Southwold Railway

Indeed, and that might take a political shift across a generation change, rather than just keep on asking for the same thing in slightly different ways.
Enthusiasts don't have any 'right' to establish or extend a heritage railway; what may seem a no-brainer to most of us on this forum, certainly isn't to everyone else.
And some people never will change their view. But their period of influence will come to an end eventually.
You're probably better off trying to influence the next generation (by running family/kids/school events) than the previous one.

 

Absolutely. Once the local parents realise that a heritage railway is an excellent means to keep the kids entertained during school holidays, they'll probably become a lot more supportive!

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Heritage railways that are charities (98% of them), and who have written their charitable aims with care, have a moral - and one might argue - a legal duty to carry out said aims. This is ours:

"The CIO will record and preserve the Railway, its infrastructure and civil engineering, and trackbed, and reinstate as much of the Railway as possible to provide a family-friendly heritage railway and attraction for the public benefit and the local community. It will preserve the Railway through a variety of activities."

and the SRT's is even more explicit.
So if (as is true in the case of HSNGR) the Commission has decided (after several years of effort and applications from us, BTW) that the restoration of the railway is "in the public interest" (their overriding criterion) then logically anyone who opposes the restoration for no good reason ("we don't like the idea" is not a good reason!) is acting against the public interest. This has much wider applications, of course.

Meanwhile, the HSNGR ran its most successful Open Day to date at Blythburgh Station on September 14th - celebrating both the Heritage Open Days and Railway 200. Visitor numbers have increased to a point where we would have trouble dealing with many more at the busiest times (nice problem to have!). The Model Railway show in the Village Hall - with CIO merchandise, displays, a bookstall, films, and light refreshments - complemented the action at the station, where regular demonstration train runs with our now-bodied BE loco (running in undercoat) also included shunting demos and typical freight loading. A large live steam model railway set up by the goods platform enthralled the youngsters, and volunteers were on hand to tell visitors about our achievements and plans. Unusually (but not for us), the entire event was free (including the refreshments), but visitors were generous and filled the donation boxes. Seven new members were signed up, and as well as many people who come every year, we saw many more families with young children who cannot wait to have a (initially very short) ride in our coach, which many of them tried out, although it was a static viewpoint only - we hope that the first passenger train rides on the original SR trackbed since 1929 will be next season, as air brake fitting onto the coach is planned for this winter, and our safety and operational systems are already up and running.
Our Chairman and social media trustee has put up various shorts on YouTube - just insert our name and you'll see.

We are still negotiating with the district council planners about our extension - we hope there will be more news soon on that. Meanwhile, two more heritage train items are close to completion - the SR luggage van (as it was called) and the private-owner MOY Cleminson wagon will be added to the operational rolling stock at the Station Heritage Centre next year.

Membership of the HSNGR charity only costs £10.00 per year (less than 3p per day), and we price ourselves on our communication with members (an online illustrated newsletter comes to all who want it every fortnight), and on our volunteer dedication (two days each week of volunteer work is unusual for such a small and new organisation). Join us (on our website www.halesworthtosouthwoldrailway.co.uk) and help make it happen!
James