North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Thank you.

As with everything, there is a balance to be had. I'm talking about the appearence of the trackbed, not the lineside. As with roadside verges, railway linesides are an absolute haven for wildlife, because they are (largely) undisturbed by humans. So I am all for their remaining undisturbed. (Unfortunately, many councils don't seem to have made the connection between cost-saving and being wildlife friendly, so continue to blitz roadside verges with mowers).

As I'm sure you'll agree, I don't agree.

 

Also a significant tripping hazard to those who need to be trackside.
The weeds also damage the underbody equipment on the Tamper and Ballast Regulator.

 

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but in the current weather isn't there a tension between the benefits to wildlife of "undisturbed" lineside and the risk to steam haulage if the lineside hasn't been maintained in something approaching the 'old-fashioned' manner?

Didn't the NYMR get a grant of some kind towards work benefitting wildlife? It would be amazingly counter productive if that work then made it more difficult for the railway to run steam trains.

 

I think there is a lot more to "good for wildlife" than just "let the verges grow in an undisturbed way". Left to its own devices, you would get one particular habitat like that (a kind of low scrubby bush) but it isn't necessarily the most species rich, nor a particularly rare habitat.

The wider point about tension between managing the line side for wildlife, and managing it for trains might be true, but I think you could do both. A lot depends on methods, but in principle a tight-cropped line side could encourage certain species (such as reptiles) while also minimising fire risk. The issue would come down to (human) resources to manage things that way; sending along a flail or a weed killing train is probably not going to "cut it" (pun intended) in wildlife terms but might be the low-resource way to manage things if the primary desire is to keep the trains running.

Tom

 

But for a substantial proportion of the NYMR, where the lineside (and bizarrely even the trackbed) is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the railway's options are limited by what Natural England, as guardians of the SSSI, will permit.

 

There is a huge misunderstanding as to what 'managing for wildlife' means, the clue is in the name - you continue to manage, but with wildlife in mind.
Railtrack's proclamation about 'linear nature reserves' at the same time as withdrawing all vegetation management, has probably done a lot of damage here and clouded opinion. A lineside managed for wildlife still requires cutting back, but maybe at different times of the year to previously. A healthy lineside that is ecologically rich should in theory be alive, not dead and therefore have a lower fire load.
However, I have had similar conversations with managers at work about adjusting grounds maintenance regimes and their eyes light up and the next question is 'how much money can we save'. That is completely missing the point and will end up with even bigger bills further down the line.
Living alongside wildlife is just that, finding ways to mutually and beneficially co-exist, it's not an 'either / or'.

 

Looking at the state of the NYMRs line at the moment surely the vegetation is going to make for very slippery conditions when it eventually rains.
It will be like trying to gain adhesion in vegetable soup. Good luck with Repton in that.