Advice on Volunteering (Live in SW London)

Hi all,

New member to the forum (26yr old guy). Looking for some advice on volunteering.

Always had an interest in railways – my home town is near to the Llangollen Railway so I have seen that develop over the years.

Now living in SW London (Surbiton area) and keen on volunteering on a heritage railway – mainly interested in signalling (as in operation of not maintenance of!!). Guess my “local” lines are MHR or Bluebell Railway.

My problem is that I don’t have a car so would have to get to the line by public transport and of course this might get me to the terminus station but not to any of the other stations (or signal boxes) on the line.

Any thoughts or advice welcome

Cheers!

 

Living in Surbiton your options for standard gauge railways are indeed the Bluebell and the Mid-Hants.

The Mid-Hants is the easiest option to travel to by public transport from Surbiton, and there is a signal box at Alton.

The Bluebell is not currently directly connected to the National Rail system, and while there is a bus service between East Grinstead and Kingscote, the first bus of the day will arrive at the railway just prior to the arrival of the first train. Even when the northern extension is completed there will be no signal box at East Grinstead, trains in and out of the station will be controlled by the Kingscote signalman.

Chris

 

Pm in post

 

hi mate, i know your situation pretty well. i'm 21 and i grew up in sheen (east of richmond). being too young to drive and in the middle of my a-levels i ended up going to the ffestiniog during the holidays. while the bluebell and mid hants are the big names, there are others in SW london. there's the group at kempton waterworks (no steam as it's still being built, but its close and has lots to do), and steam of several varieties at kew bridge steam museum (very easy to get to by public transport). there's a few miniature lines around there as well- the great cockrow near chertsey, the thames ditton model railway and the ruislip lido railway.
it is possible to get to the mid hants by public transport, SW trains run to alton, but it will probably take at least an hour from clapham junction. does this help?

 

Hello there , my name is Chris and I live in Winbledon just aroubd the corner from you. I volunteer at the Mid-Hants most Saturdays ans would be dlighted to give you a lift anytime and bring you back.

I suggest that you contact me to arrange a day or so to go there just to have a look around and meet some people. You do not have to make any decisions to start with , just get the lie of the land so to speak.

My mobile is 07801 930870 if that helps?, give me a call sometime.

Best Regards
Chris Willis

 

Aawwww yey! Happy ending...maybe

 

Or just to add to the mix you cou7ld always spend a weekend at Swanage. Train from Waterloo to Wareham and then the bus or one of the many of us who drive through Wareham can be persuaded to offer you a lift. Pubs in Swange are good and you get to visit the sea side as well.

 

Agree with everything written so far.
It's not important who you go to - that's for you to decide.
Just go ahead and volunteer.
If the first venue don't welcome you - please don't be put off [it's their loss of your talents for a long time but only a few wasted hours for you].
Not all ventures are alike of course. Some places mentioned may need only a 'few' volunteers to work a day's activities [Kempton, Kew Bridge, etc.] and others [e.g. Bluebell, MHR and Swanage] need dozens most days and possibly up to three figures on their busiest days.
On the Swanage Railway we've got three signal boxes but, during our Summer peak service, we need the middle box open from 0930 to 1730 approx but the outer two are from 0800 to 0000 so require two shifts [that's five signalman each day for six weeks]. During Galas, such as our Fourth Diesel Gala [8 - 10 May], our services are so intense that even more signalmen are required. I'm sure the other railways would say much the same.

 

Most (not all) lines will have somewhere to stay overnight, so if you have the time you could do a few days in a row. Obviously a few visits first to get the lie of the land, then travel down the night before, stay overnight nearby and work the next day. I have done this for years working on the Isle Of Wight Rly, living a few miles from you in SE London. I know plenty of folks who do 'railway holidays' of 5 days straight, eating dinner in the local pub.

If you want to be a signalman, presumably you will need to be a porter first? This teaches personal safety, operational procedures etc. The railway should be accomodating if you cant make first thing in the morning for the first few visits, especially as a porter, bearing in mind you will be there for the busy period during the day. By the time you start looking seriously into the 'box you will have had plenty of time to make arrangements for travel.

Hope this helps, Andy