Heritage Railways, are they in trouble, generally?

Directors are usually there to decide overall strategy. The GM/CEO and their mangement team (paid or volunteer) run the departments and manage the people under their control.

 

As I understand it, as far as the H&S@WA is concerned, a volunteer is not at work so it doesn't apply and a volunteer cannot be prosecuted under that Act. I've been told more than once by HMRI/ORR that they wouldn't prosecute a volunteer under the Act. That is not to say that other legislation wouldn't apply, though, as I'm sure our resident legal eagle will say. The Transport & Work Act closed the loophole with regard to volunteers and where that Act is concerned, volunteers are included.

 

It’s correct that unlike employees volunteers cannot be prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work Act although they do owe a common law duty of care so could be held responsible under civil law e.g. for negligence. Of course volunteers who are directors or trustees could still be criminally liable under other legislation, such as for corporate manslaughter and other offences committed by a corporate body, as a result of their wrongful acts or neglect.

 

Important subject and the future is uncertain.

Most charities and voluntary bodies are finding it harder to recruit and keep enough of the right sort of keen, intelligent, available and motivated volunteers.

Railways have a particularly sharp issue in that:
many of them are in rural locations, thus hard and time-consuming for most to get to;
the feel-good aspects of volunteering and access to its social benefits are only really significant for people who commit to regular attendance over long periods ;
safety critical work demands a long period of training and rigorous checks that the recruit understands what has been taught; and
people who seem keen, attend training for a while but do not persevere long enough to pass the exams actually are a drain on resources (by wasting time for their trainers) so are not a benefit.

Meanwhile, younger potential volunteers face issues the older generation did not - worse economy, more pressures on job seekers, not enough income, much worse housing market, risks of real- or cyber- war, etc. Added to that is the move to online gadgets and social media - which suck people in and take up oceans of spare time.

Add in the future impact of AI on the jobs and leisure markets and it becomes hard to be optimistic. Hope there is a way forward but it is not clear what it might be. But I suppose optimists might yet think that this will prove to be the first time that a disruptive new technology (now AI, social media, etc) produces a new utopia where people don’t have to work long hours to keep their heads above water. But remember the promises of the Sixties - electricity too cheap to meter, everyone working at home for short hours, helicopters or flying cars for everyone, world peace, etc etc. Then compare with todays’ reality!

 

The maverick colleague I had just ignored whatever I asked him to do safety-wise. In the end I just made sure that I had a witness nearby to see that I had asked him to do (x) and that he chose not to, so if he did cut/burn/break himself, it was entirely upon him. Luckily, he never did - and I was grateful, because he was a damned good worker.

Nowadays I work for someone who is so concerned about safety that it actually stops me from doing my job in some circumstances.

 

Related to the "hard and time-consuming for most to get to" point, there's the fact that rural and even suburban bus services now are nowhere *near* as good as they were 50 years ago. Take my local line, the SVR. The 125 bus service (Kidderminster-Bewdley-Highley-Bridgnorth) was recently under threat of complete withdrawal, and though that's been averted it was only because Shropshire Council found the money to subsidise it - for how long we don't know. Bewdley has no buses at all on Sundays or after early evening. Yes more people have cars now, but driving impinges on the "social" aspect (for some at least) as it means no pint in the pub before heading home. People volunteering on what is (sort of!) a mode of public transport from local areas would often be happy to visit by public transport. But except for Kidderminster, nowhere on the SVR now has any outside the main part of the day on Mondays to Saturdays.

 

Of course this sort of thing in the guise of H & S does nothing for H & S generally. Especially as it seems they are only the tenant not the landowner from what the leader of Enfield Council said yesterday lunchtime.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8jwjx5kppo

I see today the CEO of Toby's owners have apologised and the subtext was someone mentioned H & S so we had it cut down without a thought.

 

Vandalism. It looks like a contractor that wanted another invoice to make

 

Coming back to @Steve's question - "Or perhaps rather than look on the gloomy side, which railways are doing relatively well?" - and also picking up on what one might, charitably, call the "business realist" school of pronouncements from some in the north ...

