North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Whilst Whitby is not essential to the NYMR any decision to dump it would need careful consideration as those services do contribute to the operation as a whole. I agree with you that the tail should not wag the dog but that alone doesn't make it undesirable.

Both Tom, 35B and others have raised valid points about positive changes and these deserve urgent consideration, but the Park Street mandarins simply aren't listening.

At the moment revenue is essential so has to be maximised. What I would really like to see are accurate figures for both costs and income of the Whitby operation and, equally important the financial effect on the whole line. If it pays then not a problem, if it doesn't then in the current climate it's a luxury we must do without.

 

Maybe someone who is a member should "plant" a pre-registered question along the lines you suggest, and see what answer follows. I would do so, but have cancelled my membership, after over 50 years, because all it mostly got me nowadays was the wholly execrable new version of "Moors Line"

 

Sadly, in my own experience, simply running steam locos up and down does not turn a profit or drive high visitor numbers.

To give an example (sorry to keep drifting away from Yorkshire) the busiest I have ever seen Kingscote station on the Bluebell was when there were unicorns there. At least 5 times busier than Giants of Steam last year. And that was busy - I mean very busy. But the unicorns easily trumped it. The last train of the day is normally deserted. As soon as Fox & Edwards Fish and Chips arrive. the buffet car is taking thousands.

Events, especially those appealing to families, make money these days. That's why Whitby makes the money - a special attraction. Just running trains to Goathland has limited appeal to the average prospective visitor.

 

NYMR used to have a range of events.......

The diesel gala was discarded as the management thought it was a loss maker, until they tried it again and discovered the opposite, that it did make money.

A spring steam gala abandoned (probably impossible now due to lack of locos)

A Sixties weekend which attracted a good number, basically dressing up, a party and a car rally.

Wartime Weekend
Dangerously popular with thousands in attendance and most trains and stations packed. The sort of event other railways would long for. Abandoned because it didn't make money (!) How?

These events were all stopped under Chris Price's term as GM.

Last year finance's must have been boosted by the two major events, Gresley, and Scotsman. Both involved running steam trains!

Thomas must have seemed worth a punt, but surely not at the expense of regular running in Spring Bank Holiday week. Running the event must have brought in less money than running a normal timetable.
This event was more suited to October.

I would like to see traffic figures for events and transparency. The constant lack of openness seems hard to understand.

 

There is a theory ~(I think it has previously been expressed on here) that Chris Price left the NYMR because his wife wanted to move away from the area - I think there's some truth in that but not for the reasons publicly expounded, I think the reasons may have been different in reality, but that's immaterial) but I think that he had also come to realise that he was leading the railway into an ever-deepening crisis and had come to realise that it was beyond his skillset to reverse the problems, so he jumped rather than being ignominiously push at a later date. I really doubt whether he expected the current CEO to to replace him and continue down and accelerate the headlong plunge into the hole. I think that the fact remains that we need a CEO with creativity and the ability to lead and rally both supporters and paid staff to reinvigorate the railway. I, for one, do not feel that the NYMR's attraction as a heritage railway has collapsed, but I do believe that its marketing has fallen apart at the seams. I do think that the shrinking of the Trust Board to become a deliberately picked, smaller, group of yes-men and/or cowards unwilling to speak out has not helped. Let's hope that the numbers of those with actual knowledge of what is going on will start to grow from the next AGM onwards and we can start to see a turnaround. The CEO is a strong minded individual and it will take determined opposition to force her into changing her mind or, if it really has to come to it, to quit.