North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

They could borrow the one from outside Grosmont station that they can't currently use...

 

I find it hard to compare the GWSR and the NYMR; the latter (or at least, major parts of it) seems to want to think of itself as an 'ordinary' business, whereas the GWSR seems to be a sort of social club which runs a vintage line as its focus. That's why the latter has been able to weather its (numerous) issues - and, in fact, thrive and grow.

Noel

 

Can they afford not to?

 

I would venture to suggest that it can't afford NOT to if wants to run anything approaching a marketable service while the Grosmont bridge is sorted. Money needs to be found for that point.

 

Loads more questions and points!

Dealing with the Goathland runround question first, the NYMR has various points at Grosmont that will not be in use whilst the bridge is oou - any of these could be cannibalised if necessary as a temporary measure, though I suspect there would be more work than simply dropping it in place require.. Whitby - I can't see how this could continue as a steam operation without the bridge. There are no facilities and no room for them; they could be diesel run - but would that even interest passengers. There would still be no servicing facilities of course (and locos would probably have to be hired in if the bridge is already closed off) but at least they could be refuelled from a road tanker.

The SVR and GWSR survived crises because they haven't pissed off their memberships in the way that the NYMR has; look at how well the appeal for 75029 is progressing if you want evidence for that. At least with carriages, the worst of the servicing tasks (changing of block blocks, which is quite frequent at Pickering) would probably be avoided.

One wonders how much forethought went into the situation - were enough carriages and locos, to run a "rump" diesel service, and even PWay stock, positioned north of the bridge before it was declared closed, for example? I don't think anyone has been thinking much about longer term issues with Whitby, as far as coaching stock mis concerned. There were thoughts of buying a Mk 2 set but that came to nothing, just as CDL fitting to the Mk 1s hasn't either, but that may not be an issue if MK1s themselves end up being banned. It all remains a mess all around!

 

Agree with all that, and it might be that no service is possible. All I said is I would look at it, and I wouldn’t necessarily dismiss it without really serious thought. I am not suggesting I possess the knowledge about what might or might not work, but having had involvement in planning for a bridge removal I know enough to know how deep that thinking needs to be and that solutions that aren’t immediately obvious are sometimes possible. All that said, Whitby wouldn’t be my priority either despite having listed it first.

The critical thing is for a few people to put their heads together and think through the situation, but start from the perspective of how can we not why we can’t. You might still conclude you don’t want to, but it is amazing how powerful the mindset shift can be in uncovering opportunities.

 

I’m no expert on the NYMR and its finances, but I’m slightly surprised at all this agonising over the cost of installing a point at Goathland.
As part of the Churnet pway for a decade or more, we installed, changed or moved mainline points on several occasions. More recently these have tended to be motorised too.
I never thought of us as being in quite the same league as the NYMR, but perhaps fiscally the CVR is in fact ahead?

 

Prior to the appointment of the new civil engineering director I believe that things had been thought through and a plan evolved. My understanding is that this plan was kicked into touch and a new plan is being derived. I hate to suggest it but the simple answer might be to say goodbye to the present civil engineering director.

 

Begging bowl is now out on the main NYMR website.
https://www.nymr.co.uk/bridge42

 

Strange not to mention the estimated cost.

 

Well 71,000 Polar Express passengers is almost certainly several times what the NYMR Santa Specials carried....
Jon

 

Yes, I wasn’t going to mention that, as I have no idea what the NYMR’s figures were.

 

Almost certainly no one outside the inner circle will know that. It seems that the CEO's policy is the less people know about such things, the better. The one person who would know has seemingly stopped posting on here (and elsewhere).

 

That is because they have decided not to post on non-NYMR controlled forums or social media.

 

Decided? Or been told?

 

"Agreed" according to the Trust board minutes.

 

That sounds like "he fell" as an answer to the question "did he jump or was he pushed". There is an obvious conclusion, even if nothing is stated.

 

Swanage have their mainline registered 117 & 121… could they be persuaded to hire them out for the year to run the Grosmont - Whitby shuttles now their mainline op is indefinitely suspended? The NYMR seeems to have unlimited funds for hiring in locos for an extended period based on last year..

 

Ironic that they have silenced the one person who fought their corner harder than any on this forum…

 

Although not if they are right that the bridge is unsafe for traffic and imminent collapse is possible?