To start a heritage railway - any advice?

Hello,

First timer here, yet very much a veteran to online forums.

I'm looking into starting up a heritage railway society to reopen the former Strathaven and Darvel railway for a short section outside of the former Strathaven Central station in Lanarkshire, Scotland. My reasoning behind it? Simple; there are no standard gauge heritage railways in Lanarkshire. The closest is the narrow gauge Leadhills and Wanlockhead railway which is far from any reasonably sized population centre, whereas the Strathaven and Darvel would be located in a small town easily accessed from larger towns such as Hamilton and East Kilbride and from Glasgow.

The track bed is very intact. In fact ,there are still indents of the sleepers on it despite the track being lifted nearly 60 years ago!

My idea behind it is also simple (though actually going about it may not be). The railway would operate originally for about one mile outside of the island platform station at Strathaven Central on the route of the former Darvel line, thus being long enough to be an enjoyable experience but short enough as to be a reasonable starting place. It would likely include housing for the locomotive(s) and somewhere to store the rolling stock. The platform would have one side dedicated for public train use and another for storage of coaches etc.

Now, obviously this is my aim, but I'm well aware it's very much long-term. I'll be the first to admit I know where I want to go, but I don't know where to start from! If anyone has any advice whatsoever, please, it would be very much appreciated.

Thanks very much.


P.S. I started a very basic website last night on the idea. It's still very much under construction.
http://strathaven-darvelrailway.doodlekit.com/home

Plans for it are to add a page about the railway itself and a gallery of pictures showing the trackbed today.

 

You'll need a business plan (detailing the numbers of visitors you would expect, prices, running costs, potential/agreed finance, your main selling point, what makes you different from the SRPS/ARPG etc) agreement with landowners, support of the local council, planning permission.

Then you move on to the expensive part, you'll need money (and lots of it!), volunteers (and lots of them!), rolling stock (this doesn't have to be purchased but will need to be in reasonable condition to make restoration viable and also to appease locals who won't want their area looking like a scrapyard), a rulebook and operating procedures, buildings (material type/size/location/activities carried out there?), car parking, toilets, disabled access provisions, things to sell (this can be anything from a cup of tea to a t-shirt to a Thomas toy), public liability insurance.

I've probably forgotten a million other things, but that should keep you busy for a few months....!

If I were you, I would start with the land ownership, the council and a business plan.


Keith

 

Local public and council support can make or break many schemes. If you are local a good selection of opinions can be had over a beer in the local pub. What will probably make or break it is the support of the land owners. From Google Maps many places look to have been incorporated in to exisiting fields. I agree with what Keith has posted, start with the fundemental issues of land and support, then work out the overall plan.

Nat Pres is also to some degree representative of the likely support a scheme will get. From my point of view this idea has some plus points:
Near a major population centre (40 minutes to Glasgow) for customers and volunteers
No other Heritage Railway nearby
Trackbed and station site existing
Tourist potential for people and coach tours on their way to other Scotish locations
Open countryside with rural views

The missing viaduct is a bit of an obstacle but the piers still seem to be there?

 

The best advice I can give is 'forget it!' However, as that is not what you want to hear, the first question has to be who owns the trackbed you are hoping to acquire and will the owner part with it or lease it to you? It's a non-starter if that won't happen. You can easily establish that fact at little cost and on your own.

Having established that, you need to seek support of other like minded people, at least some of whom are going to be active and of use to the scheme. You'll get nowhere on your own unless you have a bottomless pit of cash. Again, seeking support is going to be a relatively low cost; a bit of well directed advertising and hire of a room for a public meeting.

Does the projected line cross a public highway or footpath at all, either on the level or by means of a bridge? If so, you'll need a Transport & Works Order, which is going to set you back about £40K, maybe more. You won't need this to establish your depot but you will if you are going to be serious. If you get to the stage of being serious, you need to establish communication with HM Railway Inspectorate. It would also be a good idea to apply for membership of the Heritage Railway Association. Lots of good advice available from both organisations. If you're not routinely involved with engineering, construction, and railways, there's a lot of legislation, which you'll need to gen up on. The Environmental Protection Act and associated legislation will also be a nightmare to get around and stay legal.

In my experience, acquiring rolling stock won't be too difficult as there are always people looking for a home for their bits of junk, although it may not be exactly what you are wanting. Beware of private owners moving on, though. They are doing it for a reason, which may be due to their attitude and personality. Make sure that you have a good agreement in place before the owner moves his stock on site.

People have mentioned a Business Plan but I suspect that you'll have to massage the figures to make it stand up, although you will need one when you start talking to outside bodies. More important at this stage is enthusiasm and ability to make things happen. Once you start doing anything other than hold meetings, you'll need insurance in place and that's when the first real money is needed, long before any income starts to come in (other than from your own pockets).

If you are lucky, you might be able to scrounge some track but you'll have to consider lifting it, transporting it and loading/offloading. You also need to start collecting all the specialist tools that you'll need to lay the track, and someone with the knowledge to do it.

As I said, my best advice is forget it!

 

I don't want to sound too negative but I find with a plan like this, if you have to ask such basic questions you're on to a looser. Strikes me as another 'new build'. Saying that, I can see your reasoning, as has been stated above. Does it have to be standard gauge (a lot of red tape disappears when you go below 15" gauge) and costs would be severely reduced. Would a decent run in a smaller gauge attract the same passenger numbers than an embryonic std gauge outfit... I think it would. Look at the Bure Valley Railway for a decent business model.

 

Is this just a personal pipedream or do you know that there are a number of other likeminded individuals who agree with your views (and I mean genuinely agree, not just your relatives/friends agreeing with you to keep you happy!) who are prepared to put their hearts, souls and bank balances into it?

Yiou also have to bear in mind that it's highly possible that there isn't a preserved line in your area for a reason - lack of demand.

Look at the Caledonian Railway in Brechin - it has a huge catchment area with a fair amount of tourism, two major cities within 30 minutes, one small city (Brechin) and a regional town (Montrose) on its doorstep, the oil industry means that there is disposable income to be had from people, no competition from other preserved lines.

And yet, while it has succeeded in running four miles of basic railway, after 32 years it still operates on a shoestring with small industrial locos. It can only afford to run on 30 days of the year and has no signalling or any of the olde worlde bells and whistles that Joe Public likes to see making up the atmosphere of a preserved line.

That's absolutely no criticism of the Caledonian Railway, it just illustrates what you're up against, even when it seems the local situation is ideal.

Personally I'd advise investing in some of Hornby and Bachmann's products and building your railway for vastly less stress, heartache, financial ruin and likely ruination of your health! :wink:

 

There is a site in Norfolk that might be worth a visit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitwell_&_Reepham_railway_station
as this is a recent start-up closely surrounded by at least 4 established heritage lines.
I think you need to gather some like-minded people around you, thrash out a basic plan and then perhaps present it at a village hall public meeting to gather more support. After that word will get around and who knows . . .
Best of luck.

 

The OP has gone very quiet! Any new / revised thoughts Caledonian 123?

 

With just one post it could be someone with a double identity? Or am I being too cynical as usual?