North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

I know what he said. And it wasn't aimed at us! Not repeatable on here, though

 

Can anyone confirm
a) How many coaches the LNERCA currently have on the NYMR?
b) How many are currently awaiting repairs
c) how many are expected to be needed once they return, in these more 'exclusive' serivces?

Thanks!

 

From the recent LNERCA Newsletter:

Designated LNERCA vehicles for NYMR service set:

Gresley BTO 43567: awaiting new tyres (by NYMR)
Gresley TTO 56856: available for use
Thompson TK 1623: awaiting new tyres (by NYMR)
Gresley RB 641 : awaiting attention to springs (by NYMR)
Gresley TTO 23956 : awaiting attention to axleboxes (by NYMR)

Designated NYMR vehicle for service set:

Gresley TTO 13385 : Close to being ready for use?

Other vehicles:
Gresley BTK 3669 : In use at Kirby Stephen, probably could be recalled for a short visit if required.
Gresley saloon 3087 : Nearing completion at Kirby Misperton workshops.
Thompson RB 1706 : In use at Embsay, probably could be recalled for a short visit if required.

There are another 17 assorted NER/Gresley/Thompson carriages, some (7) of which are under restoration at various sites.

It might be possible (with some speedy repairs!) to marshall a 5- or -coach LNER train using LNERCA vehicles already on the line, or an 8-coach set by borrowing two more temporarily. Will it happen, though? Unlikely, imho!

 

Just seen this in my feed. Though not being run by the railway this time.

1940s weekend returns to Pickering after six-year absence - BBC News

 

On the first day, the railway will be shut.

 

Nothing to stop them changing the services for those three days. It is a fair way off yet.

 

Yes, a good opportunity to engage with the community and support the new venture.

 

Yes the Whitby kit is installed but it is now awaiting an inspection and approval from an organisation outside of the NYMR.
This has been the case for sometime and the cost will be considerable.

 

Does this mean that the NYMR is waiting for the inspection body to come or that money to pay for the inspection has not been found, despite the money being found for fitting the kit?

 

I understand the NYMR are simply waiting for the inspection and approval.

 

Seems like 80136 is back in service

Jon

 

It still seems to be a bit of a lottery which trains are going to be steam-hauled and which are diesel.

I work Mondays to Thursdays, but I'm free on Thursdays, Fridays and weekends, so rather frustrating that they no longer ran on Thursdays and Fridays until July this year, and, on Thursdays and Saturdays, the 12.35 from Grosmont and 14.10 return are diners which no longer carry regular passengers, so Friday seems to be the day for me (the Sunday timetable is bit of a waste of time, even if I were able to get there).

The loco roster doesn't appear on the website until just before the start of service in the morning (or, sometimes, after the first trains have departed). I can understand there may be late alterations (and full marks that they do sometimes update the roster during the day - I notice today's is version 3). Not particularly useful when you have to travel some distance, but you can use one day's roster as a guide what might be working next day (e.g. locos finishing at Pickering will almost certainly start from there the next day).

A couple of weeks ago, I had been checking the roster most days and saw that the 10.55 and 12.00 from Pickering were steam-hauled most days, with 5428 on the 10.55 and 926 (which starts it's day at Grosmont). So, on the Friday, I set off in the hope of getting the 10.55. This is a tight connection off the 840 bus from York, but, never mind, if I miss it, there's always the 12.00. I'm already on the bus when the roster appears - 5428 on the 10.55, but the 12.00 is diesel (and, even worse, it's the 47 - I'm not a fan of duffs!), so I hope the bus makes the connection. Needless to say, the bus is late, the 10.55 leaves on time and I have an hour to wait before suffering the duff to Goathland, for 44806 to Pickering and back and then 5428.

Last week, I saw that 63395 and 5428 had finished at Pickering on Thursday. I didn't take any chances this week and set off early to get to Pickering in time for the 09.20. When the roster appeared, I was pleased to see that the NYMR proper was fully steam-hauled with 63395 on the 09.20, 5428 on the 10.55, 926 on the 12.00 and 44806 doing a one way trip to Pickering in the afternoon - was this the first day of pure steam (excluding 31128 on the Whitbys) this year? In fact there were 7 locos in steam that day with 29 and 80136 on test at Grosmont and LUCIE in steam at Pickering. The 09.20 departed 45 late (so I could have had an extra hour in bed!), but gradually the time was pulled back and trains were more or less on time when I left.

 

You’re correct in surmising that it was the first all steam day of the year, excluding the planned use of 31128 on the Whitbys.
There’s been some discussion about earlier publication of the roster on the volunteers forum on Facebook and hopefully something can be done to get it on the web page the evening before. The roster is sent out by control about teatime but it often gets changed as locos come on shed for examination and disposal. It’s not helped by the fact that loco fleet does seem to have become unreliable in recent times.

 

80136 was out today, following an earlier test run, and having replaced 44806 on the 12.35 ex Grosmont and subsequent diagram.

 

I note from their annual report that it is another year of heavy losses for NYMR, losing £268,000. How much longer are these losses sustainable for? I also see the very worrying quote in the trust’s companies house submission that

it is now very evident that the ability of the subsidiary, NYMR plc, to operate at a surplus is no longer viable.

a worrying place for a railway still seen as an industry leader. The £1,000,000 cash in hand the trust has isn’t going to last five years at this rate.

 

It's a worrying place for heritage railways generally. The NYMR is far from unique in experiencing annual losses. Recent statistics have confirmed the collapse of many businesses in the hospitality sector so the challenge is not confined to heritage railways. It's been apparent for some years that the traditional business model is, at best, under severe strain and for some no longer sustainable. That's going to require tough decisions and willingness to embrace the changes necessary to adapt to new market conditions.

 

It's worth reading through the accounts in a bit more detail. I think I'm correct in saying that this loss was "achieved" after the receipt of ca, £0.5M in gift aid and the CEO's salary being increased from ca. 60k to 90+k (+"benefits"). Now, I'm not objecting to the salary per se, it's the level of increase that I don't think is justified. How many of the other paid staff received comparable increases? How could possibly be justified on the strength of the results?

My own view, fwiw, is that the traditional business model might do rather better if it was more rigorously applied - the NYMR, imho, does not sell self itself as a heritage attraction and certainly has a very weak heritage offering; and what's the alternative - an accelerating slide down down the path towards the lowest common denominator? There has been talk of offering more "premium" services, but I honestly do not believe that the present management have got much of a clue what premium services might consist of. Cutting services left right and centre is not the way.

 

It makes the GWSR's tack, of relying mostly on volunteers, with the absolute minimum of paid staff, look very prescient. (I'm not throwing bricks at lines that went another way, mind. Nobody's crystal ball is 100% accurate. But I have the definite impression that the GWSR's style, with such a reliance on volunteers, is quite different from most other large heritage lines.) Will other lines have to shift more in that direction?

 

Which, at the risk of reopening a circular debate, requires attention to all parts of the business model, not just the products and services sold.

 

It's quite possible the trend will be in the other direction. Volunteering is already in decline across all sectors . That's likely to continue not least because of later retirement and reduced pension expectations. Volunteers on heritage railways generally tend towards the grey/silver hair end of the age spectrum (with some notable exceptions). Age profiles must be of concern if sufficient younger volunteers are not coming forward. It may be that the railways that rely heavily on older volunteers will find it more difficult to maintain critical competencies in the longer term than those that have become used to reliance on paid staff.