North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

I wasn’t aware he was referring to the here and now, more a generalisation.
I won’t pay knowingly for diesel haulage, so as has been said, they need to make it crystal clear.

 

I must admit, almost every other heritage railway is clear about which services will be diesel hauled, both pre-planned and short notice, be it for fire risk or failures.

Most publish a loco roster at least a week in advance...

 

I did not understand and therefore wondered what football excursions might have to do with the NYMR. Post #11390 was the explanation that I needed.

 

Do they? And even if they do by the time the day arrives often a work of fiction.

 

I'll do some research on many key heritage lines, in no particular order:
Bluebell - https://www.bluebell-railway.com/locomotive-roster/ - many months ahead, often fairly accurate, but at least an attempt
Severn Valley - https://svr.co.uk/locomotive-roster/ - a week or two ahead, regularly updated
KWVR - https://kwvr.co.uk/about-the-railway/weekly-roster/ - A week or two ahead, often with TBC, but updated
GWSR - https://gwsr.com/about/locomotive-roster/ - published month-by-month
Spa Valley - https://spavalleyrailway.co.uk/locomotive-roster/ - one or two weeks at a time, sometimes out of date
East Lancs - https://www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/loco-roster/ - currently out of date
Mid Norfolk - https://www.midnorfolkrailway.co.uk/maroontimetable - posts loco details on timetable pages
Isle of Wight - https://iwsteamrailway.co.uk/plan-your-visit/in-steam-this-month/ - month-by-month
Watercress - https://watercressline.co.uk/about/loco-roster/ - a few days at a time
Swanage - NO ROSTER (they did one until recently)
Great Central - NO ROSTER
West Somerset - NO ROSTER
North Norfolk - NO ROSTER
F&WHR - NO ROSTER
RHDR - NO ROSTER

At this stage I'm starting to run out of railway that I know of!

 

GCR Roster is sometimes down the page - but its unclear how often this is updated Timetables-fares - Great Central Railway

 

You've gone for pretty much everything I would of thought of. The only other one I know definitely has a roster is the Nene Valley that's normally fairly accurate though does have 'TBC's' on there are the minute - Locomotive Schedule | Nene Valley Railway Ltd

The main issue I have with the NYMR though isn't so much of a hardened roster, its the fact that they don't even commit to putting steam on. Its mixed messages. The home page has a lovely montage video that literally has more than 20 shots of steam engines and one of a diesel advertising the railway and the experience they expect you to have. The timetable though says it will either definitely be diesel or might be steam, but nothing is definitely steam. And when you get there I'd bet on it being around a 75% chance the service you want to use will be diesel. Mixed messages and likely disappointment. The only way to guarantee steam is to only go for a gala.

Most other railways will at least commit to a service being either steam or diesel on the main timetable.

 

Every evening the NYMR Operating Department in conjunction with the MPD produces a planned loco roster for the next day. This is sent to various departments for information and is usually put up on the NYMR’s website first thing in the morning. However, it is not easy to find unless you go looking for it. It’s also not always accurate as it is often a cut and paste job from the day before and mistakes can and do appear. It’s usually possible to work out the errors if you know what usually happens. For example 44806 might be correctly shown as being on the first train from Grosmont but suddenly changes to a different one for the return working from Pickering because that was the loco that did it yesterday and it hasn’t been changed.