The Isle of Wight Steam Railway have just announced the purchase of the buildings of Ashey Station, and plans to restore the station to its 1926 appearance - an objective of the railway's strategic vision but, you suspect, not necessarily a project that has an over-riding business logic to it. (In other words - if it happens, it will be fantastic, but it is hardly an existential threat to the railway had the status quo been maintained with trains just running past a privately-owned house).

Ashey was, in its time, a tiny station on a lightly-used branch line, but it had its own branch, a half-mile of track wandering across a field to end in a chalk quarry, which had a brief heyday also serving a race course. As reconstructions go, that is as unremunerative as you can get, but of course, purchase of the station fuels speculation about rebuilding the branch as well. Here is what the Chief Executive of the Railway had to say about that, on the Wight Wanderer YouTube channel:

Wight Wanderer:
so in the future is there even a minute possibility that the branch line might be reinstated?

Marc Morgan Huws (Chairman, IoWSR)
I'm going to give you a really a politician's answer to that. Okay look if you look back to 1966,67,68 who would ever imagine, you know, that the bogeies and the O2 would be in Havenstreet and then in 1971 the railway would be running between Wooton and Havenstreet and then the two Terriers would turn up and then, you know, the extension back through Ashey to Smallbrook? Who would ever have imagined that?

Heritage railways are all about dreams - they're not logical things, people didn't sit there in 1965 and go "do you know what if we just dig away at this for a couple of years it, might take us 2 years 5, 10, 20 but we'll have a heritage railway". The Railway is all about those dreams isn't it? We deliver dreams don't we, and actually we have to deliver dreams to carry on because that's why people join us, volunteer for us, come and visit us.

The current board, and me as the chief executive, we are just the custodians of the Steam Railway. It will go on, it has to go on doesn't it forever more.

Anything is possible: we don't own it [the Branch line] at the minute, we don't own the the land or the line but you know, okay possibility if you dream it can come true can't it? Well if it does happen I'll get some nails and a hammer and I'll build you a grand stand.​

Of course railways have to be pragmatic, of course we have to look at the business logic and the cashflow, and prioritise spending. But how refreshing to hear a Chief Exec say:

"Heritage railways are all about dreams - they're not logical things [...] The Railway is all about those dreams isn't it? We deliver dreams don't we, and actually we have to deliver dreams to carry on because that's why people join us, volunteer for us, come and visit us."

What is so refreshing is that explicit linkage between the dreams and the very existence: in other words, it is the exciting, the impossible project, that drive participation - whether as members, volunteers or donors. Lose the sense of challenge and you lose a key part of what makes heritage railways viable.

Tom

 

I totally agree Tom....I started my preservation passion with the dream of the Main Line Preservation Group ....to preserve a Main Line and run steam engines at realistic speeds...This sowed the seeds for preserving a section of the Great Central between Nottingham and Leicester...well a single track between Loughborough and Rothley initially.....and the rest is still happening - extension to Leicester North, GCR(N) set up and running, Double track and Swithland sidings, Mountsorrel Branch ...and now reunification half way achieved with three bridges built or refurbished, the rest imminent. Forward the GCR.

 

Thanks, Tom. I started this thread as a sort of spin off from the NYMR thread because various people keep claiming that heritage railways are in trouble generally and blame this on the usual things, such as covid, the price of coal/everything. Everything, that is, apart from the people running things. I just wanted to know how true it was and perhaps find out which railways were struggling or, more positively, those railways which were succeeding. Unfortunately, not much of that has been forthcoming although it's perhaps understandable that no one wants to say that the Far Twittering & Oysterperch is up to its eyes in debt and has no volunteers. However, looking at other threads, the Gwili, GCR, Mid Suffolk, IOWSR, TSR, E&BAR, KWVR, Cambrian & Bluebell, at least, are doing OK, if not better than that.

 

There is one common thread with those doing ok - happy people (volunteers and staff). The listing above is a good start. I think we can add the GWSR, FR, TR, and I think SVR (not that it doesn’t face significant short term issue again).

 

But not that long ago the SVR was in a bad way and its people were not happy. I believe what changed to alter all this was a change of management. It may still have significant problems but its people are 100% behind it and it will pull through.

