North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Can we enquire as to what happened to cause that change? (Genuine curiousity, here; not snark.)

100.00% agreement. I agree with him some times; and strongly disagree on others. I judge each instance on its own - not because he said it.

Noel

 

Hammer, nail and head seem to be appropriate words for this. As I've said, it is perceived value for money and the perception by many is that the NYMR is overpriced. And that's true of non-Yorkshiremen, as well.

 

An acknowledgement that trust is shot to pieces and needs to be rebuilt and a little patience is needed.

Sawdust.

 

I've just spoken with Sawdust, and from what he has told me I agree that there is hope - but I think the discussion was an off-the-record one and needs to be kept confidential at this time. I think we'd all agree that it is likely to take some time for things to happen and changes to become apparent - assuming that they do! so for the moment I think it is necessary to sit back,, watch and support.

 

Understood; thanks for letting us know.

Noel

 

Just made me smile

 

A few none contentious points, not the whole two hours.

Sawdust.

 

.... but please note that I haven't told anyone else what he told me!

 

Well the last couple of posts seem to have struck everyone dumb, but I for one am always interested in hearing views of how the business can be changed and evolved. I'm in the camp that thinks it is fundamentally sound, but it has to be priced at a realistic level, and more perceived value needs to be added. Over the course of the thread I've made some suggestions, which I will summarise briefly here, to save you all the trouble of wading through the last 600+ pages, but what other thoughts are out there?

1. Advertise and promote the history and heritage of the area to encourage people to
stop off at the various stations to explore and find out/learn more.

2. Schedule and advertise the teak train on a regular basis as a more heritage experience and look for ways of building on that, capitalising on the (external) work of the LNERCA volunteers to provide it - e.g. 1920/30s dress-up events

3. Find a way to monetise of the conservation work being done along the length of the railway by offering guided tours, for example

4. Work with local businesses to stage artisan food events, beer/gin festivals etc.

5. Work with the local residents and businesses to collaborate on special events that bring additional business for both sides

 

I'm not sure the underlying business is sound, due to the arrears of maintenance that also need to be caught up on.

But, accepting your premise, I think your ideas are all good and worthwhile, even if some (1 and 3 in particular) are likely to have no more than a marginal impact on the bottom line. What I think is missing is an item (6), which is to take (2) a stage (or 5) further and develop the use of "experiences" quite significantly. That might be a more WHR type operation, it might be the YDR operation, but something that provides a more predictable income and especially cashflow.

The challenge (see also YDR) will be balancing that against the turn up and go nature of the established demand patterns.

Oh - that brings up idea 7 - focus more on the existing potential organic demand, and find ways to drive both volume and yield (at the moment, my hunch is that volume is impacted by high headline prices, while yield is trashed by discounting)

 

I think we have to be careful in defining what we are discussing here. When I say that I think that the NYMR's underlying business is sound, I do think that it can be brought back to trading at a point where it makes a annual surplus, but that is probably going ton allow it to catch up on the maintenance backlog, therefore ways of generating fresh capital will have to be found - and quickly! I do think you may be underestimating some of the other opportunities, e.g. premium guided nature tours could be very lucrative, if done well. Gala events could be more lucrative if they are extended to a couple of weekends, with different variations on the theme between the weekends, and more in between. The possibilities are there but need to be grasped, and that requires a management willing to listen to outside the paid staff as well!

 

I trust you’ll pardon my scepticism over the income from pure heritage visits. My experience is that they tend to be very strongly supported by those who are already deeply interested in, but to have a more limited audience outside that group

 

Everything just needs to be trialled. Trial the "vintage train" throughout the month of May, for example. Trial the real ale weekend with local breweries.

Trial a natural wine tasting train in the teaks with a hop-off at each station for the next glass - a surefire way to attract a younger audience with disposal income who may not necessarily be the same family crowd the railway is usually marketed at.

What about a jazz train? Once a week in summer the FR used to run a trip to Tan-y-bwlch, I think departing Port around 6.30/7, with a jazz band playing and a barbecue served. I also remember a breakfast train, something various railways including the Churnet Valley have been doing of late. Too much of the catering offering is centred on the diner.

None of these ideas should be a hard sell to a public who love an "event" or a reason to get dressed up, particularly given the sh!t-hot full-time marketing department. And not every event needs to be targeted at a senior or family demographic because that is not the entire spectrum of people who do things.

There needs to be ideas in abundance and a willingness to test them out.

 

Exactly! I remember Cris Price sitting with me in a cafe in Fairbourne after he got the GM job, but before he started at the NYMR saying "we mustn't be afraid to try doing things differently; even if they don't work out at least we'll have tried". I agreed at the time, and still do, but he never really saw it through.