North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Laudable aims, but with little no no chance of being met in the current financial state, I feel. I'd love to see the whole strategic plan, but can't access it now I have relinquished my membership (which I'll renew when I see meaningful management changes taking place) Would be very grateful for a PM copy, which I will of course keep confidential, if anyone listening can provide.

 

I hate the 'covered its costs' statement.

We are told repeatedly that the bigger railways have to be run like businesses but this is one example where it looks like this one isn't. In any good business you would have a proper review/mop up meeting of any special event/new product launch/sales period and go through the pro's and con's. For this event there are obvious hire costs and income, but also there are obvious costs in loss of income from 'normal operations'.

It may well be that such a meeting has happened and everything has been discussed as I would of expected it to be, and they are just covering their proverbial backsides with the 'covered its costs' line. But its just wrong. Be honest and open and invite better ideas. Either ideas of other events or how to run the current ones better. I still believe Thomas could invite a profit, but it just needs more thought to how its run. And if the restrictions on how its run are too painful to accept, then it shouldn't be on the table. As others have said even the fag packet numbers for this one didn't make sense. The amount of bookings it would have needed to cover the loss of Whitby trains just didn't add up. Even the steam gala which is the biggest event the railway does has Whitby offerings that connect to rest of line accessibility (though not a full Pickering to Whitby through train I do accept). I still don't understand how the Thomas one didn't.

You don't sacrifice your bread and butter for a new filling! The filling without the rest if just a mess

 

The version I've seen is published on the website..

nymr_strategy_a4_web_single_pages.pdf

 

There is technically no bay platform at Pickering. The Beck siding will only take two carriages although that was before its point was removed. A platform should have an edge and this doesn't, it's a flat faced wall with a fence attached. Unless they extend over the Beck move the Gilling and Whitby building you will never have a decent length. Then probably only for coach lengths

 

What I found interesting in that document was that all, bar one, of the pictures of operating services, show steam locomotives. So I assume the message that steam sells is clear to someone.

 

No regular steam service out today other than the premium Tornado one.

Are they doing this to push people to pay extra to travel behind Tornado? If not you have to say it is a complete joke.

 

I have a feeling that this might become the norm for the years ahead like Snowdon do with the diesel and steam options.

 

Well an extra 35p to travel behind Tornado (or £6.05 if only going to Grosmont) is hardly going to resolve any financial issues

 

I might have been wrong, and perhaps I saw this and filed it in the usual round filing cabinet, because it is really just 25 pages or so of self-justifying woffle - and I'm not even sure if it is factually correct! Can it really be that a business with 100 employees is one of the largest, or even the largest in the national park?

It is however, a document very short on stategic plans to my eye at least. For instance the plan to have two oil-fired locomotives is woefully short of the reality of the difference they are likely to make, if prolonged heatwaves continue in future summers. How is it possible to maintain a service with just one available at any one time, and then subject to stoppages due to repairs and or maintenance? Surely the strategic aim should be to have at least two available at any one time whilst third is overhauled, as a minimum aim. It does help having the bay platform at Pickering introduced, if the formation is collapsing into the river and it would only be 3-4 coaches long at best. Carriages don't get a mention, only new and altered servicing facilities, and nothing is said about potential future uses for the carriage shed. Nothing is said about future uses and potential for historic (i.e. pre-BR in my eyes!). And if all that represents a piss-poor effort nowhere is there any detail about any of these plans - for example, how - and where - to go about developing the "highly inefficient Grosmont locomotive workshops".

In short it is a rubbish glossy fluff piece, seeming put together by the same half-wits who think that "Moors Line" is a communication worthy of an award..... Sadly those half wits seem to include some of the senior management - and probably the half wits from the marketing team.

 

In which case to have a choice of 5 steam locos and not one out in peak summer season is utterly appauling.

 

If that is the case they really are screwed. I predict that revenue will fall away, and it will become ever harder to maintain a steam fleet, but as the NYMR don't have a significant diesel fleet of their own they'll become ever more reliant on others to provide it.

 

So what 3, 5 or 10 year plans have you seen from any organisation that do not look something like this (and I am talking about all of industry not just the HR sector).
There appear to be things there that may clarify some of your regular complaints (although you may not like some of the answers).
It will depend on the purpose of this as I expect it is well beyond just the confines of the membership, it is the sort of thing that needs to exist to try and get grant funding long before you get to actually talking about a specific issue.
The more interesting question is perhaps why it is so upbeat in not mentioning the issues the sector as a whole faces and for that matter why in view of the recent ORR document a lot of what appear to be quite young kids are shown undertaking tasks on the railway.

 

What 5 locos are serviceable I assume you are counting 60163 as one of them?

 

In ticket but in various states of repair - 44806, 45428, 2253, 926 and 92134. Plus 29 and 60163.

 

All of which (except Repton) have been out since reopening as I have been on them. And now all out of action and relatively for quite a while.

I have just watched Tornado go out on the 15:40 departure for Grosmont and she must have been 20% full at best.

 

Except they're a couple of diesel failures away from cancelling services again. The travelling public seem to be accepting the use of diesels at the moment due to the weather, although that's not the reason the NYMR are using them.

 

I believe Repton is out on the diner tomorrow.
Time was when annual steam mileage was 60k +. This year you can probably knock a nought off that.

 

Tomorrow's afternoon Tornado is listed as full booked, as is Wednesdays.

 

There's nothing wrong in what you have said. Gibg back into the late 70's/early 80's there was a plan to extend the siding over the beck to make a bay platform principly for stabling the diner. Thi would have required some form of bridge and I think the plan was to use concrete ducts but I think the EA or whowever it was objected to that plan. It didn't go furher and eventually the Gilling & Whitby buildings found a home there. Whether the proposed scheme is a resurrection of this, I can't say but someone must know or it wouldn't be in the plan.

 

The thing is the diner is considerably longer than it was in the 70's and 80's. No car 79, no Jenny and not sure No 324 or the GW saloon were permanently in the set.