 

Absolutely that’s why I mentioned it, as I am sure you realised.

It had to face a bleak future to be able to change though and there is no doubt there has been a real focus on people at the SVR. That is undoubtedly a key part of their survival.

 

Thanks Tom as one of my family's coal mines we had 3 in Yorkshire 1 in Wakefield and 2 in South yorks at Silkstone wharncliffe colliery the other at at Silkstone village barnsleynear old pilley Tankersley s yorks thar was on the alignment of the great central railway and midland railway line to Tinsley from Aldams jct my proper name is David Andrew Silkstone so we are very supportive of the G.C.R. Loughborough bridging the gap
Davo 56F

 

I’ll note that even with happy people and looking to be doing ok, lines have potential trouble underneath regarding volunteer numbers.

I know of one of the lines listed in this thread as doing ok, and with happy people (volunteers and staff), struggles for footplate crew numbers - I was at one of their galas last year, and started talking to a driver who turned out to be the Chief Inspector for Steam on the line about timelines for passing out with prior experience (I’d like to experience firing on some steeper gradients than the fairly level GCR). They had at the time 22 passed out fireman and I think 25 drivers, for a yearly timetable based on 30 for each (I think I’m remembering correctly that it was equal for driver/fireman but even if I’m wrong they were a way under each role). They are making it work for the moment, but obviously reliant on a small number of people being willing and able to cover a larger number of turns over the average expectation. And that is for the most glamorous (or first to mind) volunteer role at a heritage line, let alone all the equally as important but less well known roles…

And staying on this theme, a fellow fireman I’m friends with started at a second line recently (and different to the above), also mentioned as doing ok in this thread. When I asked what attracted him to that line, he said that they’d asked him if he had the time to join, as they had to pull back several recently passed out cleaners as having been pushed through too fast post-Covid, and they were struggling to competently fulfill the role, and so needed experienced firemen to help fill out the roster. Now this might be made-up bluster on his part, but indicative of attitudes/impressions within the movement.

But to return to positivity and touching on the GCR to back up Phil; the financial position is currently on a positive upwards trend and markedly improved over a few years ago, although partly as a result of redundancies/restructuring and so the long term effectiveness remains to be seen, but the railway hasn’t been afraid to try new ideas and has been open with the members about the approach, so members/volunteers have been able to have have a say.

The various C&W and loco groups get the railway’s support without over-bearing intrusion (one of the volunteers I see in the shed helping with overhaul work no longer does so at their “main” railway due to paid staff rules/requirements - and it isn’t the NYMR) and so it is easy to get stuck in. Phil’s touched on reunification, but additionally on the ‘dream’ front the GCR has stated that it wants to restart TPO demonstrations and has let the volunteers know that it has begun engaging with the ORR on enabling this to happen once the stock overhaul is complete. Compared to some other railways it seems from this forum, the GCR seems (to me least) to welcome open communication and help foster a positive attitude about going forwards - I will note negatives/disappointments are also communicated so I think it’s all informative rather than propaganda.

And to touch on another of Tom’s points, despite the need and drive to improve the financial position, bridge repairs and track maintenance has continued enabling testing work to continue, and there is a plan for forward looking to the other bridges to act on any repairs needed rather than needing to react - a positive place to be.

I feel it is also worth noting that in comparison to some other railways, the GCR has a strong home fleet and excellent engineering team that enables the railway to hire out a large loco with regularity - this year 48305 is at the KWVR, 6990 was at the WSR last year, one of the STD. 2s spent time at the GWSR etc.

All in all, plenty of work and tough decisions to come, but certainly not doom and gloom and plenty of things to look forward to!

 

Llangollen has a feel good buzz about again ,good ,open management and happy volunteers working to a common goal and living within their means …
It was enlightening this week to receive a breakdown of branchline weekend income and expenditure compared to last year (sent to all members ).
Compare that to other lines who cannot/won’t clarify what reuse of an annual pass actually means or a MD of a line who lied to an event organiser about the event surplus /deficit.

 

Yes they do. Does that not make morale (as opposed to happiness) even more important though?

I think there has been a shift also with regard to footplate work. It requires more commitment than many can now offer or want to offer.