8. ruddingtonrsh56

    ruddingtonrsh56 Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2009
    Messages:
    979
    Likes Received:
    1,470
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Nottinghamshire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Which is worse - a 'they' department which does nothing or a 'they' department which does the wrong things!?
     
  9. Nick C

    Nick C Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2018
    Messages:
    1,249
    Likes Received:
    1,366
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Hampshire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Everything the 'they' department do is wrong, isn't it? After all, 'they' should be doing what 'everybody' knows is most important - usually half a dozen conflicting things all at once...
     
    MellishR and Jamessquared like this.
  10. Cuckoo Line

    Cuckoo Line Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2020
    Messages:
    298
    Likes Received:
    300
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    South West
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    What they need is Tom no 2 to do a Swanage Times like the Bluebell Times where there is a regular slot from the Chairman outlining what is going on and Tom seems to be able to persaude people to do updates on ongoing projects.
     
    johnofwessex likes this.
  11. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    May 29, 2006
    Messages:
    3,967
    Likes Received:
    5,064
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    N.Ireland
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    It might be a reasonable request to the right people, but as he's been told over and over again, if he wants answers he needs to write/email/phone the railway. Coming on here with the same complaints and demanding answers/action from forum users is most definitely not the solution.
     
    Jon Lever and Nantyglo like this.
  12. Bikermike

    Bikermike Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2020
    Messages:
    1,442
    Likes Received:
    1,595
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Thameslink territory
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    "Why are we repainting all the engines in full SECR livery"
    "Dunno, that's what it said in the newsletter though..."
     
    CH 19, Nick C, Bluenosejohn and 4 others like this.
  13. Tom02

    Tom02 New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2022
    Messages:
    119
    Likes Received:
    21
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Christchurch
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
  14. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    May 29, 2006
    Messages:
    3,967
    Likes Received:
    5,064
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    N.Ireland
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    The text is a little ambiguous but the photo caption infers thar it is Brocklebank's cab which could be seeing more work. I don't think you can jump to a conclusion of mainline restoration though.
     
  15. Andy Moody

    Andy Moody Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2007
    Messages:
    496
    Likes Received:
    337
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    71B ex 71A
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
  16. DcB

    DcB Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2018
    Messages:
    1,339
    Likes Received:
    421
    Location:
    Surrey
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Think the comment refers to 35025 Brocklebank Line (edit I see Keith has already replied)
    Like the Canadian Pacific at the MHR is an important loco, but will be large and have high coal usage for most Heritage lines. Like the other Merchant Navy class locos Clan Line and British India line more suited to mainline running.
     
  17. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2014
    Messages:
    17,609
    Likes Received:
    11,223
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    St Leonards
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    It depends on what the SLL see as the loco's future, and how it can be done, in a way that attracts more shareholders and donations, The biggest cost is the extra equipment, and the paperwork, inspections etc, but the actual cost of overhauling an engine, are not much more, as SLL already restore their engines to the standard that is required any way, costs could be saved if the mainline equipment can be removed from another engine, such as the U class, if its decided that its not powerful enough to really be of much use on the mainline, where as an MN, could haul any Railtour that you might want to put behind it,
     
  18. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Messages:
    26,103
    Likes Received:
    57,432
    Location:
    LBSC 215
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    (Deleted)
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2022
  19. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    May 29, 2006
    Messages:
    3,967
    Likes Received:
    5,064
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    N.Ireland
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    There's also a support coach, support crew, the mainline electronics (I doubt the SR would want to lose the U as a mainline loco). These are all reasons given when SLL sold 35027 and got out of mainline running. I can't see what has changed that would make SLL want to change their minds
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2022
  20. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Messages:
    26,103
    Likes Received:
    57,432
    Location:
    LBSC 215
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Kind of you to say, though ultimately those in positions of authority / knowledge have to want to communicate. If they do, then a good editor / communications person can help tidy up what they say to be as clear as possible and have maximum impact - but if the shutters go down, there is not much you can do. We are lucky that our current plc Chairman definitely seems to value communications. From projects, some are better than others.

    The conversation earlier on this thread was interesting, I could see both sides of what was discussed. I'm not sure everyone in the heritage railway world - and I include in that volunteers, supporters, enthusiasts etc - has fully woken up to just how tough things might be for the next few years. All railways are going to be forced to take some pretty tough decisions - which might be in terms of disposals, or cutting back services, or delaying key projects - and how those are communicated to the wider stakeholder base will go a long way to how smoothly those decisions are received.

    Personally, I'm in favour of a touch of honesty - don't spend months saying "everything is fine" and then suddenly turn round and say "we urgently need to invest £1million in our track" (and then, even worse, don't then promptly let the aspiration die when £1million isn't immediately forthcoming - no names, no pack drill). But there has to be a degree of honesty both ways: those in director / trustee positions need to up their game in communication, but the quid pro quo is that it has to be recognised by supporters that "not every decision is a referendum" - you have to accept that you elect Trustees and Directors to act on behalf of the membership, which sometimes involves taking unpopular decisions if they are in the best overall interest of the railway. As a member, you can't have it both ways: you can't appoint someone to take on the onerous responsibility that comes with being a director if you don't then empower them to - well, direct without having every decision second-guessed.

    Tom
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2022

Share This Page